AQA GCSE - River Key terms

Across

3. ...profile – the gradient of a river, from its source to its mouth.
4. ...lake – an arc-shaped lake which has been cut off from a meandering river.
8. ... and reservoirs – a barrier (made of earth, concrete or stone) built across a valley to interrupt river flow and create a man-made lake (reservoir) which stores water and controls the discharge of the river.
11. the tidal mouth of a river where it meets the sea; wide banks of deposited mud are exposed at low tide.
15. raised banks constructed along the river; they effectively make the river deeper so it can hold more water. They are expensive and do not look natural but they do protect the land around them.
16. the movement of eroded material.
18. flood ... – the predicted frequency of floods in an area.
19. ...processes – processes relating to erosion, transport and deposition by a river.
21. ... profile the side-to-side cross-section of a river channel and/or valley.
24. ...plain – the relatively flat area forming the valley floor on either side of a river channel, which is sometimes flooded.
27. ...erosion – downward erosion of a river bed.
28. sudden descent of a river or stream over a vertical or very steep slope in its bed. It often forms where the river meets a band of softer rock after flowing over an area of more resistant material.
29. ... straightening – removing meanders from a river to make the river straighter.
32. flood .... channels – building new artificial channels, which are used when a river is close to maximum discharge. They take the pressure off the main channels when floods are likely, therefore reducing flood risk.
33. ...spurs – a series of ridges projecting out on alternate sides of a valley and around which a river winds its course.

Down

1. fine solid material held in the water while the water is moving.
2. occurs when river discharge exceeds river channel capacity and water spills out of the channel onto the floodplain and other areas.
5. flood ... warning - providing reliable advance information about possible flooding. Flood warning systems give people time to remove possessions and evacuate areas.
6. ...a narrow, steep sided valley, often formed as a waterfall retreats upstream.
7. ...site – a plot of land, often in a rural or on the edge of an urban area, which has not yet been subject to any building development.
9. ...a pronounced bend in a river.
10. erosion caused when rocks and boulders transported by waves bump into each other and break up into smaller pieces.
12. the quantity of water that passes a given point on a stream or river-bank within a given period of time.
13. ...plain zoning – this attempts to organise the flood defences in such a way that land that is near the river and often floods is not built on. This could be used for pastoral farming or playing fields. The areas that rarely get flooded would therefore be used for houses, transport and industry.
14. rocks carried along by the river wear down the river bed and banks.
17. the rolling of boulders and pebbles along the river bed.
20. sprawl – the unplanned growth of urban areas into the surrounding countryside.
22. particles bouncing down the river bed.
23. ...an embankment of sediment along the bank of a river. It may be formed naturally by regular flooding or be built up by people to protect the area against flooding.
25. ...erosion – sideways erosion by a river on the outside of a meander channel. It eventually leads to the widening of the valley and contributes to the formation of the flood plain.
26. soluble particles are dissolved into the river.
30. ...action – the force of the river against the banks can cause air to be trapped in cracks and crevices. The pressure weakens the banks and gradually wears it away.
31. ...a graph that shows the discharge of a river, related to rainfall, over a period of time.