Rivers part 1

Cards (18)

  • What is relief
    relief describes the physical features of the landscape
  • What does relief include

    -height above sea level
    -steepness of slopes
    -the shape of landforms
  • What is an areas relief mainly determined by

    By its geology (rock type)
  • Why would an area of high relief have?

    rocks are hard and resistant so don't mould easily leading to steep hills/mountains
    e.g. granite-Arran, Scotland
  • Why would an area have low relief
    rocks are soft and less resistant so can erode easily leading to low lying hills
    e.g. clay & limestone-Cotswold hills
  • What is a landscape

    an area whose character (appearance) is the result of the action and interaction of natural (erosion) and human(buildings) factors
  • What is the source of a river

    the upland area where the river begins
  • What is the water shed
    a boundary dividing one drainage basin from another- a ridge of high land
  • What is the drainage basin
    The area of land around the river that is drained by the river and its tributaries
  • What is a confluence?

    The point where two rivers join
  • What is a tributary
    A stream or river that flows into a larger river
  • What is the mouth of a river
    Where a river flows into the sea or a lake
  • What are the parts of a river
    source, water shed, drainage basin, confluence, tributary and mouth
  • What is the long profile of a river?

    Changes in the rivers gradient from the source to the mouth
  • What is the cross profile of a river

    A cross profile shows a cross-section of a river's channel and valley at a certain point along the river's course.
  • What are the two directions of erosion
    vertical and lateral
  • What does vertical erosion do to a river

    Makes the river deeper
    happens on the river bed
  • What does lateral erosion do to a river

    makes the river wider
    happens on river banks