River Landscapes Flashcards
What is a drainage basin?
The area of land drained by a river.
What is the source of a river?
The start of a river.
What is a tributary?
A small stream that joins a larger river.
What is the mouth of a river?
The end of a river where it meets the sea.
What is a V-shaped valley?
The steep sided of a river valley in the upper course of a river.
What is a long profile?
A diagram showing the shape of a river downhill from source in the upper course to the mouth in the lower course.
What is a cross profile?
A diagram that shows what a river channel’s shape is side-on.
What is transportation in the context of rivers?
How river or the sea moves sand or pebbles along, there are 4 types: solution, suspension, saltation, and traction.
What is sediment?
Another term for sand, pebbles, rocks or particles in a river or on a beach.
What is load in river terminology?
Another term for material such as pebbles in a river.
What are interlocking spurs?
Fingers of land that stick out in an alternate pattern into a river valley, in the upper course.
What is a gorge?
A narrow steep sided valley with a waterfall in it, in the upper course.
What are meanders?
Wide bends of a river mainly in the middle or lower course.
What are ox-bow lakes?
A C-shaped lake made from a meander loop in a river which has eroded so much the loop has cut off from the river.
What are floodplains?
A wide flat area of land on either side of a river in the middle or lower course.
What are levees?
A raised ridge of land found either side of a river formed by flooding over several years.
What are flash floods?
Sudden floods associated with heavy rainstorms.
What is geology in relation to rivers?
The rock type found in an area, especially around a river, it can be impermeable (does not allow water to pass through it) or permeable (does allow water to pass through it).
What is a (storm) hydrograph?
A graph to show the volume of water in a river after a storm.
What is discharge in river terms?
The volume of water in river, cubic metres per second.
What is lag time?
The time between the peak rainfall and peak discharge.
What is a flood relief channel?
A man-made straight channel dug to divert water around important locations if a river is at risk of flooding. It reduces discharge in the main river channel which means the risk of flooding is decreased.
What is floodplain zoning?
Restricting different land uses to certain locations on the floodplains.
What is afforestation?
Planting trees in areas where there have not been trees before.
