River Basin Management

Question 1

Drainage Basin

Answer 1

An area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a body of water e.g river or bay

Question 2

Watershed

Answer 2

The boundary between 2 drainage basins

Question 3

River bed

Answer 3

Ground over which the water flows in a river

Question 4

River Bank

Answer 4

The land at the side of the river

Question 5

Downstream

Answer 5

Direction in which a river or stream flows from its source to its mouth

Question 6

River Mouth

Answer 6

Where the river enters into another body of water e.g ocean, sea or lake

Question 7

River Source

Answer 7

The beginning of a river

Question 8

Tributary

Answer 8

A stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river

Question 9

Confluence

Answer 9

The place where 2 rivers flow together to become one

Question 10

Hydrological Cycle (water cycle)

Answer 10

The cycle through which water moves which includes processes such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation and surface and groundwater runoff and infiltration.

Question 11

Evaporation

Answer 11

The process of liquid turning into gas

Question 12

Condensation

Answer 12

The process of gas turning into liquid, and, in the case of geography, falling as rain

Question 13

Precipitation

Answer 13

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches the earths surface

E.g rain, sleet, snow, mist, fog and hail

Question 14

Transpiration

Answer 14

The process of water passing through the surface of a plant or leaf

Question 15

Runoff

Answer 15

Water flowing downhill on Earth’s surface

Question 16

Groundwater flow

Answer 16

Movement of underground water through rocks

Question 17

Interception

Answer 17

Precipitation that does not reach the soil, but is instead intercepted by the leaves, branches of plants and the forest floor

Question 18

Infiltration

Answer 18

Flow of water from the land surface into the subsurface

Question 19

Percolation

Answer 19

The process by which water moves downward in the soil, toward the water table

Question 20

Erosion

Answer 20

The wearing away of pieces of rock, soil or other solid materials

Question 21

Hydraulic Action

Answer 21

Type of erosion. Water that passes by the river bank forces itself into cracks on the face of the rock in the river bank. This widens the cracks and forces pieces of material away from the river bank. These pieces of material make their way downstream.

Question 22

Abrasion

Answer 22

Type of erosion. The water in a river has a lot of force and moves rock downstream. As it moves, the rock grinds and scrapes away like sandpaper on the bed and banks of the river. The rocks wear away the landscape.

Question 23

Attrition

Answer 23

Type of erosion. Rocks and pebbles are carried in the flow of a river. They repeatedly knock into each other, which causes the rocks to erode, break and get smaller and smoother.

Question 24

Corrosion

Answer 24

Type of chemical erosion. Rocks or stones can be eroded as water gets into cracks and holes and dissolves rock through chemical changes.

Question 25

River Channel

Answer 25

a passage that water can flow along, especially in the ground, on the bottom of a river, etc.

Question 26

Vertical Erosion

Answer 26

Erosion which makes a river channel deeper. This happens more in the upper stages of a river (the V of vertical erosion should help you remember the v-shaped valleys that are created in the upper stages).

Question 27

Lateral Erosion

Answer 27

Erosion which makes a river wider. This occurs mostly in the middle and lower stages of a river.

Question 28

Sediment

Answer 28

small pieces of rock (silt, gravel, pebbles, cobbles) eroded by rivers that are carried downstream

Question 29

Load

Answer 29

bits of eroded material (such as rocks) that the river transports until it drops it

Question 30

Solution

Answer 30

The smallest particles which are carried by the river are dissolved into the water and become part of the river's load

Question 31

Suspension

Answer 31

Silt (sand, mud, soil) is held in the moving water and gets carried along the river downstream

Question 32

Saltation

Answer 32

Gravel sometimes gets picked up off the base of the river and bounces along the river bed downstream

Question 33

Traction

Answer 33

When there is a lot of water in the river or there is a high flow velocity, the water in the river moves pebbles and cobbles. The water does not lift them off the riverbed, but rolls them along the riverbed.

Question 34

Deposition

Answer 34

the dumping of rocks, sand and silt wherever the river slows down

Question 35

Discharge

Answer 35

The volume of water in a river passing a point in a given time.

Question 36

V-shaped valley

Answer 36

Rivers flow through V-shaped valleys in their upper course. V-shaped valleys are usually found in the mountains and hills. They are so called because they often have very steep sides.

Question 37

Meander

Answer 37

large bends in a river

Question 38

oxbow lake

Answer 38

An oxbow lake is a U shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water.

Question 39

Delta

Answer 39

a flat land shaped like a triangle where the river splits and spreads into many branches before entering the sea

Question 40

Gorge

Answer 40

a deep, narrow valley with steep sides, usually formed by a river or stream cutting through hard rock

Question 41

Gradient

Answer 41

how steep a slope is

Question 42

rapids

Answer 42

part of a river where the water looks white because it is moving very fast over rocks

Question 43

Flood Plain

Answer 43

the large area of flat land on either side of a river that is sometimes covered with water when the river becomes too full

Question 44

Salt Marsh

Answer 44

area of low, flat ground that is subject to flooding by salt water

Question 45

Hard Engineering

Answer 45

Articial/Controlling structures to prevent damage and erosion | e.g sea walls, groynes, revetments, rock armour

Question 46

Soft Engineering