Unit 1C - River Landscapes in the UK - River valley, courses, erosion, transportation and depostion

Question 1

What is a drainage basin?

Answer 1

An area of land where rain collects and runs into a main river

Question 2

Where does a river start and end?

Answer 2

Starts at source and ends at mouth

Question 3

What do the following mean: tributary, confluence and watershed?

Answer 3

Tributary - a small stream/river that flows into main channel
Confluence - point where two rivers meet
Watershed - boundary between two drainage basins

Question 4

What is a rivers’ cross-profile?

Answer 4

Cross-sectional shape of channel or valley - including width/depth

Question 5

What is a rivers’ long profile?

Answer 5

Shows how river changes from source to mouth. Concave in shape and its gradient decreases as move from upland to lowland

Question 6

Cross-profile of channel and valley in upper course is…?

Answer 6

Narrow, shallow, steep and v-shaped

Question 7

Cross-profile of channel and valley in lower course is…?

Answer 7

Wide, deep and flat with a flood plain

Question 8

River flows fastest in which course?

Answer 8

Lower course

Question 9

Erosion and deposition are dominant in which courses each?

Answer 9

Erosion - upper course

Deposition - lower course

Question 10

How is river eroding in upper course compared to middle course?

Answer 10

Vertically in upper and laterally in middle

Question 11

Which weathering helps to create a V-shaped valley?

Answer 11

Freeze-thaw weathering

Question 12

How does vertical erosion occur?

Answer 12

High turbulence causing rough, angular particles to be scraped along river bed, which causes intense downwards erosion

Question 13

Difference between vertical and lateral erosion?

Answer 13

V - deepens channel and valley, making it V-shaped

L - widens valley and channel during formation of meanders

Question 14

4 processes of erosion in rivers?

Answer 14

Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution

Question 15

What does attrition cause to rocks between the source and mouth?

Answer 15

Particle size of rock to decreasae

Question 16

What is hydraulic action in river?

Answer 16

Force of water breaks rock particles away from channel

Question 17

4 processes of transportation in river?

Answer 17

Traction, suspension, saltation and solution

Question 18

4 reasons why rivers deposit material?

Answer 18

• reduction in velocity of water
• amount of eroded material in water increases
• shallower water and volume of water in river falls
• river reaches an obstruction (sea or lake)