river landscapes

• What is a drainage basin?

  Area of land drained by a river
• What is a watershed?

  Edge of a drainage basin
• Where does a river's source begin?

  Where the river begins
• What is a tributary?

  A smaller river joining a larger one
• What is a confluence?

  Where two rivers meet
• What is the mouth of a river?

  Point where a river meets the sea
• How does the cross profile of a river change downstream?

  It becomes wider and deeper due to erosion
• What causes changes to the valley cross-profile?

  Channel erosion, weathering, and mass movement
• How does a river's long profile change downstream?

  It is steep near the source and gentle downstream
• What happens to a river's velocity as discharge increases?

  Velocity increases, reducing friction
• What is vertical erosion?

  Erosion that occurs downwards in the upper course
• What is lateral erosion?

  Erosion that occurs sideways in the lower course
• What are the four processes of river erosion?

  Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, solution
• What is hydraulic action?

  Force of water dislodging material
• What is abrasion in river erosion?

  Load hitting the bed or banks
• What is attrition?

  Stones knocking against each other
• What is solution in river erosion?

  Dissolving of alkaline rocks by water
• When does deposition occur in a river?

  When river velocity decreases
• What happens to larger rocks during high flow?

  They are transported short distances by traction
• How is smaller sediment transported in a river?

  Mostly in suspension
• Where does a lot of deposition occur in a river?

  At the river's mouth
• What are the main river erosion landforms?

  • Interlocking spurs
  • Waterfalls
  • Gorges
• How do interlocking spurs form?

  By the river cutting around hard rock
• How do waterfalls form?

  By erosion of soft rock under hard rock
• What is a gorge?

  Narrow, steep-sided valley below a waterfall
• What are meanders?

  Bends in a river found in lowland areas
• How do ox-bow lakes form?

  By meanders eroding towards each other
• What are floodplains?

  Flat areas beside a river formed by deposition
• How do levees form?

  By deposition during flooding raising river banks
• What is an estuary?

  Where a river meets the sea
• What is the River Tees?

  A river in northeast England
• What is High Force?

  The highest waterfall in England
• How does a waterfall retreat upstream?

  By undercutting and collapsing of cap rock
• What landforms are found along the River Tees?

  Waterfalls, meanders, levees, floodplains
• What processes create meanders?

  Erosion on the outside and deposition inside bends
• What happens to the River Tees at Middlesbrough?

  It forms a wide tidal estuary
• What is the significance of mudflats in the River Tees?

  They are reclaimed for industrial developments
• What are the four types of river transportation?

  • Traction
  • Saltation
  • Suspension
  • Solution
• What are the four processes of river erosion?

  • Hydraulic action
  • Abrasion
  • Attrition
  • Solution
• What are the main landforms resulting from erosion and deposition?

  • Interlocking spurs
  • Waterfalls
  • Gorges
  • Meanders
  • Oxbow lakes
  • Floodplains
  • Levees
  • Estuaries