Rivers Flashcards
(55 cards)
Load
Material transported by the river
Mouth
Where river ends
At a lake or sea
Source
Where’re river starts
Usually in mountains
Course
Path the river takes as it flows from an upland area down through its valley until it enters the sea
Tributary
Stream or smaller river that connects to a larger river
Distributaries
River channels that branch off from a main river channel
Confluence
Where two rivers meet
Estuary
Tidal mouth of the rivers
Large and flat mud at low tide
Flood plain
Floor of river valley that consists of sediments deposited by the river
Alluvium
Rock particles deposited by a river
Makes soil fertile
Drainage basin
Land that is drained by a river and its tributaries
Eutrophication
High nitrate levels combined with phosphates ages excessive plant and algae growth, a deteriorating precess that results in lack of oxygen and the death of the river
Water shed
High land separating river basins
Gradient
Slope of a river profile. Steep close to source and gets gentler as it reaches towards the sea
River discharge
Volume of water carried by a river at any time
River drainage patterns (4)
Dendritic (tree)
Radial (wheel)
Trellised (right angles)
Deranged
Dendritic drainage forms where
Rocks have equal hardness
Radial patterns form where
Mountains
Trellised patterns form where
There is hard and soft rock and area experienced folding
Deranged patterns Are found where
Glaciación has impacted the landscape
Four types of river erosion
Hydraulic action
Solution
Abrasion
Attrition
Hydraulic action
Erosion by Force of moving water
Cavitation
A form of hydraulic action
Air bubbles in water colapse sending out shock waves that weaken banks
Solution
Chemical erosion by chemicals in river taken from passing over rocks eg limestone and chalk
