The Hydrological Cycle
This term describes the area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
Drainage Basin or Catchment
This erosion process occurs when the river wears away its bed and banks vertically, especially in the upper course.
Vertical Erosion
This term describes the side view of the whole river from top to bottom
The long profile
This human activity is the major cause of water pollution from fertilizers and pesticides.
Agriculture / farming
Regions where rainfall/water supply is less than demand experience this.
Demand greater than supply
Water Deficit
This is the imaginary line that separates one drainage basin from another
Watershed
This landform is caused by softer rock underneath harder rock, causing this vertical drop in a river.
A Waterfall
As you move downstream, the river's gradient does this
Decreases (or becomes gentler)
These structures are built to store water and generate electricity, but can also help prevent flooding.
Dams / Reservoirs
Regions where rainfall/water supply is more than demand experience this.
Water Surplus
These two factors affecting river regimes relate to weather and climate.
Precipitation and climate
Name the four processes of river transportation.
Traction, saltation, suspension, and solution
Name two features of the upper course of the river.
Any two: water falls, rapids, steep angles, mountains, thin channel, interlocking spurs
Name three major uses of water by humans
Agriculture, industry, domestic
Name two causes of river flooding related to human activities.
Urbanization and deforestation (or dam failure, poor land management)
On a storm hydrograph, this is the time difference between peak rainfall and peak discharge.
Lag Time
Draw an Oxbow Lake formation in 3 drawings
Answer Vary
These three measurements all generally increase as you move downstream along a river's course.
What are discharge, velocity, and channel width/depth
Describe two ways that flooding can be predicted or prevented.
Monitoring rainfall/river levels and weather forecasting (prediction); building flood defenses like levees, dredging channels, planting trees, or creating flood plains (prevention) (or similar)
Name the three sources of water pollution.
Agricultural, Industrial, Domestic
Explain how urbanization affects a river's storm hydrograph compared to a forested area.
Urbanization causes shorter lag time, higher peak discharge, and steeper rising/falling limbs due to impermeable surfaces and drainage systems (or similar
Name the four types of river erosion
Abrasion, attrition, hydraulic action, and solution.
Explain why velocity increases downstream even though the gradient decreases.
The channel becomes more efficient (less friction) due to smoother bed, deeper water, and larger volume, despite the gentler gradient (or similar)
Compare hard engineering versus soft engineering approaches to river management, giving one example of each.
Hard engineering uses structures to control rivers (e.g., dams, embankments, channelization) while soft engineering works with nature (e.g., afforestation, flood plain zoning, river restoration) (or similar)?
What do humans use 75% of all the world's fresh water on?
Agriculture