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Geography rivers
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Source | The start of a river |
| Tributary | A smaller stream/river that flows into a larger |
| Mouth | The end of a river |
| Course | The route a river takes to reach the sea |
| Drainage basin | The area of land drained by a river |
| Estuary | The part of a river mouth that is tidal |
| Confluence | The point when two rivers join |
| The 3 stages of a river | Youthful, mature, old age |
| Abrasion | Stones being carried by the river break off/ erode the banks and bed of the river |
| Attrition | Small stones break as they hit off of each other |
| Solution | Materials are dissolved by acid in the water |
| Hydraulic action | The force of moving water erodes river bank and bed |
| Suspension | Light materials such as sand and silt float along in the water |
| Rolling | Large stones are rolled along the bed of a river -traction |
| Bouncing | Pebbles are bounced along the bed - saltation |
| V-shaped valley | Formed in the youthful stage of a river, the force of moving water cuts downwards into the river bed, making it deeper and v-shaped over time |
| Meanders | Curves/bends that are formed in the river by lateral erosion and hydraulic action in the mature stage |
| Delta | When a river slows down at its mouth in the old age stage and the sea is calm the river forms piles of sediments making the river spilt into smaller distributary channels |