Rivers Flashcards
What are the four types of erosion?
hydraulic action, abrasion, solution, attrition
What are the four types of transportation?
suspension, solution, traction, saltation
What is a long profile?
A line showing the gradient of a river from source to mouth
What is a cross profile?
A section taken sideways across a river channel and/ or valley
What is a meander?
A bend in the river
(MEANDERS) What are riffles?
shallow, fast flowing sections with deposits of coarser gravel
(MEANDERS) What are pools?
Deeper, slower-moving sections with finer deposits
Where do waterfalls form?
Where there is a junction between a hard capping upstream and soft rock downstream
What is an oxbow lake?
A small, horseshoe-shaped lake
What is a waterfall?
A sudden, steep drop in a river
What is a gorge?
A deep, narrow passage that usually has a river running through it
What is an interlocking spur?
Hill that a river meanders around in a V-shaped valley. When viewed from downstream, these spurs appear to be locked together
What is a levee?
A raised river bed found alongside a river that is prone to flooding
What is a floodplain?
An area of low-lying land next to a river which is prone to flooding
What is an estuary?
The open mouth of the river where it meets the sea
What is a mudflat?
Sheltered coastal areas where mud is deposited by tides or rivers
What is a watershed?
the edge of a river basin
What is the source?
Where the river begins
What is the mouth?
Where a river meets the sea
What is a tributary?
A small stream joins a larger river
What is a confluence?
Where a tributary joins a larger river
What is a channel?
Where the river flows
What is a drainage basin?
An area of land drained but a river and it’s tributaries
What is a hydrograph?
A graph to show how a river responds to a period of rainfall
