AQA Rivers, Coast & Glaciers - Key Terms

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  • Created by: SamuelTye
  • Created on: 12-06-17 16:53
Hydraulic Action
When the water forces air to seep into cracks of the rock, causing the rock to wear away
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Abrasion
When rocks hitting the side of the river or the cliff, gradually wearing it away
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Attrition
Rock smashing against each other, making them rounder & smaller
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Solution (erosion)
soluble particles dissolved in the river
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Traction
Rocks rolling along the river bed
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Saltation
Rocks bouncing down the river bed
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Suspension
Solid material held in the water while it's moving
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Solution (transportation)
Soluble particles dissolved in the water
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Dam & Resevoir
A barrier built across a valley to interrupt river flow , creating a man-made lake, which stores water
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Cross profile
The side t side cross section of a river channel or valley
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Discharge
The quantity of water that passes a given point in a given time period
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Embankments
Raised banks constructed along the river, increasing the rivers capacity
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Estuary
Wide banks of deposited material, exposed at low tide
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Flood
when the rivers capacity is too full and water spills out onto the floodplain
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Flood Plain
Relatively flat area forming the valley floor, either side of the river
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Flood plain zoning
A concept of flood defence where important things such as homes are built further away from the river, compared to a farm
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Flood relief channels
Building new artificial channels, to take the pressure off the main channel to reduce flood risk
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Flood risk
The predicted frequency of floods in an area
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Flood warning
Reliable, advanced information about possible flooding
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Fluvial processes
Process relating to deposition, transportation & erosion along a river
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Gorge
A narrow, steep-side valley, formed a when a waterfall retreats upstream
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Hard engineering
I the building of artificial structures to interrupt the river processes
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Hydrograph
A graph which shows the discharge of a river, related to rainfall, over a period of time
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Interlocking Spurs
A series of ridges projecting out on alternate sides of a valley and around which a river winds its course
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Landscape
An extensive area of land regarded as being visually & physically distinct
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Lateral Erosion
Sideways erosion by a river
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Levees
Embankment of sediment along e bank of a river
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Long Profile
The gradient of a river from the source to the mouth
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Meander
A pronounced bend in the river
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OX-bow Lake
An arc-shaped lake which has been cut off from a meandering river
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Precipitation
Moisture falling from the atmosphere
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Soft Engineering
Involves the use of the natural environment surrounding a river, using schemes that work with a rivers natural processes
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(Channel) Straightening
Removing meanders from a river to. Are the river straighter, allowing it to carry more wate downstream, more,quickly
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Vertical Erosion
Downward Erosion of a river bed
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Waterfall
A sudden descent of a river stream
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Deposition
Where th material carried by the river is dropped
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Erosion
The process where soil or rock is removed/worn away by the action of the river water
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Human Factor
Things that are man-made or people have control of
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Physical factor
Things which are natural and people do not have control of
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Relief
The height & shape of the land
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River Restoration
This is when you restore a river which has undergone hard engineering in the past
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Sediment
Silt, sand or gravel that is deposited by the river
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Transportation
The process of where the river moves material from one place to another
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Arch
A wave eroded passage through a headland
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Spit
A deposition also landform formed when sediment extends from the shore out to sea
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Bar
Where a spit grows across a bay, creating a lagoon behind it
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Beach
The zone of deposited material that extends from the low water line to the limit of storm waves
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Beach Nourishment
The addition of new material to a beach, artificially
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Beach reprofiling
Changing the shape of the beach
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Cave
A large hole in the cliff
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Chemical Weathering
The decomposition of rock caused by a chemical change within thatnrock
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Cliff
A steep high rock face formed by weathering & erosion along the coastline
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Dune regeneration
Action taken to build up dunes & increase vegetation
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Gabion
A steel wire mesh filled with rocks and boulders
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Groyne
A wooden barrier built out to sea to stop longshore adrift
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Headlands
a band of more resistant rock that lies between bands of less resistant rock that has been eroded away
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Bay
A band of less resistant rock that has been eroded &'curves inward, either side of 2 headlands
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Long shore Drift
The zigzag movement of sediment along a shore caused by waves going up the beach at an angle
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Managed Retreat
Giving the sea, an area of land
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Mass Movement
The downhill movement of weathered material under the force of gravity
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Mechanical Weathering
Weathering processes that cause physical disintegration or break up of exposed rock with no change of its chemical composition
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Rock Armour
Large boulders dumped on the beach as a coastal defence
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Sand Dune
Coastal sand hill above the high tide mark
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Sea Wall
A concrete wall that reflects the waves energy
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Sliding
Occurs after heavy periods of rain, when surface material becomes saturated and the weight causes the material to be unstable and move rapidly downhill
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Slumping
Rapid mass movement which involves a whole segment of the cliff moving down-slope along a line of weakness
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Stack
An isolated pillar at the end of a headland
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Wave Cut Platfrom
A rocky, level shelf at sea level representing the base of old retreated cliffs
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Waves
Ripples int he sea caused by the transfer of energy by from the wind
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Fetch
The distance the wind blows over the water
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Swash
When the water moves up the beach
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Backwash
When the water gets pulled back down the beach by gravity
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Source
Where the river starts
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Mouth
Where a river flows into a sea or lake
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Confluence
The point where 2 rivers meet
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Tributary
A smaller river that joins to a larger river
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Bluff
The edge of the floodplain
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Alluvium
The sediment that has came out of the river
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Pools
A deeper channel in in the meander bend that happens during high flow on the outside of the bend
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Riffles
A more shallower channel caused at high flow in the inside of the bend
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Weathering
The breaking down of rocks in situ
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Scree
Pile of rocks at the cliff foot
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

When rocks hitting the side of the river or the cliff, gradually wearing it away

Back

Abrasion

Card 3

Front

Rock smashing against each other, making them rounder & smaller

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

soluble particles dissolved in the river

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Rocks rolling along the river bed

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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