AIM: to practise our geographical skills whilst studying rivers
ISOVELS are lines that join points of equal velocity (water speed), measured in metres per second within the river.
They show that running water flows fastest on the outside of the bend and slowest on the inside. The diagram below
shows a cross-section of a meander and how the speed varies as you move from the inside to the outside of the bend .
KEY – shade the 5 boxes below and then use them to shade the diagram above to show how the speed (velocity) of the water changes as you
move across the meander
Faster than 0.4 m/s
0.2 – 0.3 m/s
0.3 – 0.4 m/s
0.1 – 0.2 m/s
Slower than 0.1 m/s