Rivers and Coasts

Question 1

What are the physical causes of flooding?

Answer 1

• Intense precipitation/rainfall - Saturated ground leads to more run-off
• Intense snowfall - Snow melts in short period of time
• Impermeable surfaces - Lack of infiltration, greater surface-runoff
• Steep valley sides - rapid surface-runoff

Question 2

Name the four types of transportation and give a brief explanation.

Answer 2

• Solution (some chemicals are carried along dissolved in the water)
• Suspension (fine particles like mud and silt float in the water)
• Saltation (smaller particles like sand and gravel can bounce down the river)
• Traction (large materials like boulders and rocks are dragged or rolled along the river bed)

Question 3

Name the four types of erosion, with a brief explanation.

Answer 3

• Attrition (the materials carried by the river itself ware themselves away)
• Solution/Corrosion (the river dissolves the rocks on the bed and bank)
• Hydraulic action (the force of the water wears away the banks and bed)
• Abrasion/Corrosion (the material carried by the river bangs off the bed and banks wearing them away)

Question 4

Name the two types of waves and give a brief explanation of them both.

Answer 4

• Constructive (the swash is greater than the backwash and deposits sediment)
• Destructive (back wash is stronger than the back wash and erodes the coastline)

Question 5

Effects of flooding in a MEDC, state whether environmental or socioeconomic.

Answer 5

[En] Environmental, [S] Socialeconomic

• [S] Insurance prices rise
• [S] Homes damaged
• [S] House prices declined
• [S] Businesses destroyed, leads to unemployment
• [S] Tourist industry damaged
• [En] Roads and bridges destroyed
• [En] Crops destroyed

Question 6

What are the human causes of flooding?

Answer 6

• Deforestation - Less interception, absorption and evapotranspiration
• Man-made impermeable surfaces - Lack of infiltration, greater surface-runoff

Question 7

Effects of flooding in a LEDC, state whether environmental or socioeconomic.

Answer 7

[En] Environmental, [S] Socialeconomic

• [En] Crops destroyed - [S] starvation - deaths
• [En] Contaminated water supplies - [S] dehydration and spread of water-borne diseases
• [En] Buildings, bridges and roads destroyed