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Geography > RIvers > Flashcards

RIvers Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the catchment area/drainage basin?

A

An area of land drained by the river

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2
Q

What is the watershed?

A

The boundary of a drainage basin, separating drainage basins.

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3
Q

What is the source?

A

The starting point of a river.

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4
Q

What are/is the tributary(s)?

A

A stream or small river that joins onto a larger river.

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5
Q

What is the confluence?

A

The point where two rivers meet.

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6
Q

What is the mouth?

A

The end point of a river, where the river flows into the sea.

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7
Q

What is interception?

A

Water being caught by trees or vegetation.

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8
Q

What is surface storage?

A

Water stored in puddles, lakes, etc.

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9
Q

What is soil moisture?

A

Water stored in the soil.

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10
Q

What is groundwater?

A

Water stored in the rock layer.

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11
Q

What is infiltration?

A

The process of water soaking into the ground.

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12
Q

What is percolation?

A

Water soaking deeper below the surface.

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13
Q

What is surface run-off?

A

Water flowing over an impermeable surface (impermeable rock, concrete).

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14
Q

What is throughflow?

A

Water flowing through the soil layer.

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15
Q

What is groundwater flow?

A

Water flowing through the rock layer.

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16
Q

What is evaporation?

A

Water changing state from liquid to gas.

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17
Q

What is condensation?

A

Water vapour cooling, and changing state from gas to liquid.

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18
Q

What is transpiration?

A

The loss of water from plant leaves.

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19
Q

What is evapotranspiration?

A

The sum of transpiration and evaporation.

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20
Q

How does mechanical weathering (freeze-thaw) change the shape of rivers?

A

Rainwater enters gaps/cracks in rocks in freezing temperatures. The water turns to ice and expands, causing the rock to break apart.

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21
Q

How does chemical weathering change the shape of rivers?

A

Acidic rainwater falls on rocks, reacting with weak minerals, and causing them to dissolve.

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22
Q

How does biological weathering change the shape of rivers?

A

Roots of plants such as trees can grow into cracks in rocks and split the rock apart.

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23
Q

What is rockfall?

A

When pieces of rock fall off the face of a river valley/cliff.

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24
Q

What is sliding?

A

When material moves rapidly down a slope, for example in a landslide.

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25
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A

The force of the water hitting the river bed and banks, air entering the cracks and wearing them away.

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26
Q

What is abrasion?

A

Material rubbing the bed and banks of the river, wearing it away.

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27
Q

What is attrition?

A

Small sediment particles colliding with each other, causing them to become smaller and more rounded downstream.

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28
Q

What is solution?

A

The acidity in the water dissolving small rocks such as limestone and chalk.

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29
Q

What is traction?

A

Large particles being rolled along the river bed.

30
Q

What is saltation?

A

Small particles bounced along the river bed.

31
Q

What is suspension?

A

Silt and small particles being carried in the flow.

32
Q

What is solution?

A

Fine particles being dissolved in the river.

33
Q

Describe the long profile of a river.

A

The long profile is a slice through the river from source to mouth. It shows the height and
distance downstream. At the source, the gradient is high, and it decreases and becomes
flatter as the river flows towards the mouth.

34
Q

What is the mouth of a river?

A

Where a river meets the sea.

35
Q

What do river-cross profiles show you?

A

They show you a cross-section of a river’s channel and valley at certain points in the river’s course.

36
Q

What is the gradient?

A

Gradient is a measure of how steeply the river bed
slopes. The gradient/slope of a river decreases downstream.

37
Q

What is the effect of channel width increasing downstream?

A

More water is added to the river and more lateral erosion takes place, making the channel wider.

38
Q

What is the effect of channel depth increasing downstream?

A

More water is added to the river and more erosion takes place, making the channel deeper.

39
Q

What is discharge?

A

The amount of water flowing in a river at a certain time.

40
Q

Why does discharge increase?

A

It increases because extra water comes from tributaries and surface runoff from the ground runs over.

41
Q

What is velocity?

A

A measure of how fast the water moves over a
specified distance. It increases downstream.

42
Q

Why does velocity increase downstream?

A

More water is added to river via tributaries downstream, so less water is in contact with the river bed and therefore less energy is needed to overcome friction.

43
Q

What is bedload shape?

A

Bedload shape describes how angular or rounded the bedload is. Bedload tends to become increasingly rounded as you go downstream due to
abrasion and attrition.

44
Q

What is bedload size?

A

A measure of how large the
material carried by the river is. It decreases downstream
as a result of erosion (attrition).

45
Q

What are the main reasons flood risk is likely to increase in the future?

A

Changes to land use (more urbanisation so more impermeable surfaces, so more surface runoff, so more flooding), increasing population, and changes to weather pattern, particularly linked to climate change.

46
Q

Describe causes of flooding:

Steep valley sides.
(Physical cause)

A

Causes rainwater/snowmelt to rush down the steep sides and reach the river quicker, increasing discharge.

47
Q

Describe causes of flooding:

Impermeable rock.
(Physical cause)

A

Water can’t infiltrate (soak) through the surface of the ground, and surface run-off instead occurs.

48
Q

Describe causes of flooding:

Snowmelt.
(Physical cause)

A

Heavy snowfall in the winter melts in the spring, leading to large volumes of meltwater.

49
Q

Describe causes of flooding:

Urbanisation.
(Human cause)

A

Causes land to become concreted, meaning greater surface run-off, as well as building drainage systems, decreasing the time for the water to reach the channel.

50
Q

Describe causes of flooding:

Deforestation.
(Human cause)

A

There is a loss of interception, again increasing surface run-off.

51
Q

Describe causes of flooding:

Farming.
(Human cause)

A

Causes land to be cleared (deforestation), and a loss of interception.

52
Q

Where is Boscastle and what happened to it?

A

Boscastle is a village in North Cornwall that experienced significant flooding in 2004.

53
Q

What were the causes of the flooding at Boscastle?

A

> Atlantic ocean warmer than usual causing thunderstorms (24.1mm of rain fell in just 15 mins at peak of downpour)
Water had a short lag time
Very heavy rain occurred over a short period of time, saturating the ground.
Deforestation due to farming
Steep valley sides
Narrow river channel

54
Q

What is the annual chance of the flood at Boscastle to happen in any one year?

A

1 in 400.

55
Q

What is lag-time?

A

The time between peak precipitation (rain) during a storm and the peak discharge in a river.

56
Q

What were the impacts of the flooding in Boscastle?

A

> 2m rise in river levels in 1 hour.
50 buildings were flood damaged
Many people lost possessions
25 business properties destroyed by flood waters
Thousands of tons of mud and debris were left throughout the town when flood waters retreated
4 footbridges were washed away as material built up behind them until the pressure was too great.
Trees were uprooted.
Pollution washed into the sea
Animals habitats were destroyed e.g nesting birds living on the edge of rivers.

57
Q

What were the responses of the flooding in Boscastle?

A

> Emergency services were deployed to reduce the impacts of the flood.
Situation was closely monitored by services such as fire crews, environment agency, police and council, Boscastle coast guard.
7 helicopters rescued about 150 people clinging to trees and the roofs of buildings and cars.
Insurance companies paid out £20 million to repair damaged property.
The government paid for a £4.6 million flood defence scheme to reduce the future risk of flooding.
Due to the rapid response of the emergency services, such as the fire brigade and the red cross, no major injuries or loss of life were reported.
The council has widened the river channel next to Riverside Hotel so that more flood water can be held safely.

58
Q

Describe the role of erosion in forming a V-shaped valley.

A

1: The river uses its load to cut down into the bedrock causing vertical erosion.
2: Loosened material is washed into the river increasing the load and therefore the ability to erode.
3: With time the river directs it’s energy into eroding the valley laterally. The whole process then repeats itself.

59
Q

Describe the role of erosion in forming interlocking spurs.

A

In the upper course the river does not have a huge amount of energy to erode as it does
not have a high discharge and it has to transport large pieces of sediment. When the river meets areas of harder rock that are difficult to erode it winds around them. A series of hills form on either side of the river called spurs. As the river flows
around these hills they become interlocked and are known as interlocking spurs.

60
Q

What forms on the inside bend of a river?

A

A slip off slope or point bar.

61
Q

What forms on the outside bend of a river?

A

A steep sided river cliff.

62
Q

How has farming effected river landscapes?

A

The floodplain around a river is being used for agriculture, as the soil is fertile.

63
Q

How has deforestation affected river landscapes?

A

There is a loss of interception of rainwater by trees, having a negative impact on flooding. Industry along the river has resulted in pollution of rivers.

64
Q

How has urbanisation affected river landscapes?

A

Urbanisation has resulted in the creation of impermeable surfaces, resulting in greater surface run-off.

65
Q

What is hard engineering?

A

Involves building artificial defences, usually out of concrete, to interrupt natural processes.

66
Q

What are dams?

A

Large walls used to hold back water in order to control flooding downstream.

67
Q

What are the disadvantages of dams?

A

Expensive, displace people, restrict flow downstream.

68
Q

What is channelization?

A

The straightening/widening/deepening of the river.

69
Q

What are artificial levees?

A

Building up levees along the river bank to increase channel capacity.

70
Q

What is soft engineering?

A

Takes a more natural approach, allowing the processes to work and the land to change in a more environmentally sustainable way.

71
Q

What are some soft engineering techniques?

A

Washlands, floodplain zoning, warning and preparation.

Geography (8 decks)

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