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GCSE Geography > Water on the Land > Flashcards

Water on the Land Flashcards

1
Q

What is the definition of erosion?

A

The wearing away of rock and soil along the river banks and beds or breaking down of rock particles carried by the river

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2
Q

What is transportation?

A

the movement of eroded material downstream. (From point of erosion to point of deposition)

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3
Q

What is deposition?

A

When a river loses energy, it will drop/deposit some of its load (often near the mouth of the river)

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4
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A

The sheer force of the river hitting the bed and banks (causing erosion)

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5
Q

What is abrasion?

A

The load continually hits the river bed/banks, causing material to break off

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6
Q

What is corrosion?

A

Erosion which occurs when the river flows over certain types of rock (e.g. chalk or limestone)

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7
Q

What is attrition?

A

Stones/boulders, carried by the river, hit against each other and erode eachother

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8
Q

What is traction?

A

The heaviest stones in the load are rolled along the river bed by the river

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9
Q

What is saltation?

A

Stones/pebbles are bounced along the river bed, they cannot be carried for long

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10
Q

What is suspension?

A

Particles of rock are suspended in the river and transported in this way

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11
Q

What is solution?

A

Dissolved load carried by the river (not visible) only certain types of rock (e.g. chalk or limestone)

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12
Q

What is the discharge?

A

The amount of water in the river channel

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13
Q

What attributes of the river increase downstream?

A

Discharge, channel width, channel depth, speed, load quantity

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14
Q

What attributes of the river decrease downstream?

A

Load particle size, channel bed roughness, gradient of land

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15
Q

Why does channel width increase downstream?

A

There is less vertical erosion and more lateral erosion

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16
Q

Why does the channel depth increase downstream?

A

Although vertical erosion is less dominant it still continues to occur downstream

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17
Q

How does the shape of the valley change downstream?

A

The valley goes from a ‘v-shape’ to a ‘u-shape’

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18
Q

Where are waterfalls usually found?

A

In the upper course of the river

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19
Q

What is water stress?

A

Water stress is the difference between the rainfall and the demand for water (when there is an inadequate supply)

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20
Q

What is an are of deficit water supply?

A

An area with higher demand than supply of water

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21
Q

What is an area of surplus water supply?

A

An area with higher supply than demand of water

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22
Q

How has the water usage per household changed?

A

It has risen by 70% over the last 30 years

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23
Q

What is the source?

A

The beginning of the river

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24
Q

What is a confluence?

A

Where two rivers meet

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25
What is a watershed?
An area of high land between two drainage basins
26
What is a tributary?
A small river or stream that flows into a larger river
27
What is a drainage basin?
The area drained by a river and its tributaries
28
What is precipitation?
Any form of water entering the basin from the atmosphere (rain/hail/snow etc)
29
What is transpiration?
Water released by plants during respiration
30
What is surface storage?
Where water is stored on the Earth's surface as lakes, rivers or surface depression storage (puddles)
31
What is surface runoff/overland flow?
Water flowing over the surface of the ground under the influence of gravity
32
What is infiltration?
The downward movement of water from the surface through into the soil
33
What is soil water storage?
Where water is stored in the soil
34
What is through flow?
Where water flows through the soil under the influence of gravity, to drain into the nearest river or lake
35
What is groundwater storage?
Water which is stored in porous/pervious rock
36
What is groundwater flow?
Water which flows through the rock layer parallel to the surface
37
What is percolation?
Water flowing through the rock layer into the groundwater store
38
What is the water table?
The line that divides the saturated rock/soil from the unsaturated rock/soil
39
When did the Bangladesh floods occur?
July 2004
40
Which three river flow through Bangladesh?
The Ganges, The Meghna and The Brahmaputra
41
What human factors mean that Bangladesh is susceptible to floods?
Deforestation, irrigation for farming, global warming, built-up areas and poorly maintained embankments (on the river)
42
What physical factors mean that Bangladesh is susceptible to floods?
70% Bangladesh under 1 m above sea level, 10% land area is lakes or rivers, heavy monsoon rains, tropical storms
43
How much of the Bangladesh was flooded in 2004?
60% country and 40% of the capital Dhaka
44
How may people were affected by the 2004 Bangladesh floods?
750 direct deaths, 20 million homeless and secondarily 100,000 in Dhaka suffered from diarrhoea
45
How much damage was caused by the 2004 Bangladesh floods?
$7 billion of damage, 0.5 million livestock lost and 2 million tonnes of rice crop destroyed
46
When were the Tewkesbury floods?
July 2007
47
Which rivers flow through this area in Gloucestershire?
The Severn and The Old Avon
48
What human factors resulted in the Tewkesbury floods?
Bad flood defences, new building developments built on floodplains
49
What physical factors resulted in the Tewkesbury floods?
2 months of rain fell in 14 hours, June and July were the wettest moths on record (since 1766), jet stream was located further south than usual, Tewkesbury is on a confluence and a floodplain
50
How many people were affected by the Tewkesbury floods?
2 people died, 350,000 people were left without water, 10,000 motorists stranded on the M5, 500 stranded at Gloucestershire train station
51
What is the space between peak rainfall and peak discharge? On what graph is it shown?
The lag time, and it is shown on a flood hydrograph
52
What is different about a flash flood on a flood hydrograph?
A flash flood has a higher peak rainfall and peak discharge. It also has a shorter lag time
53
What is the "cap rock" on a waterfall?
A layer of resistant rock (an overhang) over which the river flows
54
Why is an overhang created on a waterfall?
The rock underneath the "cap rock" is softer; so is preferentially eroded, which undercuts the harder rock (forming an overhang)
55
What is found in front of a waterfall?
A gorge (of recession)
56
How is a waterfall (and gorge of recession) formed?
Step, plunge pool, overhang, overhang collapse, waterfall recedes (gorge of recession), process repeats
57
How is a "step" (in terms of waterfalls) created?
River runs over horizontal (or slightly dipping) beds of hard and soft rock. As river reaches softer rock it is preferentially eroded, creating a step.
58
How are meanders formed?
Water has lateral energy, fast outer flow erodes, slow inner flow deposits; this forms meanders
59
How is an ox-bow lake formed?
As a meander continues to become more extreme it eventually forms a swan's neck. Eventually the two sides meet- cutting off a u-shaped lake; an ox-bow lake
60
How are meander scars formed?
When a more direct river course is created- and an ox-bow lake is formed, the lake has very little water supply- so eventually dries out- leaving a meander scar
61
Can you name land-form from each part of a river's course?
Upper: waterfall, middle: ox-bow lake, lower: floodplain
62
What is channel storage?
Where water is stored in the river channel
63
What is channel flow?
Where water is carried in the river channel to a confluence or to the river mouth
64
What is interception?
Where water is prevented from hitting the ground by trees/vegetation
65
What is evaporation?
What is heated and transforms into water vapour
66
Why were the Elan valley dams introduced?
To supply the working population of Birmingham with clean water (due to industrial revolutions during 19th C)
67
When did building work begin for the Elan valley dams?
1893
68
What was the average rainfall in the Elan valley?
During the late 1800 s, it was about 1830 mm annually
69
When were the Elan valley dams opened?
21st July 1904
70
When was the capacity of the Elan valley dams increased?
Claerwan dam was built doubling capacity to 345.5 million litres a day between 1948 and 1952

GCSE Geography (6 decks)

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