Rivers Flashcards
Name the four types of river erosion.
Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, and solution.
What is transportation in a river? (transporting)
The movement of material (load) by the river.
Name the four types of transportation in rivers.
Traction, saltation, suspension, and solution.
Name landforms found in the upper course of a river.
V-shaped valleys, interlocking spurs, waterfalls, gorges.
Name landforms found in the middle course of a river.
Meanders and oxbow lakes.
Name landforms found in the lower course of a river.
Floodplains, levees, estuaries.
How is a waterfall formed?
Water erodes soft rock underneath hard rock, creating an overhang that collapses, forming a plunge pool and eventually a gorge.
How is an oxbow lake formed?
Erosion on the outside of a meander causes the neck to narrow, then the river cuts through and deposits block off the loop.
What is a levee?
A natural embankment formed by deposition during a flood.
What is a long profile of a river?
A graph showing how the gradient of a river changes from source to mouth.
How does the cross profile of a river valley change?
Upper course is steep and narrow, middle course is wider and flat-bottomed, lower course is very wide and deep.
