Geography vocabulary

3. Course: the mountain stage of a river with steep gradients and much erosion
5. The settling out of suspended particles from a body of water (or in some cases, very fine particles settled from the air or blown by the wind).
6. the break-down or decomposition of rock by biological, physical or chemical processes.
7. a smaller river that joins a larger one
10. the highland separating one river basin from another
11. the wearing away of the bed and banks of the river channel by abrasion, hydraulic action, solution and attrition.
14. where a river starts, usually in the mountains
15. Action: The sheer force of the water by itself can erode material from the bed and banks of the river channel.
16. a narrow neck of highland extending into a river valley, often forming the divide between two tributaries

1. a steep-sided, narrow rocky valley marking the retreat of a waterfall
2. Course: the section of the river between the mountains and the lowland, where transport of eroded material is important and the river begins to cut sideways due to the reducing gradient.
4. form where the river meets a band of softer rock after flowing over an area of more resistant material. Waterfalls progressively cut back, leaving a gorge.
8. a bend in a river. The outside of the meander has the fastest flow and deepest water.
9. the speed of the water flow
12. a river mouth choked with sediment causing the main channel to split into smaller branching channels or distributaries.
13. where a river ends, at a lake or the sea.