Rivers & Coasts Flashcards

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1
Q

What are landforms?

A

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.

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2
Q

What is geomorphology?

A
Geo = the Earth
Morph = to change
Ology = the study of

Therefore Geomorphology is the study of the changing Earth.

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3
Q

What is weathering?

A

The breakdown of rocks by climate, chemicals, plants and animals

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4
Q

What are the 4 types of weathering?

A
  1. Physical weathering
  2. Freeze-thaw weathering
  3. Biological weathering
  4. Chemical weathering
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5
Q

What is erosion?

A

The removal of weathered material.

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6
Q

What are the 4 types of erosion?

A

Rivers Erosion
Wind Erosion
Coastal Erosion (Sea)
Glacial Erosion (Ice)

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7
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

The entire area drained by a river system.

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8
Q

What is a watershed?

A

High-lying region which separates one drainage basin from another.

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9
Q

What is a source?

A

Original point from which a river flows.

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10
Q

What is a tributary?

A

Small rivers which join the main river.

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11
Q

What are confluences?

A

Point where a tributary joins the main river.

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12
Q

What is the mouth? (NOT the digestive system)

A

Place where a river enters the ocean/a lake.

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13
Q

What is the main river?

A

The large river into which all the tributaries flow.

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14
Q

What is a flood plain?

A

The land adjacent to the river that gets flooded when the river overflows.

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15
Q

What are the 5 parts of the longitudinal profile of a river?

A
  1. Source
  2. Upper Course
  3. Middle Course
  4. Lower Course
  5. Mouth
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16
Q

What are the 4 agents of erosion?

A
  1. Wind
  2. Rivers
  3. Sea
  4. Ice
17
Q

What are the 5 processes of erosion that take place in a river? Explain each. (Besides Solution which doesn’t have a definition)

A
  1. Solution
  2. Hydraulic action - the force of water on the river bed and banks weakens the rock and removes material.
  3. Attrition - the load carried in the river, collides (bumps) into itself and breaks up making smaller rounder pebbles
  4. Abrasion - material in the load rubs, grinds against and wears away the bed and banks of the river.
  5. Corrosion - slightly acidic water dissolves certain rock materials.
18
Q

How does a meander form?

A

A meander forms through the processes of erosion (slow current) and deposition (fast current)

19
Q

What is a meander?

A

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

20
Q

What is a river cliff?

A

Formed when water hits the bank of the outside bend, eroded until there is a small cliff.

21
Q

Water movement is fast/slow and material builds up/is removed due to the process of deposition/erosion.

A

slow
builds up
deposition

22
Q

Describe the 4 stages of erosion along the coastline.

A
  1. The coast is made of hard & soft rock which is eroded by waves.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. This process continues until the coastline is ‘evened’ out (which has now retreated inland) and the whole process starts again.
23
Q

What are the 4 advantages of flood plains?

A
  1. Fertile
  2. Mineral Rich (due to mud/silt deposited by the river during floods)
  3. Flat - easy to farm and build on
  4. Close to water source
24
Q

What are the 4 erosive processes that happen along a coastline?

A
  1. Hydraulic action
  2. Corrasion
  3. Corrosion
  4. Attrition
25
Q

What are the 2 types of rock in a coastline?

A
Hard rock (Resistant rock)
Soft rock
26
Q

What are the 4 types of landforms that are created by coastal erosion?

A
  1. Caves
  2. Arches
  3. Stacks
  4. Stumps
27
Q

Give 4 strategies to protect the coastline.

A
  1. Groynes
  2. Rip-rap
  3. Sea walls
  4. Beach rebuilding