Water on the Land Flashcards
Channel?
Part of the river occupied by the water itself
Hydraulic Action?
Power of the volume of water moving in the river
Abrasion?
Occurs when larger load carried by river hits the bed and banks, causing bits to break off
Attrition?
Load carried by the river knocks other parts of load, so breaks bits off making it smoother and rounder
Solution?
The dissolving of certain types of rock such as chalk and limestone (both erosion and transportation)
Load?
Material carried by the river
Traction?
Rolling along boulders and large rocks
Saltation?
Bouncing movement of small stones and grains of sand along the river bed
Suspension?
Small material carried within the river
Long Profile?
Line representing the course of the river from source to mouth, and shows how the gradient changes along its course
Cross Profile?
Cross sectional area
Waterfall?
Sudden, vertical drop of a river along its course
Gorge?
Narrow, steep-sided valley caused by the retreat of a waterfall
Meander?
Bend in the river
Oxbow Lake?
Semi-circular area that represents the former course of the meander
Floodplain?
Flat area adjacent to the river channel, where water spills onto when the river bursts its banks
Levees?
Raised banks along the course of the river in its lower course
Discharge?
Volume of water at any given moment in the river
Drainage Basin?
Area from which the river gets water
Flood Hydrograph?
A line graph drawn to show the discharge of a river in the aftermath of a period of rain
Relief?
Height and slope of the land
Impermeable?
Rock that doesn’t allow water to soak into it
Porous?
Rock that has spaces between particles
Hard Engineering?
Use of technology in order to try and control rivers
