River Discharge
- Created by: Ali Bland
- Created on: 18-03-15 14:59
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- River Discharge
- This is the volume of the water passing beneath you is the river's discharge
- Values for river discharge are expressed in cumecs (cublc metres per second)
- Discharge = cross sectional area x velocity
- What Factors Affect River Discharge?
- Distance Downstream
- In humid environments such as the UK river discharge increases downstream
- This is due to additional tributaries joining the main river
- In humid environments such as the UK river discharge increases downstream
- Climatic Characterisics
- When snowfall melts, there is a surge in discharge
- Temperature is an important factor affecting evaporation and vegetation growth
- Land Use
- Tree planting tends to reduce discharge
- Urbanisation often increases the discharge because water is transferred over impermeable surfaces
- Water Abstraction (removal)
- The removal of water for domestic use and the irrigation of crops reduces discharge
- Rock And Soil Type
- Permeable rocks ad soils absorb water easily, so surface run-off is rare
- Impermeable rock and soils don't absorb water
- Distance Downstream
- The Storm Hydrograph
- This is a graph that shows the discharge of a river following a storm event
- Rivers respond very differently to individual storm events
- Each river tends to have its own unique response pattern
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