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Rivers Flashcards

1
Q

What is the source of the river?

A

Where the river begins

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2
Q

What is the drainage basin?

A

The area from which water drains into a river

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3
Q

What is the water shed?

A

An imaginary line that separates two drainage basins

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4
Q

What is confluence?

A

The point where 2 rivers join together

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5
Q

What are tributaries

A

Smaller rivers which join to the main river

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6
Q

What’s the flood plain?

A

Land that floods when a fiver overflows

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7
Q

What is the mouth of a river?

A

Where the river flows into the sea or lake

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8
Q

What’s the river bed?

A

The bottom of the river channel

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9
Q

What’s the river banks

A

The sides of the river channel

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10
Q

What’s the river long profile?

A

Shows how a rivers gradient changes as it flows from its source to its mouth

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11
Q

Lost some characteristics of the upper course:

A
  • steepest part of the river
  • small channel but fast flow
  • high energy levels
  • river erodes bed
  • downward erosion
  • v shaped valleys
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12
Q

Name some characteristics of the middle course?

A
  • slower flow
  • less steep river banks
  • more tributaries making river wider
  • flood plain starts to develop
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13
Q

Name some characteristics of the lower course:

A
  • valley sides are gone
  • large floodplain
  • slow movement/flow
  • deposition is main process
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14
Q

What is erosion?

A

The gradual removal of rock from river banks and bed

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15
Q

What’s corrosion/abrasion?

A

The bed and banks are worn down by the rivers load - rocks hit banks at high velocities to break the banks and bed away

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16
Q

What’s attrition

A

The load carried by the river hit each and are broken down into smaller smoother rocks

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17
Q

What’s solution?

A

The chemical action if the river water, the acids in the water slowly dissolve the banks and bed of the river

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18
Q

What’s hydraulic action?

A

When the force of water is against the bed and banks and eroded it

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19
Q

Name some ways the rates of erosion can be affected

A

Discharge, velocity, gradient , rock resistance/type

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20
Q

What is the bed load?

A

The material carried by a river as it moves

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21
Q

What is the transportation process of suspension?

A

Fine light material carried along the water

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22
Q

What is the transportation process of solution?

A

Minerals are dissolved in the water and carried along in water

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23
Q

What’s the transportation process of traction?

A

Large boulders and rocks rolled along the river. Bed

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24
Q

What’s the transportation process of saltation?

A

Small pebbles and stones rolled along the river bed

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25
What's a waterfall?
A geographical formation where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region/cliff
26
How do waterfalls occur?
When rivers flow over different types of rock, the soft rock wear away faster than the hard rock. In time a step develops over which the river plunged as a waterfall, water also cuts away rock behind the waterfall, this causes the fells to move back and leave a gorge as it goes.
27
What's the water fall cycle
Soft rock worn away -> hard rock undercut -> plunge pool deepens -> hard rock collapses -> waterfall Moves back ->
28
What's the thalweg?
The line of fastest flow/velocity
29
What is a meander?
A bend in the water course of the river
30
The the river cliff in a meander?
Where erosion happens and undercutting occurs On the outer bend
31
What's the slip off slope?
Deposition on the inner bend
32
Where do meanders occur?
In the middle course - in a wider and deeper channel and an open area with a floodplain
33
How does a meander occur?
When there are changing velocities in the middle course and the water flows in a spiral which causes variation in velocity across the channel which creates a thalweg and where there is most an energy in the outer bend erosion processes occur like abrasion and hydraulic action and a river cliff forms however in the inner bend where there is least energy deposition occurs and forms a slip off slope, over time more is eroded and deposited and a meander is formed
34
What's an ox bow lake?
A horseshoe area that represents the former course of the river going through a meander
35
How does a ox bow lake form?
The thalweg in the outer bend of a meander causes erosion which cause the neck to narrow, then during s flood of when there's a lot of water, it breaks through the neck and so stops going round the meander as water always takes the fastest route, then deposition occurs which blocks the Meander forming an oxbow lake
36
What is capacity?
Maximum amount of things a river can carry - overall weight
37
What is competence?
The maximum size of a thing a river can carry
38
How do levees form
In a flood larger material is deposited on the banks and over many floods it builds up to be levees
39
What's an estuary
The tidal part of the river where the channel broadens out as it reaches the sea
40
What's a tidal bore?
Huge waves that move up the river than can damage vegetation and banks
41
What are mudflats?
Laters of mud from depositions where there's less velocity
42
What's a delta
A flat area of sand and silt built out into the sea
43
How do deltas occur?
When a particular river is carrying a large load and it reaches the sea the velocity slows and drops the load
44
What's the valley like in all the courses?
Upper course - v shape Middle course - u shape Lower course - much wider u shape [ - that shape on turned 90 degrees
45
What are the human causes of flooding?
Deforestation, farming, channelisation, urbanisation,
46
What are the physical causes of flooding?
Snow melting, rain, impermeable rock
47
What's interception?
When water is absorbed by vegetation
48
What's infiltration
When water is absorbed into the ground
49
What's transpiration
Where plants evaporate water from leaves
50
What's percolation
Some water goes deeper in the ground and is slowly transferred back to the river or sea
51
What's through flow
When water infiltrated the soil and moves more slowly back to the river than surface run off
52
What's groundwater
Water that has infiltrated the ground and is found in cracks and spaces in the soil and rocks
53
What's surface run off
Water that directly flows back into the river
54
In hydrography a what is the base flow?
The starting and finishing flow of the river either side of the increased discharge
55
What's lag time
Time between peak rainfall and peak discharge
56
What's the rising limb?
The increasing discharge as water enters channel
57
What's the falling limb
Fall in discharge back to base flow
58
What is a dam
Built to control discharge and holds back water, very expensive but can be a source of drinking water
59
What's afforestation
Planting trees to slow down the flow of water towards the river channel and allow more interception
60
What's levees or embankments
Increase the maximum area of the river channel allowing it to hold more water
61
What's floodplain zoning
Consider the flood plain and try to build in areas far or elevated from the river
62
What's channelisation
Building concrete banks and straightening the river to reduce friction and allow the water to flow quicker
63
What's a flood warning system
Allows evacuation of areas likely to flood and reduces damage as people can prepare
64
What are retention ponds
Ponds that allow runoff to me temporarily stored
65
What are energy levels like in upper course
A lot of gravitational potential energy so vertical erosion, not enough energy to carry big rocks in water so rolled along bed
66
What are middle course energy levels like
More kinetic energy do more transportation Less gravitational potential energy so lateral instead of vertical erosion
67
What's energy in the lower course like
No gravitational potential so mainly lateral erosion a lot of deposition due to slow velocity

Geography (13 decks)

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