Year 11 GEOGRAPHY > River Processes > Flashcards

River Processes Flashcards

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1
Q

What is erosion

A

The wearing away of the landscape by the action of water.

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2
Q

What does a river carry

A

A river carries minerals and solid material: this is known as the ‘load’

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3
Q

What happens when a river has a large load made of course materials

A

When rivers have a large load made up of course materials these scrape or rub against the channel bed, eventually lowering the level of the bed, to create steep valley sides.

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4
Q

What is vertical (downward) erosion

A

When a large load of course materials scrape and rub the channel bed, eventually lowering the level of the bed, creating steep valley sides.

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5
Q

What’s an example of lateral erosion and what can it cause

A

In sections of the river channel where the river is flowing particularly fast, the water has enough energy to wash away part of the bank of the river. This can lead to undercutting and collapse. As this is a sideways motion, it’s called lateral erosion.

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6
Q

How many main types of erosion are there in a river

A

4

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7
Q

What are the 4 main types of erosion in a river

A
  1. Corrasion.
  2. Attrition.
  3. Solution.
  4. Hydraulic action.

Remember CASH

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8
Q

What is corrasion

A

Corrasion is one of the main river erosion processes.
Corrasion (abrasion) is a sandpaper like effect.

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9
Q

What is attrition

A

Attrition is one of the main river erosion processes.
The rocks bang together and the sharp edges are knocked off.

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10
Q

What is solution

A

Solution is one of the main river erosion processes.
The dissolved rock/load.

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11
Q

What is hydraulic action

A

Hydraulic action is one of the main river erosion processes.
The force of the water.

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12
Q

What is transportation

A

Transportation is the movement of material across the earth’s surface.

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13
Q

How many different ways do rivers transport their load

A

4

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14
Q

What are the 4 ways rivers transport their load?

A

Traction.
Saltation.
Suspension.
Solution.

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15
Q

What is traction

A

One of the 4 ways in which rivers transport their load.
Rolling.

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16
Q

What is saltation

A

One of the 4 ways in which rivers transport their load.
Bouncing.

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17
Q

What is suspension

A

One of the 4 ways in which rivers transport their load.
Tiny pieces of rock held in the water.

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18
Q

What is solution

A

One of the 4 ways in which rivers transport their load.
Dissolved rock that is invisible.

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19
Q

What is deposition

A

Deposition is the dropping of material on the Earth’s surface.

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20
Q

What is velocity

A

Speed of flow

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21
Q

How does deposition work/what happens when the velocity of the river is reduced?

A

When the velocity of the river is reduced, the energy of the water decreases, and so the water can no longer erode or transport material. Instead, the load is dropped, starting with the largest (and heaviest) particles.

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22
Q

List the conditions when deposition is likely to occur

A
  1. The river enters a lake or the sea, slowing its flow.
  2. There is an area of shallow water, slowing the river flow.
  3. The load is increased suddenly e.g. after a landslide.
  4. The river floods onto its floodplain, where it flows very slowly.
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23
Q

How do each of these conditions make deposition likely to occur?
1. River enters a lake or the sea.
2. There’s an area of shallow water.
3. The load is increased suddenly.
4. The river floods onto its floodplain

A

1 slowing its flow.
2 slowing the river flow.
3 e.g. after a landslide.
4 where it flows very slowly

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24
Q

Tell me 3 river processes and what they all form

A

The processes of erosion, transportation and deposition combine to create the general landforms seen along a river channel.

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25
What’s the name of a good website to learn more about this topic
The geographer online. https://www.thegeographeronline.net/
26
What are the main river landforms
Waterfalls, meanders, floodplains and levees.
27
Where are waterfalls generally found
Upper course. Near the source where the landscape is still quite mountainous + where a band of hard rock resists the erosive power of the river.
28
Give me 3 examples of waterfalls
Victoria falls, Africa . High force waterfall on river Tees, Northern England. Niagara falls, Canadian/US border.
29
As a waterfall retreats upriver what does it leave behind
A steep sided gorge.
30
Draw me a cross section of a waterfall
31
Using this image, explain how a waterfall forms:
Hard rock layers over a layer of soft rock. Water begins to erode less resistant soft rock, creating a steep gradient (step). The erosion of the soft rock underneath undercuts the hard rock. Hydraulic action and corrosion create a plunge pool at the foot of the waterfall. The ledge which overhangs this eventually collapses under its own weight. The material is then eroded by hydraulic action + attrition. Material transported downstream. Waterfall takes position further back. Over time creates a gorge.
32
What is a gorge
A long stretch of river surrounded by a steep sided valley.
33
What is happening at each of these points:
1. Undercutting 2. Plunge pool develops 3. Overhand collapses 4. Waterfall retreats upstream 5. Steep gorge like valleys
34
35
36
Where do meanders form
Middle and lower courses of a river
37
What are meanders
Sweeping Bends that develop in a river channel as the gradient (slope) of the river evens out.
38
What are meanders a result of
Differences in velocity of the water in the river across its channel.
39
Where does vertical erosion occur in a meander
Where water flows fastest in the channel it spirals downwards, causing vertical erosion, deepening the river channel and creating a river cliff in the bank. The outside/bigger bend
40
What happens at the inner bend of a meander
Water flows slowly, doesn’t have enough energy to erode the bank. It cannot hold the load it’s carrying so it deposits the heaviest material first, then more and more until only the smallest clay particles are left in suspension.
41
What does a lop-sided cross section through a meander build up over time
A slip off slope
42
Show me a side view (cross section) of a meander.
43
Show me a plan view (from above) of a meander
44
What’s a slip off slope
A gently sloping area of land inside a meander
45
What’s a river cliff
Formed on the outside bend of a meander due to erosion
46
Why does the river flow faster on one side of the meander
There’s little frictional drag from the bed and bank.
47
Why does the river flow slower on one side of the meander
Because of the gentle slope, there’s lots of frictional drag.
48
1. Deep water. 2. Slowest flow. 3. River cliff. 4. Slip off slope. 5. Fastest flow.
49
How are meanders formed
50
What is a floodplain
An area of flat low lying ground adjacent to a river ; formed mainly of river sediments and subject to flooding.
51
What is a levee
A natural or man made raises embankment found on the floodplain beside a river.
52
How are natural levees formed
By the process of deposition after many floods.
53
Show me floodplains and levees before a flood
54
Show me floodplains and levees during a flood
55
Show me floodplains and levees after many floods
56
How does deposition on the floodplain occur
Deposition on the floodplain is the laying down of sediment (alluvium) by a river when it loses its energy , typically after flooding.
57
Whats vertical and lateral erosion
Vertical, river eroding downwards, Lateral , washes away the banks.
58
What is a thalweg in a river
The thalweg is the line of maximum flow in a river .
59
What causes the formation of a river delta
Deltas are formed when river water loses velocity upon entering a standing body of water, causing it to deposit its load at the river's mouth.
60
Hard edge at the top of a waterfall
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Year 11 GEOGRAPHY
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