Rivers Definitions Physical Geography

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  • Created by: ollimoo
  • Created on: 15-09-18 12:17
Abrasion
the river load being transported wear away the bed and banks of the river channel
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Attrition
the particles in a river are knock against each other as they are transported, and they gradually become more rounded and reduce in size
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Condensation
when water turns from a gas to a liquid
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Confluence
the point at which a tributary joins a channel
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Dam
a large concrete structure built to hold back flood water (hard engineering)
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Deposition
the river drops sediment on the river bed, happens when the river has insufficient energy to transport it's load
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Discharge
the amount of water flowing through the channel ( cross section x velocity)
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Erosion
the wearing away of the bed and banks of the river channel by abrasion, hydraulic action, solution and attrition
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Estuary
the tidal mouth of a river where the fresh river water meets the salt water from the sea, has large flat expanses of mud exposed at low tide
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Evaporation
when water turns from a liquid to a gas
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Falling Limb
when the discharge of a river is decreasing after its peak flow on a flood hydrograph
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Groundwater Stores
water that is stored in the ground
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Hard Engineering
controlled disruption of natural processes using man made structures, effective but expensive
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Hydraulic Action
the sheer force of water by itself eroding material from the bed and banks of a river
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Impermeable
rocks that cannot absorb any water
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Infiltration
water soaking into the ground
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Interception
plants taking up water via the roots and from precipitation landing on leaves
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Irrigation
the supply of water to land or crops to help growth
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Lag Time
the gap of time between the peak rainfall and the peak flow of a river
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Lateral Erosion
erosion made by a river sideways e.g. on the outside of a meander channel
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Managed Retreat
leaving an area of flood plain specifically for flooding (soft engineering)
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Mouth
where a river ends at a lake or at the sea
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Percolation
precipitation that filters gradually through higher layers of mud until it reaches impermeable rock
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Permeable
allows water to infiltrate through
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Precipitation
rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to or condenses on the ground
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Rising Limb
the period of time where the discharge of the river in increasing after a period of heavy rain
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Soft Engineering
use of ecological processes to reduce erosion and flooding by learning to adapt to a river
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Saltation
small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed
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Suspension
fine, light materials are held up and carried within the river's flow
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Solution
a process of erosion and transportation where some rocks are dissolved by chemicals in a river and carried along the channel
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Source
where a river starts
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Surface Run Off
the flow of water over the surface of the ground occurring when rainfall is not absorbed into the soil or evaporated
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Traction
when large boulders and rocks are rolled along the river bed
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Throughflow
the flowing of liquid or air through the ground
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Transportation
when the river moves material from the channel
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Tributary
a smaller river that joins a larger one
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Vertical Erosion
erosion of a river downwards which results in the channel getting deeper
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Watershed
the high land separating one river basin from another
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

the particles in a river are knock against each other as they are transported, and they gradually become more rounded and reduce in size

Back

Attrition

Card 3

Front

when water turns from a gas to a liquid

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

the point at which a tributary joins a channel

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

a large concrete structure built to hold back flood water (hard engineering)

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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