664200
Description
Flashcards by John Ditchburn, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by John Ditchburn
about 10 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Erosion | the shaping of a landscape, for example by rivers, involving the removal of material |
| Transportation | the carrying of sediment downstream from the point where it has been eroded to where it is deposited |
| Deposition | the dumping (deposition) of sediment that has been transported by a river |
| Channel | the part of the river valley occupied by the water itself. |
| Hydraulic action | the power of the volume of water moving in the river |
| Abrasion | happens when larger loads carried by the river hits the bed and banks, causing bits to break off |
| Attrition | the knocking together of stones and boulders, making them gradually smaller and smoother |
| Solution | the dissolving of rocks and minerals by rainwater. This is a means of transportation as well as an erosion process |
| Load | material of any size carried by the river |
| Vertical erosion | downwards erosion, for example when a river gouges out a deep valley |
| Lateral erosion | sideways erosion, for example in a river channel at the outside bend of a meander |
| Traction | the rolling along of the largest rocks and boulders |
| Saltation | the bouncing movement of small stones and grains of sand along the river bed |
| Suspension | small material carried (suspended) within the water. |
| Long profile | a line representing the course of the river from its source (relatively high up) to its mouth where it ends, usually in a lake or the sea, and the changes in height along its course |
| Cross profile | a line that represents what it would be like to walk from one side of a valley, across the channel and up the other side |
| Waterfall | the sudden, and often vertical, drop of a river along its course |
| Gorge | a narrow, steep-sided valley |
| Meander | a bend or curve in the river channel |
| Oxbow lake | a horseshoe or semi- circular area that used to be a meander. Oxbow lakes are cut off from a supply of water and so will eventually become dry |
| Floodplain | the flat area next to the river channel, especially in the lower part of the course. This is a natural area for water to spill onto when the river reaches the top of its banks |
| Levees | raised banks along the course of a river in its lower course. They are formed naturally but can be artificially increased in height |
| Precipitation | any source of moisture reaching the ground, e.g. rain, snow, frost |
| Interception | water being prevented from reaching the surface by trees or grass |
| Surface storage | water held on the ground surface, e.g. puddles |
| Infiltration | water sinking into soil/rock from the ground surface |
| Soil moisture | water held in the soil layer |
| Percolation | water seeping deeper below the surface |
| Groundwater | water stored in the rock |
| Transpiration | water lost through pores in vegetation |
| Evaporation | water lost from ground/vegetation surface |
| Surface run-off (overland flow) | water flowing on top of the ground |
| Throughflow | water flowing through the soil layer parallel to the surface |
| Groundwater flow | water flowing through the rock layer parallel to the surface |
| Water table | current upper level of saturated rock/ soil where no more water can be absorbed |
| Discharge | the volume of water passing a given point in a river at any moment in time |
| Drainage basin | area from which a river gets its water. The boundary is marked by an imaginary line of highland known as a watershed |
| Flood or storm hydrograph | a line graph drawn to show the discharge in a river in the aftermath of a period of rain. |
| Flashy | a hydrograph that responds quickly to a period of rain so that it has a high peak and a short lag time |
| Relief | height and slope of land |
| Impermeable | rock that does not allow water to pass through. |
| Porous | rock that allows water to soak into it via spaces between particles. |
| Pervious | rock that allows water to pass through it via vertical joints and horizontal bedding planes. |
| Urbanisation | the increase in the proportion of people living in cities, resulting in their growth. |
| Floods | these occur when a river carries so much water that it cannot be contained by its banks and so it overflows on to surrounding land – its floodplain. |
| Soil erosion | the removal of the layer of soil above the rock where plants grow. |
| Hard engineering | building artificial structures aimed at controlling natural processes. |
| Soft engineering | this option tries to work with the natural river system and involves avoiding building on areas especially likely to flood, warning people of a possible flood and planting trees to increase lag time. |
| Dam | an artificial structure designed to hold back water to create a reservoir |
| Reservoir | commonly an artificial lake formed behind a dam and used for water supply. |
| Reservoir | an artificial lake formed behind a dam and used for water supply |
| Straightening meanders | making the river follow a more direct, rather than its natural course, so that it leaves an area more quickly |
| Floodplain zoning | controlling what is built on the floodplain so that areas that are at risk of flooding have low-value land uses |
| Economic | refers to costs and finances at a variety of scales, from individuals up to government |
| Social | refers to people’s health, their lifestyle, community, etc. |
| Environmental | the impact on our surroundings, including the land, water and air as well as features of the built-up areas |
| Water stress | this happens when there is not enough water available. This may be because of an inadequate supply at a particular time or it may relate to water quality |
| Areas of water deficit | areas where the rain that falls does not provide enough water and there may be shortages |
| Areas of water surplus | areas that have more water than is needed – often such areas receive a high rainfall total, but have a relatively small population. |
| Sustainable | making sure there is enough water in the long term without harming the environment |
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