Rivers

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Precipitation
Any way water reaches the ground (snow, sleet, rain, hail)
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Infiltration
Movement of water from the earth's surface to the soil
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Surface run off
Transfer of water back to the sea over the land
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Transpiration
Plants letting water vapour out into the atmosphere
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Groundwater
Transfer of water back to the sea through the land
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Condensation
Water vapour cooling back into a liquid
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Drainage basin
Area of land drained of water by a river and its tributaries
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Source
Where a river starts, usually very high up
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Mouth
Where the river meets the sea or a lake
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Watershed
The imaginary line that divides two drainage basins
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Tributary
A smaller river that joins the main channel of a river
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Confluence
The point where two rivers meet
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Hydraulic action
The force of water wearing away at the river bank and bed
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Corrosion
The chemical erosion between the water and river bank or bed
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Attrition
The collision of small rocks in the water, making them smaller
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Abrasion
The wearing away of a river bed or bank due to the material in the river
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Traction
When the heaviest material carried by a river is rolled along the bed
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Saltation
Small particles bounce along the river bed in a 'leap frog' motion
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Suspension
Sand sized particles move along with the flow of the river
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Solution
When material is dissolved in the water of the river
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Deposition
When the river drops off its material
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Transportation
When the river carries material from one location to another
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Erosion
Gradual wearing away of the river bed/bank or the material it carries
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Open system
Area with an unfixed amount of water in it (eg drainage basin)
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Closed system
Area with a fixed amount of water in it (eg hydrological cycle)
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Vertical erosion
Erosion downwards (upper course)
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Lateral erosion
Erosion outwards (to the side)
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Interlocking spurs
Caused by the river moving around harder rock to reach soft rock (upper course)
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Overhang
Hard rock in a waterfall that takes longer to erode
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Plunge pool
Area below a waterfall where the water falls
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Gorge
Steep-sided channel caused by the retreat of a waterfall (upper course)
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Meander
Bend in a river due to erosion of river bank by faster and slower moving water (middle course)
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Oxbow lake
U-shaped body of water formed by the neck of a meander meeting (middle course)
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Floodplain
Wide, flat land on either side of a river formed by erosion and deposition (middle course)
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Levee
Natural embankments created by deposition during flooding (middle course)
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Delta
Deposition of material at the river mouth forces the river into small channels (lower course)
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Hydrograph
Graph showing the discharge of a river over time at a given point
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Storm hydrograph
Graph showing the change in discharge of a river during a storm event
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Discharge
Amount of water in the river, measured in cumecs
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Rising limb
Increase in river discharge
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Falling limb
River discharge decreasing to normal levels
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Lag time
Time between heaviest rainfall and highest discharge
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Peak discharge
Maximum volume of water in the river
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Water stress
When amount of water available does not meet the demand
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Areas of defecit
Locations that do not receive enough rainfall on a permanent basis
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Areas of surplus
Locations that receive more water than needed
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Movement of water from the earth's surface to the soil

Back

Infiltration

Card 3

Front

Transfer of water back to the sea over the land

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Plants letting water vapour out into the atmosphere

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Transfer of water back to the sea through the land

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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