Rivers

Question 1

3 physical causes of the River Stour flood, 1979

Answer 1

• impermeable clay layer
• heavy rainfall
• narrow flood plain

Question 2

Human cause of the River Stour flood, 1979

Answer 2

Land use change from woodland, to farming

Question 3

Environmental effects of the River Stour flood, 1979

Answer 3

Wildlife effected e.g. The nests of ground nesting birds may be washed away along with their eggs

Question 4

3 strategies used after the River Stour flood, 1979 to stop it happening again

Answer 4

• Flood wall
• pumping station
• flood bank

Question 5

2 physical causes of the Mississippi Flood, 2011

Answer 5

• Heavy rainfall and snowfall (x4 normal amount)

- High proportion of tornadoes

Question 6

Human causes of the Mississippi flood, 2011

Answer 6

Increased development of impermeable surfaces on flood plains

Question 7

A social impact of the Mississippi flood, 2011

Answer 7

Outbreak of disease, e.g. Tetanus

Question 8

Economic impact of the Mississippi flooding, 2011

Answer 8

Homes flooded

Cost of insurance increase

Question 9

3 Hard engineering strategies (Mississippi 2011)

Answer 9

• levees built (since eighteenth century)
• River straightening
• Floodways and cut offs divert water in times of flood

Question 10

3 soft engineering strategies (Mississippi 2011)

Answer 10

• subsidised insurance scheme to regulate land use on the floodplain
• agricultural land that has been flooded purchased to store excess water
• restoration of upriver wetland areas to act as sponges during heavy rainfall