AQA Geography, Coastal Zone, Water on the Land, The Restless Earth key words

Water on the land :

Long profile : a line representing the course of a river from its source to its mouth.

Cross profile: a line that represent what it would be like to walk from one side of the valley to the other.

Waterfall: the sudden and often vertical drop of a river along its course.

Gorge: a narrow, steep sided valley.

Meander: a bend in a river channel.

Oxbow lake: horse shoe area that represents the former area of a meander.

Flood plain: the flat area adjacent to the river channel, especially in the lower part of the course.

Levees: raised banks along the course of a river in its lower course.

Discharge: the volume of water passing through a given point in a river at any time.

Drainage basin: the area from which a river gets it water.

Flood hydrograph: a line graph drawn to show the discharge in a river in the aftermath of a period of rain.

Relief: height and slope of land.

Impermeable: rock that does not allow water to soak into it.

Porous: rock that has spaces between particles.

Pervious: rock that allows water to pass through it via vertical joints.

Deforestation: cutting down trees.

Urbanisation: the increase in the proportion of people living in cities.

Floods: when a river carries so much water that it cannot be contained by its banks and consequently overflows.

Hazard: when people lives of property is threatened.

Soil erosion: the removal of the layer of soil above the rock where plants grow.

Hard engineering: using technology to try and control rivers.

Soft engineering: the  use of natural systems to try and control river flooding.

Straightening meanders: diverting the course of a river, therefore speeding up its flow out of an area.

Floodplain zoning: controlling where things are built / used on a floodplain so as to avoid damage when flooding occurs.

Water stress: when the amount of water available does not meet the amount required.

Areas of deficit: enough rain falls to provide enough water on a permanent basis.

Areas of surplus: areas that have more water than needed.

The Coastal Zone:

Fetch: the distance of open water over which the wind can blow.

Beach: a deposit of sand or shingle at the coast often found at the head of a bay.

Crest: the top of a wave.

Backwash: the backward movement of water down a beach when a wave has broken.

Constructive wave: a powerful wave with strong swash and weak backwash that surges up a beach.

Destructive wave: a wave…