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geography EOY ✅ > river environments > Flashcards

river environments Flashcards

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1
Q

What is precipitation

A

When water falls from the sky (eg rain, snow sleet)

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2
Q

What is evaporation

A

The process of turning from a liquid to a vapour

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3
Q

What is condensation

A

The process where water vapour becomes liquid

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4
Q

What is interception

A

When leaves on trees catch precipitation when it falls

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5
Q

What is surface runoff

A

When water runs along the surface of the ground

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6
Q

What is a permeable rock

A

a rock that allows water to soak into it

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7
Q

What is throughflow

A

When water flows sideways through the soil towards the river

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8
Q

What is an impermeable rock

A

a rock that will not allow water to soak into it

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9
Q

What is the source

A

The starting point of a river usually in the hills

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10
Q

What is the confluence

A

The point where two rivers meet

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11
Q

What is a tributary

A

a smaller river that joins onto a larger one

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12
Q

What is the watershed

A

An imaginary line that separates one drainage basin from another

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13
Q

What is a floodplain

A

Flat land at the sides of a river that gets flooded when a river overflows

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14
Q

What is the mouth

A

where a river flows into a lake sea or ocean

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15
Q

What is a drainage basin

A

The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries

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16
Q

What is a river channel

A

Where the river flows

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17
Q

What is a river bank

A

The side of a river channel

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18
Q

What is a river bed

A

The bottoms of a river channel

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19
Q

What is erosion

A

The wearing away and removal of material by force

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20
Q

What is hydraulic action

A

The power of the water as it smashes against the river banks, air becomes trapped in the cracks of the river bank and bed causing the rock to break apart

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21
Q

What is abrasion/ corrasion

A

When pebbles and stones scrape the bed and banks of a river and wear it away

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22
Q

What is attrition

A

When rocks and stones knock against eachother and break down into smaller pieces

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23
Q

What is solution (corrosion)

A

When slightly acidic water dissolves certain types of rocks eg limestone

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24
Q

What is weathering

A

The breakdown and decay of rock by natural processes without the involvement of any force and it occurs in place eg elements of the weather

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25
Q

What is transportation

A

The movement of a rivers load (eroded material carried by the river)

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26
Q

What is deposition

A

The laying down (dropping) of material being carried by a moving force, such as a river or waves

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27
Q

What is physical weathering

A

Water from precipitation entering the crevices and cracks in rock, followed by changes in temperature causing water to freeze and thaw, exerting pressure on rocks as water turned to ice expands within cracks physically breaking rocks apart

28
Q

What is chemical weathering

A

Slightly acidic rain seeps into porous rocks causing certain rocks to decay and disintigrate

29
Q

What is biological weathering

A

The roots of plants especially trees, growing in cracks in rocks gradually breaking the rocks apart. This is also accelerated by burrowing animals

30
Q

What is suspension

A

Fine material such as sand and soil are carried by the flow of the river

31
Q

What is saltation

A

Small stones and pebbles bounce along the river bed

32
Q

What is traction

A

Heavier materials such as heavy rocks are rolled along the river bed

33
Q

What is a hydrograph

A

a graph that shows how a rivers discharge has changed following a storm event

34
Q

What is discharge

A

The volume of water flowing through a river channel at any given point

35
Q

What is a river regime

A

The variation in river discharge throughout a year

36
Q

How would human impact influence the water cycle

A

Deforestation reduces the evapo transpiration transfer and reduces interception
Global warming - melts ice sheets and glaciers increasing the fresh water store also increases evaporation and precipitaion

37
Q

What is infiltration

A

Process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil

38
Q

What is percolation

A

The downward movement of water from the soil into the rock beneath

39
Q

What is transpiration

A

Where water evaporates into the atmosphere through plants

40
Q

What is evapotranspiration

A

The sum of all processes by which water moves from the land surface into the atmosphere via evaporation and transpiration

41
Q

What is peak discharge

A

The maximum amount of water held in the channel

42
Q

What is peak rainfall

A

The maximum amount of rainfall

43
Q

What is lag time

A

The time taken between the peak rainfall and peak discsharge

44
Q

What is the rising limb

A

It showeds the increase in discharge on a hydrograph

45
Q

What is the falling limb

A

It shows the return of discharge to normal ( base flow) on a hydrograph

46
Q

What is the base flow

A

The normal discharge of the river

47
Q

What are some factors affecting river regime

A

Climate
Land use
Geology
vegetation

48
Q

What is a valley

A

Long low areas that can typically be found between hills and mountains

49
Q

What is a v shaped valley

A

A valley shaped like a v created by vertical erosion from a river

50
Q

what is the long profile of a river

A

It shows how the gradient changes as a river flows from source to mouth

51
Q

What is a cross profile

A

The shape of the river valley at a particular point

52
Q

what is a v shaped valley

A

A steep sided valley formed by a river in its upper course, it has a narrow floor and steep slopes due to vertical erosion

53
Q

What is a meander

A

a bend in the river

54
Q

What is a plunge pool

A

A deep depression in the riverbed at the base of a waterfall created by erosion of soft rock

55
Q

What are interlocking spurs

A

Projections of high land that alternate from either side of a v shaped valley

56
Q

What is a valley

A

A low area of land between hills or mountains often with a river flowing through it

57
Q

What a gorge

A

a steep narrow valley with nearly vertical walls formed by the retreat of a waterfall

58
Q

What is an oxbow lake

A

a crescent shaped lake formed when a meander of a river is cut off from the main river channel

59
Q

Define levee

A

Embankments at the sides of a river channel build up over time after repeated flooding

60
Q

What is a meander scar

A

a feature formed by the drying up of an oxbow lake indicating the previous position of a meander bend

61
Q

What is the Bradshaw’s model

A

a geographical model that shows how a rivers characteristic varies between the upper and lower course

62
Q

Describe the formation of v shaped valleys

A

As the river flows down steep gradients it erodes vertically, weathering breaks up and loosens the soil and rock, one common type of weathering in upland areas is freeze thaw. The loosened material creeps down because of gravity in a process called soil creep and is washed away into the river. Overtime resulting in a v shaped valley

63
Q

Explain the formation of a waterfall

A

Waterfalls are formed when a river flows over hard rock overlaying softer rock, the softer rock is eroded quicker by hydraulic action and abrasion. This creates a drop, over time the channel deepens forming a deep plunge pool. Over time the hard rock is undercutting, and eventually falls into the plunge pool causing the waterfall to retreat upstream forming a steep sided gorge.

64
Q

Explain the formation of a levee

A

During a flood the velocity of the water decreases as it spreads out onto the floodplain due to friction. This causes the river to reduce the rivers ability to carry materials, resulting in the deposition of larger material closest to the river and the deposition of finer material further away. Over time these layers of sediment build up creating embankments known as levees

65
Q

Explain the formation of a river meander

A

a river meander forms through a process of erosion and deposition. The faster moving water on the outside of the bend erodes the bank, creating a steep cliff, while the slower moving water on the inside deposits sediment forming a slip off slope. Over time this cycle repeats causing the vend to become more pronounced and the rivers course to gradually shift towards the outside of the bend forming a meander

geography EOY ✅ (4 decks)

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