River Landscapes

• Precipitation


  When water comes back down to Earth from clouds in the form of hail, rain, snow or sleet.

  
• Runoff


  When water washes off quickly.

  Rainfall that does not get absorbed by the soil.

  
• Levee


  A embankments on the sides of the river made from layers of sediment deposited from flooding.
• Evapo-transpiration


  When water does not return to the sea, but, instead goes back into the atmosphere, usually by trees and plants.
• Groundwater flow


  When water flows underground
• Confluence


  The point where two tributaries meet up together
• Watershed


  The dividing line that divides between two drainage Basin

  
• Tributaries


  The very small streams that occur near the source and join up and flow into the main river.

  
• Meander


  When rivers bend or make winding curves

  
• Ox-bow Lake


  A Lake that is made from a cut-off meander. It is separated from the main river by deposits of silt and material

  
• Delta


  A land-form located at the mouth of the river , made up of dis-tributaries and deposits of silt and material.

  
• Lateral Erosion


  Erosion of the sides of the river.
• Solution


  When bits of material are transported by dissolving it in the water

  
• Traction


  When big boulders are transported by rolling along the bed of the river.

  
• Saltation


  When small rocks are transported by bouncing on the bed of the river

  
• Suspension


  When very small bits of rocks are transported by it being suspended and carried along with the water flow.

  
• V-Shaped Valley


  A river valley whose cross section looks like a v, made by the vertical erosion of rivers.

  
• Interlocking Spurs


  When the river juts out between hills

  
• Waterfall


  A Land-form made from the wearing away of soft rock,where water flows down from a height.

  
• Gorge


  A deep narrow passage with a rocky walls and a river running between them. Made from the backwards retreat of waterfall.

  
• Infiltration


  When rainwater seeps through the soil and ground

  
• Water Table


  A level underground where below it, all the spaces in the rocks have been filled with water

  
• Drainage Basin


  The whole area where the land is drained by rivers and its tributaries
• Source


  Where the point of origin of the river is at.

  
• River Erosion


  The wearing away of the river's banks and beds.

  
• Abrasion


  When rocks and pebbles that are transported remove material from the banks and bed by wearing them away
• Hydraulic Action


  When the sheer force of the water is enough to remove material and erode the river bed and banks
• Solution or Corrosion


  Some soft rocks are chemically attacked and slowly dissolve in water
• Attrition


  When the pebbles transported rub against each other and erode themselves into sand-sized particles, due to friction.
• Distributary


  When a river branches off at the mouth of the river, and is located in the delta.
• Slip-Off Slope


  A gentle slope at the inner bend of a river, made from the deposition of material

  
• River Cliff


  A steep bank at the outer bend of the river, formed when the force of the water undercuts the bank.

  
• Deposition


  The laying down of matter to the bottom of the river.
• Flood Plain


  The flat, low-lying land on either sides of the rivers where sediment is deposited formed by flooding and often gets flooded.

  
• Alluvium


  The greatest thickness of river-deposited material

  
• Silt


  Small and fine parts of rocks

  
• Undercutting


  Wearing away the lower part of the rock.

  
• Flooding


  When an area or place is submerged in water

  
• Water Balance


  The difference between the amount of precipitation that falls and the amount of water that is evapo-transpired.
• River Management


  Plans and processes implemented on rivers to control water flow and discharge or for a profit.