Rivers Flashcards
Where do rivers begin?
At their source
A rivers route from its source to the sea is called its …
Course
Where a river meets the sea is called it’s …
Mouth
What is a drainage basin?
The area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries
What are two drainage basins usually separated by?
High land know as watershed
What are tributaries?
Small streams that join a river
What’s a levee?
Raised banks formed by the river on its floodplain
What’s an estuary?
Near the sea the part of the river that is effected by the tides
What is a meander?
Bends in the river
What’s a confluence
The meeting point of two rivers
What’s a floodplain?
Are covered in water in times of heavy rain
What is hydraulic action?
Is the force of fast flowing water that breaks up the bed and banks of the river
What is abrasion?
Stones carried by the river hit against the bed and banks
What is solution?
When river water dissolves the rocks over which it flows
What is attrition?
When stones roll along the bed or collide with each other
What’s traction?
Larger stones are rolled or dragged along river bed
What is saltation
Lighter stones are hopped along the river bed
What is Suspension
The smallest rock or soil grains are held up in the water making the water cloudy
What is solution
Rock is dissolved in the water. Water may be clear but coloured
What is alluvium
Is a fertile soil. Millions of farmers rely on river flooding to deposit alluvium on their fields eg the river Ganges India
What are the three stages of a rivers course
Upper, middle,lower
What happens in upper course
Steep, fast flowing river with little water, lots of erosion
What happens in the middle course
River starts to flow down. More eroding, some deposition
What happens in the lower course
River moving more slowly. Much more water. Mainly deposition, not much erosion
