What is the source of a river?
The beginning/start
What is the mouth of a river?
The end of a river where it meets the sea
How can rivers be used by people?
Fishing, farming, a water source, transportation of goods, home to wildlife
What are tributaries?
Smaller rivers which join the main channel
What is a river?
A natural stream of water flowing downhill in a channel
What is the atmosphere?
The thin, fragile layer of gases that surrounds the Earth
What is the biosphere?
Living matters on Earth, including plants and animal life
What is the lithosphere?
The Earths crust, including landforms, rocks and soils.
What is the hydrosphere?
The water on the surface of the Earth in oceans, rivers, lakes, rain and mist
What is erosion?
The wearing away of rocks
What is discharge?
The amount of water in a river (measured in cumecs)
What is saltation?
Small pebbles and stones bouncing along the river bed
When do rivers deposit their load?
When they lose energy
What is a flood plain?
Low-lying land, formed by lateral erosion, either side of a river that regularly floods
What is lateral erosion?
Sideways erosion by a river on the outside meander bend, which gradually leads to the widening of a valley.
What are meanders?
Sharp bends in a river
What is an ox-bow lake?
A curved lake; the remains of a meander when it becomes cut off
What is a plunge pool?
A deep pool formed at the base of a waterfall, eroded by the fast flowing water
What is a slip-off slope?
A gentle slope forming on the inside of a meander, where deposition occurs
What is a drainage basin
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries, downslope into a body of water such as a lake or the sea
What is a watershed?
The dividing line between one drainage basin and another which determines the direction water and rivers will drain.
