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Geography GSCE > Rivers > Flashcards

Rivers Flashcards

1
Q

What is the hydrological cycle?

A

It is a continuous water system which shows how water moves around

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2
Q

What is evaporation?

A

When water is heated by the sun and turns into water vapour

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3
Q

What is transpiration?

A

The evaporation of water from plants (loss of moisture)

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4
Q

What is evapotranspiration?

A

Evaporation and transpiration happening together

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5
Q

Water vapour is moved inland by…

A

Winds

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6
Q

The water vapour condenses to form…

A

Clouds

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7
Q

What are transfers? E.g?

A

Water moving through the system

E.g surface run-off

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8
Q

What are outputs?

A

water lost when the river reaches the sea or through evaporation

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9
Q

What are stores?

A

When water is stored in lakes, rocks, soil or vegetation.

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10
Q

Name 3 transfers (there are 7)

A
  • Infiltration
  • Percolation
  • Throughflow
  • Groundwater flow
  • Surface runoff
  • Channel flow
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11
Q

Name 2 stores (there are 4)

A
  • Channel storage
  • Groundwater storage
  • Interception storage
  • Surface storage
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12
Q

What is infiltration?

A

When water soaks into the soil

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13
Q

What is percolation?

A

When water moves vertically down through soil and rock

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14
Q

What is throughflow?

A

When water in the soil flows downhill

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15
Q

What is groundwater flow?

A

Water going through rocks underground

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16
Q

What is surface run off?

A

Water flowing over a surface (impermeable)

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17
Q

What is channel flow?

A

The flow of water in a river

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18
Q

What is channel storage?

A

When water is held in a river

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19
Q

What is groundwater storage?

A

When water is stored underground in soil and rock.

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20
Q

A rock that stores water is called an…

E.g?

A

Aquifer

E.g chalk

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21
Q

What is interception storage?

A

When water lands on things like plant leaves and doesn’t hit the ground

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22
Q

What is surface storage?

A

When water is held in things like lakes, reservoirs and puddles

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23
Q

The water eventually ends up in the…

A

Sea

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24
Q

What is the one and only input?

A

Precipitation

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25
Q

What is the water table?

A

The upper level of underground water

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26
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

The area of land drained by a river

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27
Q

The part of the hydrological cycle that happens on land goes on in…

A

Drainage basins

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28
Q

What is a water shed?

A

The boundary between two drainage basins - they are ridges of high land

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29
Q

What is the source?

A

Where a river starts, usually in an upland area (e.g. Mountains)

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30
Q

What is a tributary?

A

A small stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river

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31
Q

What is a confluence?

A

Where two or more streams or river channels meet

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32
Q

What is the mouth?

A

Where a river enters the sea

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33
Q

What is an estuary?

A

Part of the river which has tides usually close to the sea

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34
Q

What is weathering?

A

When rocks in the drainage basin get broken down where they are

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35
Q

What are the 3 types of weathering?

A
  • Mechanical
  • Chemical
  • Biological
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36
Q

What is mechanical weathering?

E.g?

A

The breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition

Freeze-thaw weathering

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37
Q

What is freeze-thaw weathering?

A
  1. Temp around 0°
  2. Water gets into cracks
  3. Water freezes, rock expands, pressure on the rock
  4. When rock freezes it cracks the rock and contracts to release pressure
  5. Repetition of this causes rock to break up
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38
Q

What is chemical weathering?

E.g?

A

Breakdown of rock by changing its chemical composition

E.g acid rain

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39
Q

What is acid rain weathering? (Corrosion)

A

The chemical reaction in acid water dissolves the calcium and breaks rocks down (e.g. Limestone)

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40
Q

What is biological weathering?

e.g?

A

The breakdown of rocks by living things

E.g. Plant roots

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41
Q

What is a river course?

A

The PATH of a river as it FLOWS DOWNHILL

42
Q

What are the 3 different courses?

A

Lower (closest to mouth), middle and upper

43
Q

Rivers flow in c______ in v______

A

Channels

Valleys

44
Q

What is a long profile?

A

Shows you how the GRADIENT changes over the different courses

45
Q

What is a cross profile?

A

Shows you what a CROSS-SECTION of the river looks like

46
Q

What are the features of the upper course of a river?

A

STEEP, V-SHAPED valley, NARROW, SHALLOW CHANNEL

47
Q

What are the features of the middle course of a river?

A

MEDIUM GRADIENT, GENTLY SLOPING valley sides, WIDER, DEEPER channel

48
Q

What are the features of the lower course of a river?

A

GENTLE GRADIENT, VERY WIDE, ALMOST FLAT valley, VERY WIDE, DEEP channel

49
Q

What are the four types of river erosion?

A
  • Hydraulic action
  • Abrasion
  • Attrition
  • Corrosion
50
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A

The FORCE of the water BREAKS ROCK PARTICLES AWAY from the river channel

51
Q

What is abrasion?

A

Eroded ROCKS picked up by the river SCRAPE and RUB against the CHANNEL, wearing it away. Most erosion happens by this process.

52
Q

What is attrition?

A

Eroded ROCKS picked up by the river SMASH INTO EACHOTHER and break into SMALLER FRAGMENTS. Their edges also get more ROUNDED.

53
Q

What is corrosion?

A

River water DISSOLVES some types of rock e.g. CHALK and LIMESTONE

54
Q

What is transportation?

A

The movement of eroded material

55
Q

What are the four processes of transportation?

A
  • Traction
  • Suspension
  • Saltation
  • Solution
56
Q

What is traction?

A

When LARGE particles like boulders are PUSHED along the RIVER BED by the FORCE OF THE WATER

57
Q

What is suspension?

A

When SMALL particles like silt and clay are CARRIED In the water flow

58
Q

What is saltation?

A

PEBBLE-SIZED particles are BOUNCED ALONG the river bed by the FORCE OF THE WATER

59
Q

What is solution?

A

DISSOLVED MINERALS carried in the water

60
Q

What is deposition?

A

When a river DOES NOT HAVE ANY ENERGY to CARRY any material and ‘DROPS’ it

61
Q

The faster the river flows, the more _______ happens

A

Erosion

62
Q

What course of the river are waterfalls?

A

Upper course

63
Q

How is a waterfall formed?

A
  1. The SOFTER LESS RESISTANT rock is ERODED more than the HARDER MORE RESISTANT ROCK
  2. This creates a LEDGE of hard rock
  3. A STEEP drop is created which is called a waterfall
  4. The HARD ROCK is eventually UNDERCUT and COLLAPSES
  5. Erosional processes like abrasion happen at the foot of the waterfall, this is called a deep PLUNGE POOL
  6. The water fall RETREATS, leaving behind a GORGE
64
Q

What course of the river are interlocking spurs found?

A

Upper course

65
Q

What are interlocking spurs?

A

When the vertical erosion isn’t powerful enough to erode sideways so they wind around the hillsides like a zip

66
Q

What are meanders?

A

Large bends in a river

67
Q

What 2 courses of the river do meanders develop?

A

Middle and lower courses

68
Q

How are meanders formed?

A
  1. When the CURRENT is faster on the OUTSIDE of the bend because the river channel is DEEPER (LESS FRICTION AND MORE ENERGY)
  2. So more EROSION takes place on the OUTSIDE of the bend, forming RIVER CLIFFS
  3. So more eroded material is DEPOSITED on the INSIDE of the bend, forming SLIP-OFF slopes
69
Q

What are Ox-bow lakes formed from?

A

Meanders

70
Q

How are oxbow lakes formed?

A
  1. When the outside bends get closer and closer until there’s only a small bit of land left between the bends (NECK)
  2. The water breaks through, the river flows the SHORTEST ROUTE
  3. DEPOSITION eventually cuts off the meander, forming an oxbow lake
71
Q

What are flood plains?

A

Flat areas of land that flood - they are the WIDE VALLEY FLOOR that gradually builds up as more eroded material is transported

72
Q

What are levees?

A

Natural embankments (raised bits) along the edges of a river channel

73
Q

How are levees formed?

A

During a flood, when eroded material is deposited over the whole flood plain. The heaviest material is deposited closest to the river channel. Therefore creating raised edges

74
Q

What is a delta?

A

Where a river meets the sea and slows down, therefore drops its load causing land to form in different shapes

75
Q

What are the three types of delta and a short description?

A
  • Arcuate - have a rounded shape and lots of distributaries
  • Cuspate - have a triangular shape and few distributaries
  • Birds foot - like a birds foot!!
76
Q

What is lateral erosion?

A

Erosion of the sides of a valley

77
Q

What is vertical erosion?

A

Downward erosion of a river bed

78
Q

What is river discharge?

A

The VOLUME OF WATER that flows the river PER SECOND?

79
Q

What is river discharge measured in?

A

Cumecs (cubic metres per second)

80
Q

What is a storm hydrograph?

A

They show how a river will act after heavy rain

81
Q

Revise the appearance of a storm hydrographic

A

.

82
Q

What is the peak discharge?

A

The HIGHEST DISCHARGE in the period of time you’re looking at

83
Q

What is lag time?

A

The delay between PEAK RAINFALL and PEAK DISCHARGE

84
Q

What is the rising limb?

A

The INCREASE in river discharge as the rainwater flows into the river

85
Q

What is the falling limb?

A

The DECREASE in river discharge as the river returns to its NORMAL LEVEL

86
Q

What is the base flow?

A

The EXPECTED discharge for the time of year

87
Q

If more water flows as surface runoff the lag time will be…

A

Shorter

88
Q

What are 3 factors that increase discharge and make the hydrograph steeper? (6)

A
  • High rainfall
  • Intense rainfall
  • Impermeable rock
  • Previously wet conditions
  • Steep slopes
  • Vegetation
89
Q

What are 3 factors that decrease discharge and make the hydrograph less steep? (6)

A
  • Low rainfall
  • Light rainfall
  • Permeable rock
  • Previously dry conditions
  • Gentle slopes
  • More vegetation
90
Q

Urban areas are likely to have steep or not steep hydrographs? Because??

A

Steep because they have drainage systems and are covered with impermeable materials

91
Q

Rural areas are likely to have steep or not steep hydrographs? Because??

A

Not steep because they have more vegetation and more reservoirs

92
Q

Rivers flood due to many physical factors. Name and describe 3 (5)

A
  • Prolonged rainfall
  • Snow melt (when ice melts fast)
  • Geology (more impermeable rock)
  • Heavy rainfall
  • Relief (how the height of the land changes)
93
Q

Rivers flood due to a few human factors. Name and describe the 2 main ones.

A
  • Deforestation

* Urbanisation (more impermeable surfaces and buildings)

94
Q

What are 2 serious impacts on people as a result of a flood (4)

A
  • People killed
  • Buildings and roads are damaged or destroyed
  • Jobs are lost
95
Q

What are hard engineering techniques?

A

Man-made structures built to control the flow of rivers and reduce flooding

96
Q

What are soft engineering techniques?

A

Schemes set up using knowledge of a river and it’s processes to reduce the effects of flooding

97
Q

Name 2 hard engineering techniques used to prevent flooding (3)

A
  • Dams and reservoirs
  • Channel straightening
  • Man-made levees
98
Q

Name 2 soft engineering techniques used to prevent flooding (3)

A
  • Flood warnings
  • Preparation
  • Flood plain zoning
99
Q

What is channel straightening and how does it help?

A

When a Rivers course is straightened e.g taking out meanders so the water doesn’t have to travel as far

100
Q

What are dams and reservoirs?

A

Huge walks across the river to store water and release it slowly

Geography GSCE (8 decks)

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