River Landscapes and Processes Flashcards
What are the four ways in which rivers transport materials?
Traction, Saltation, Suspension and Solution.
What is Traction?
Large sediment roll along the river bed.
What is saltation?
Where small pieces of shingle or large grains of sand are bounced along the river bed.
What is suspension?
Where small particles like sand or clay are carried by the water stream. This can make water look cloudy.
What is solution?
Where minerals are dissolved in river water and carried downstream.
What is the stream like in the upper course?
Since the gradient is greater it has more power to erode downwardly, forming a V-shaped valley.
What is a stream like in the mid course?
As gradient had decreased, the river begins to erode laterally and widening, forming meanders and ox-bow lakes.
What is a stream like in the lower course?
The gradient is very shallow and thus the stream is increasingly wide, forming floodplains and levees.
What is a river mouth?
Where a river ends, either when it joins another river or the sea.
What is a long profile?
A slice through the river from source to mouth showing elevation changes throughout its course.
What is the river source?
The start of the river, normally found at high elevation in areas glaciated or of high rainfall.
What is river channel shape?
The width and depth of the river.
What is the river discharge?
The amount of water passing a specific point at a given time, measured in cubic metres per second.
What is river volume?
The amount of water in a river.
What is river velocity?
The speed of the river.
What is a valley profile?
A slice across the river showing changes in height across the valley.
