RIVER LANDSCAPES - UK Flashcards
What is a river drainage basin
The area drained by a river and its tributaries
What is river erosion
The wearing away of the land by river
What is river deposition
The depositing of material carried by the river
What is a watershed (river)
The area of high land surrounding the river drainage basin
What is the river source
Where the river begins high up in the mountains
What are tributaries
Small streams that feed into the main river
What is a river confluence
Where two or more tributaries meet together
What is a river channel
The main body of the river in which the water flows
What is the river mouth
Where are river ends as it meets the sea or a lake
Name features of the upper course of a river
Rapids
Large boulders
Interlocking spurs
Waterfalls
Fast flowing water
Vertical erosion
Tribute trees
Source of the river
Narrow V shaped Valley
Gorges
Name features of the middle course of the river
Large meanders
Wide floodplains
Oxbow lakes
Raised banks caused by flooding (levees)
River starts to meander
Deposition
Wider, less steep U-shaped valley
Lateral erosion
Name features of the lower course of the river
Very wide flat Valley
River at its lowest
Industry and ports are found here
How many processes of erosion are there
4
Name the 4 processes of erosion in a river
Hydraulic action
abrasion
Attrition
Solution
What is hydraulic action
The sheer force of the water hitting the banks and riverbed causes rocks to be gradually removed by the river
What is abrasion
The process by which the bed and banks are worn down by the rivers load
The river throws these particles against the bed and banks at high velocity
What is attrition
Material carried by the river (the load)
Bumping into each other and so are smoothed and broken down into smaller particles
What is solution (river erosion)
The chemical action of the river water
The acids in the water slowly dissolve the bed and the banks particularly limestone
What is discharge in a river
The amount of water in the river
How is a V shaped Valley formed
1) river is Eroded downwards as builders, stones and rock particles are bounced and scraped along the channel bed
2) As the river cuts down the steep sides are attacked by weathering. This breaks up and loosen the soil and rock
3) The Loose material slowly creeps down the slope because of gravity or is washed away by river water and the river carries it away
4) The end result is a steep Sided valley that has the shape of a V
How was the waterfall formed
1) A river flows over the hard rock layer which is on top of the soft rock
2) The plunge pool is created at the base of the water where the water flows after running off the hard rock
3) Because it is soft rock it is eroded more easily than the hard rock
4)As the plunge pool grows, it undercuts the hard rock leaving an overhang
5)The overhang of rock is unsupported and eventually becomes a week and falls into the plunge pool
6)This process is repeated
7)Over many years the waterfall begins to retreat as the soft rock keeps being eroded and hard rock keeps falling down
8). Due to the repeat of this process, a gorge is created - Very steep vertical valley

Give an example of a waterfall retreating and it’s gorge
Niagara Falls retreats 1 m per year
It’s gorge is 7.1 miles long
What is a rivers bedload
The material carried by river as it moves
Why does the bedload/material get smaller as and rounder downstream
Attrition
What is the rivers capacity
The maximum volume of load that a river can carry at a specific point in its course
What is the rivers competence
The biggest sized particle that a river can carry at a specific point
How many types of transportation do rivers use
Four
Name the four types of transportation of river uses
Traction
Saltation
Suspension
Solution
What is traction
The largest rocks in the river are rolled slowly along the bottom of the river