Rivers Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is precipitation?
Water falls to the ground as this. Can be in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail.
What is surface water?
Streams and rivers. It finds its way to the sea.
What is Ground water?
Water that vey slowly passes through the soil and rocks as groundwater flow.
Transpiration
Vegetation take water up through roots in order to grow. Some water returns to the air via leaves
Evaporation
Earth’s water is passed up into the atmosphere. Liquid water is turned into vapour as it passes through the air.
In order, what are the processes of the water cycle?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface water, ground water and transpiration
Condensation
When vapour from the air condenses to water droplets to form clouds
Surface runoff
Water moving over the surface in eg. a river or to a river
Infiltration
Water soaks into soil
Through flow
Water flows through soil to eg. a river
Percolation
Water runs into underlying rock
Ground Water flow
Water flows through rock towards eg. a river
Interception
Roots from plants and trees suck up water from the soil to grow to intercept the water
River system: Source
Start of a river
Mouth
River joining a sea
Tributary
Small stream joining a river
Meander
A sweeping bend in a river
Confluence
Where two rivers join
Drainage basin
Area drained by a river system
Watershed
Raised area of land that separates drainage basins
3 parts of a river
Upper course
Middle course
Lower course
Hydraulic action
The force of water against the bed and banks.
Abrasion/Corrasion
The bed and the banks are worn down by the river’s load. The river throws these particles against the bed and banks, sometimes at high velocity.
Attrition
Material (the load) carried by the river bump into each other and so are smoothed and broken into smaller particles.
