Features of a river:
Describe what each of the following landforms are and explain how they are formed.
Upper Course:
Main processes = Vertical erosion
V – shaped valley
Interlocking spurs
Waterfalls / Rapids / Gorge / Plunge pool
Potholes
Middle course:
Floodplain
Meanders
Bluff
Main processes = Lateral erosion and transportation
Lower course:
Main processes = transportation and deposition
Meanders / Oxbow lakes
Slip of slope / Point bar / River cliff
Riffles and pools
Wide floodplain / Levees
Braiding
River estuary
Delta
Important words:
Abrasion:
Erosion caused by water moving rocks / stones which scrape against the bed and banks
of the river
Alluvium:
Stones, silt and mud deposited by a river, usually on a floodplain
Attrition:
Process of rocks in the river wearing way by rubbing / banging into one another
Braiding:
River dividing into separate channels
Deposition: Process by which stones, sand and silt is dropped by the river
Drainage basin:Area of land drained by one river system
Erosion:
Process by which the landscape is worn away
Estuary:
Wide river mouth where it meets the sea. Usually large areas are covered in mud
Floodplain: Flat area next to the river in the middle and lower course, formed by silt and mud
deposited when the river floods
Meander:
Bend in the river
Oxbow lake: The lake formed by a meander, when the loop of the meander is cut off from the main
channel by deposits of mud and silt
River cliff: Steep bank of the river formed when erosion happens on the outside of a river bend
Source:
The start of the river
Transportation:The process that moves rock particles down the river
Tributary: A small river which joins a larger one
Waterfall:
A steep break in the course of a river where the water falls vertically. Often as a result of a
hard layer of rock