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rivers Flashcards

(61 cards)

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1
Q

what is a drainage basin

A

the area of land drained by a river and its tributaries

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2
Q

what is watershed

A

the edge of a drainage basin

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3
Q

what is a conlfluence

A

where 2 rivers meet

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4
Q

what are tributaries

A

small rivers conecting to the main river

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5
Q

what is the source

A

the start of a river

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6
Q

what is the mouth

A

the end of a river

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7
Q

what is a meander

A

a bend in a river

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8
Q

what is scree slope

A

loose debris or material that is left over from erosion

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9
Q

what is a convex slope

A

carved and round slopes. goes from less to more steep

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10
Q

what is a fluvial

A

the physical interaction of flowing water and the natural channels of rivers and streams (flow)

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11
Q

what is discharge

A

the volume of water in a river

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12
Q

what is velocity

A

the speed of something

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13
Q

what is the main thing that happens in the upper course

A

predominatly erosion

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14
Q

what is the main tning that happens in the middle course

A

transportaition

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15
Q

what is the mian thinfg that happesn in the lower course

A

lots of depositions

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16
Q

what does verticle erosion do and where does it occur

A

upper course
steep graidient
narrow river

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17
Q

what does lateral erosion do and where does it occur

A

occurs in the middle course
gentle gradient
normal river

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18
Q

what does attriition do and where does it occur

A

lower course
very gentle gradient
wide river

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19
Q

what does the bradshaw modle describe

A

how a river’s characteristics vary between the upper course and lower course of a river.

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20
Q

what are the six different types of erosion

A

hydralic action
abrasion
attrition solution
vertical erosion
lateral erosion

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21
Q

what are the four different types of transportaition

A

traction
slatation
suspension
solition

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22
Q

where are v shaped valleys formed

A

they are formed in the upper course or a river due to the verticle erosion causing it to carve into the rock

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23
Q

what are interlocking spurs

A

The river cuts down into the valley. If there are areas of hard rock which are harder to erode, the river will bend around it. This creates interlocking spurs. When viewed from downstream, these spurs appear to be locked together.

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24
Q

how are water falls created

A

water falls form in an area where a river flows over harder rock with overlays of sofetr rock

the less resistant rock is the eroded and over time a plunge pool is created hydraulic action causes the plunge pool to undercut the more resistant rock above

the overhang of the resisnat rock can no longer support its own weight due to gravity and weathering so it collapses

the debris from the collapsed averhang speeds up erosion through abrasionthe water fall retreates

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25
what is a gorge
A deep, narrow passage that usually has a river running through it..
26
how are gorges formed
they are formed when waterfalls retreate over time
27
how are meanders formed
as a river goes around a bend most of the water is pushed towards the outside. This causes an increased speed and therefor erosion through hydraulic action and abraison. the lateral erosion on the outside bend casuses undercutting the bank from the river cliff water on the inner bend is slowercausing the water to slow down and deposite material the build up of the deposited sediment is known as the slip off slope
28
what is the thalweg
the fastest part of the river
29
what are the charcteristics of the outside bend of a meander
30
what are floodplains made out of
they are made out of alluvian a sediment which is deposited by a river when it floods making it very fertile
31
where are levees found
in the lower river section
32
how are levees formed
first there has to be a flood when it floods the river leaves the channle the watre therefor looses energy as a result of deposition occurs heavier sediments are deposited first nearer the river bank causing a hole to ba made which is known a s a levees these build up over mnay floods
33
how are estuarys formed
as the river approcahes the sea thevelocity and enrgy deacreases as the risibg tide block the river water this causes the increased deposition of sediment creating mudflat and saltmarch enviroment
34
what features are created by erosion
wtaerfalls gorges v shaped valleys interlocking spurs
35
what features are created by deposition
levees flood plains estuarys
36
what features are created by both deposition and erosion
menaders and ox bow lakes
37
how does the drainage basin system work
precipitation trees ca intercept the wter ehich is where transpiraition and evapouration occurs otherwise it is stored in the surface it then in infilltrates into the soil which is where it can go to the river or the gets prelocated to ground wter sources which then flos to the river undergorund
38
what are some factors that affect flooding
no vegitaition bad drainage heavy rainfall saturated ground
39
what is precipitaition and how can it affcet flooding
it is a physical factor this can cause rivers to overflow and flood torential rain can lead to sudden flash floods
40
what are steep slopes and how does it affect flooding
it is a physical factor in moutain enviroments steep slopes encourage a rapid transfer in water towards river channles
41
what is urbanisaition and how does it affct flooding
this is a h8uman factor this is where citys buildup in infastructure this cause a large amount of impermeable rock being used this causes the water to stay on the surfcae as the gorund cant soak it up
42
what is deforrestaition and how does it affect flooding
this is a human factor a large percentage of water that flows is soaked up by trees or various vegitation if you remove this there will be floods
43
what is agricuklture and how does it affcet flooding
this is a huamn factor in arable farming soil is often exposed to the elements for long periods of time this can lead to poor surface run off
44
what is geology and how does it affcet flooding
this is a physical factor impermeable rock such as shale and clay encourage water flow overland and in its channles.This speeds up water flow and makes flooding more likly
45
what is a floodhydrograph
this shows how a rivers discharge changes in repsoe to a precipitaition event
46
what is the lag time on a flood hydrograph
the time between peak rainfall and peak discharge
47
what is the rising limb in a flood hydrograph
represents the rise of water after a period of rain
48
what is the falling limb in a flood hydrograph
represnts the reduction in the amount of rainfall reaching the river channle
49
what are the two types of flood hydrograph
flashy and subdued
50
what are the charcteristics of a flashy flood hydrograph
small basin high drainage density impermeable rock urbanisaition is the land use they have steep relife saturated soil heavy rain fall intensity
51
what are the charcteristics of a subdued flood hydrograph
large drainage basin low drainage denisty permebale rock forrest are the land use gentle relife dry soil low ranfall intenisty
52
what is the main differneces in hard and soft engineering methods
hard engineering is exspensive often unattractive often need maintainance can disrupt people lives where as soft engineering cheaper sustainable less disruptive works with nature
53
what are some examples of hard engineering that is used to prevent flooding
dams and resivours channles straightening embankments flood relife channles
54
what are the bennefits of channle straightening
its speeds up water flow and prevents flooding of vulnerable areas
55
what are the negatives of channle straightening
un attractive and unattural
56
what are the positives of embankments
cheaper more sustainable looks more natural
57
what are the negatives of embankments
exspenive and unatural
58
what are some examples of of soft engineering in rivers
river restoraition planting trees flood plain zooning
59
what is river restoraition
whre the course of a river has been change artificially this is a natural
60
what is flood plain zoning
this restricts differnr land uses and certain locaition
61
what happened at banbury flood manegment scheme
located in the cotsworlds north of oxford banbury experienced a history of devastaiting floods this led to the closure of the town railway staition. More than 150 homes and buissness where affected so in 2012 they spent 18.5 million on a 2.9 km earth embankment and they raised the a361 to prevent the road from dlooding

Geography (14 decks)

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