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Geography
Rivers
Term | Definition |
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Abrasion | Abrasion is a form of erosion caused by rubbing of fine particles against an object. The effect is much the same as using sandpaper. Rivers carry sediment (fine rock particles) that abrade the banks and bed of the river channel |
Attrition | The wearing away of particles of rock as they bounce along the riverbed or knock against each other and wear away becoming more rounded |
Bank | The ground at the side of a river |
Cliff | A cliff is any steep slope that has been formed by natural processes. Cliffs reated by rivers are called river cliffs. They are on the outside of the curving section (meander) or a river and may be from a few metres to hundreds of metres high. |
Riverbed | The riverbed is the ground at the bottom of the river - often made up of sand and stones. |
Deposition | A river lays down or drops the sediment or material that it is carrying such as sand, mud, and small stones or sticks. This often happens on the inside of meanders, because the water is flowing slowly. |
Confuence | Where two rivers or streams meet. |
Estuary | A drowned river valley in a coastal lowland area. Occurs near or at the mouth of a river, where the tide meets the current and the fresh and salt waters mix. |
Flood plain | The flood plain is the flat land of the river valley close to the river banks. The floodplain is usually found in the lower course of a river. It is a fertile area of land, used for agriculture and growing crops. |
Hydralic action | The force of the water wears away the river bank from underneath |
Irrigation | The supply of water to farmland so that crops can grow in areas wherewater supplies are scarce or unreliable. |
Meander | A bend in a river - usually in the middle or lower course. The meander continually changes shape as the fast flowing current of water erodes the outside bank of the meander bend and deposition occurs in the slack water of the inside of the bend. |
Ox bow lake | A small arc-shaped lake formed when a meander is sealed off by deposition. Oxbows are only found on river floodplains. |
Waterfall | A place where the river course is interrupted by a tall step. |