Rivers

Question 1

Precipitation

Answer 1

Water falling from the clouds e.g. snow, hail, rain.

Question 2

Evaporation

Answer 2

When water becomes a gas.

Question 3

Condensation

Answer 3

When gas becomes tiny droplets of water.

Question 4

Surface runoff

Answer 4

The water slides down a mountain or area.

Question 5

Ground water

Answer 5

Water gets absorbed into the soil and then reappears and joins the sea.

Question 6

Transpiration

Answer 6

Transpiration is the process where plants absorb ground water through the roots and then give off water vapor through pores in their leaves.

Question 7

Waterfall (9 steps)

Answer 7

There are 9 steps:

1. There is hard + soft rock
2. Soft rock erodes quicker than hard rock
3. A notch develops
4. Erosion deepens the notch
5. Plunge pool is developed
6. No support of hard rock on top
7. Hard rock collapses into plunge pool
8. Repeats for thousands of years
9. A gorge is formed as the waterfall retreats

Question 8

Transportation (4 types)

Answer 8

4 different types:

1. Suspension = light material is carried along the river
2. Traction = large boulders roll along the river bed
3. Solution =Minerals dissolve in water, chemical change
4. Saltation = Small pebbles bounce on the river bed

Question 9

What is a Meander?

Answer 9

A meander is a bend in a river. It starts at a slight bend and grows more and more.

Question 10

How are meanders formed? (6 steps)

Answer 10

1. Outer bank gets eroded
2. Materials are deposited at the inner bank
3. Outer bank = worn away
4. Inner bank = grows
5. A meander forms
6. Over time the meander grows more ‘loopy’.

Question 11

What is an Oxbow lake?

Answer 11

Cut of curve in a meander. An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water.

Question 12

What are some flood causes? Physical and Human? Give 3 examples of each.

Answer 12

Physical causes:

1. Heavy rainfall
2. Natural disasters
3. Melting snow

Human causes:

1. Urbanization (more people = more buildings = more gutters, drains, pipes… all leading to the sewer = water in river faster)
2. Deforestation (the plants will not absorb the water through their roots - meaning more water)
3. Global warming (high temperatures = +evaporation, global warming = polar ice caps melting = rise in sea level)

Question 13

Flood prevention. Give 3 examples of hard engineering and soft engineering to stop flooding.

Answer 13

Hard: (controlled disruption of natural processes by using man-made structures)

1. Flood defenses = walls, used in places where there are lots of people living
2. Embankments = raised banks along the river
3. Making storage areas for water

Soft: (natural environment is used to help reduce coastal erosion and river flooding)

1. Land use zoning = this is where the land next to a river is unused, so that flooding can happen without any harm
2. Afforestation = plant roots absorb water
3. Warning system = if a flood were to happen

Question 14

The drainage basin:
Source
Mouth
Valley
Estuary
Floodplain
Watershed

Answer 14

Source - Where the river starts
Mouth - Where the river emerges into another river
Valley - Area with higher land on each sides
Estuary - Wide river mouth into the sea.
Floodplain - Flatland beside the river which floods when the river overflows.
Watershed -Boundary between one river basin and the next basin.

Question 15

What is hard engineering?

Answer 15

Hard = preventing flooding using man made structures.

Question 16

What is soft engineering?

Answer 16

Soft = using natural environment to prevent flooding.