Rivers & Coasts Flashcards
What are landforms?
When we study the shape of the Earth, we look at different landforms = all landforms are the result of wind, water, waves/ice = may be a result of erosion/deposition.
What is geomorphology?
Geo = the Earth Morph = to change Ology = the study of
Therefore Geomorphology is the study of the changing Earth.
What is weathering?
The breakdown of rocks by climate, chemicals, plants and animals
What are the 4 types of weathering?
- Physical weathering
- Freeze-thaw weathering
- Biological weathering
- Chemical weathering
What is erosion?
The removal of weathered material.
What are the 4 types of erosion?
Rivers Erosion
Wind Erosion
Coastal Erosion (Sea)
Glacial Erosion (Ice)
What is a drainage basin?
The entire area drained by a river system.
What is a watershed?
High-lying region which separates one drainage basin from another.
What is a source?
Original point from which a river flows.
What is a tributary?
Small rivers which join the main river.
What are confluences?
Point where a tributary joins the main river.
What is the mouth? (NOT the digestive system)
Place where a river enters the ocean/a lake.
What is the main river?
The large river into which all the tributaries flow.
What is a flood plain?
The land adjacent to the river that gets flooded when the river overflows.
What are the 5 parts of the longitudinal profile of a river?
- Source
- Upper Course
- Middle Course
- Lower Course
- Mouth
What are the 4 agents of erosion?
- Wind
- Rivers
- Sea
- Ice
What are the 5 processes of erosion that take place in a river? Explain each. (Besides Solution which doesn’t have a definition)
- Solution
- Hydraulic action - the force of water on the river bed and banks weakens the rock and removes material.
- Attrition - the load carried in the river, collides (bumps) into itself and breaks up making smaller rounder pebbles
- Abrasion - material in the load rubs, grinds against and wears away the bed and banks of the river.
- Corrosion - slightly acidic water dissolves certain rock materials.
How does a meander form?
A meander forms through the processes of erosion (slow current) and deposition (fast current)
What is a meander?
Meanders are a series of regular curves, bends/turns in the channel of a river.
When this happens -> river starts to develop a bending pattern.
Force of water is greatest on the outside of the bend
What is a river cliff?
Formed when water hits the bank of the outside bend, eroded until there is a small cliff.
Water movement is fast/slow and material builds up/is removed due to the process of deposition/erosion.
slow
builds up
deposition
Describe the 4 stages of erosion along the coastline.
- The coast is made of hard & soft rock which is eroded by waves.
- The soft rock is worn away faster than the hard rock. Bays are created in the soft rock and the hard rock becomes a headland which juts out into the sea.
- Material that has been eroded and weathered from the headlands is deposited in the bays and cause
bay-head beaches to be built up. The headlands are attacked on all sides by the waves and a series of features from caves to stumps may evolve. - This process continues until the coastline is ‘evened’ out (which has now retreated inland) and the whole process starts again.
What are the 4 advantages of flood plains?
- Fertile
- Mineral Rich (due to mud/silt deposited by the river during floods)
- Flat - easy to farm and build on
- Close to water source
What are the 4 erosive processes that happen along a coastline?
- Hydraulic action
- Corrasion
- Corrosion
- Attrition
What are the 2 types of rock in a coastline?
Hard rock (Resistant rock) Soft rock
What are the 4 types of landforms that are created by coastal erosion?
- Caves
- Arches
- Stacks
- Stumps
Give 4 strategies to protect the coastline.
- Groynes
- Rip-rap
- Sea walls
- Beach rebuilding
