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Geography (Physical) > Water on the Land > Flashcards

Water on the Land Flashcards

1
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A

Erosion caused by the force of the river against the banks and beds as the pressure weakens and wears away rock.

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2
Q

When does abrasion occur?

A

When rocks carried along by the water cause the river beds and banks to wear/erode away.

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3
Q

Define ‘attrition’

A

The process by which rocks carried in the river smash into one another and break into smaller, smoother, rounder particles.

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4
Q

What is corrosion/solution?

A

When soluble particles (from the river beds/banks) are dissolved into the river.

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5
Q

Describe vertical erosion

A

Vertical erosion is the downward action of erosion that deepens the river channel and is dominant in the upper course due to increased gravitational pull.

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6
Q

What is lateral erosion and when is it most likely to occur?

A

The sideways action of erosion that widens the river channel and is most dominant in the lower course of the river.

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7
Q

Name the four processes of transportation

A
  1. Suspension
  2. Solution
  3. Traction
  4. Saltation
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8
Q

What is suspension?

A

When fine, light material is carried along in the river

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9
Q

How is solution created?

A

When minerals are dissolved in the water and carried along in solution

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10
Q

Define traction

A

Traction is when large boulders and rocks are rolled along the river bed

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11
Q

What is saltation?

A

Saltation is when small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed

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12
Q

The landforms that occur in the upper course of a river are …………. and ………….. They are created by ……………

A

The landforms that occur int he upper course of a river are waterfalls and gorges. They are created by erosion.

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13
Q

In the middle course of a river, notable landforms include …….. and ………..

These are created by ………….. and ………….

A

In the middle course of a river, notable landforms include meanders and oxbow lakes.

These are created by erosion and deposition.

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14
Q

Which river landforms will be present in the lower course of a river and how are they formed?

A

Levees and Floodplains are common in the lower course of a river and these are created by deposition.

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15
Q

Give some features of a lower course of a river (4)

A
  • Wide and deep river channel
  • Suspended sediment
  • Deltas and estuaries
  • Situated within predominantly flat land (flood plains)
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16
Q

Outline some features of the upper course of a river (4)

A
  • Tributaries
  • Narrow and shallow river channels
  • Large angular bedload
  • Steep valley sides
  • Fast-flowing rapids (due to gravitational pull)
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17
Q

List some features of the middle course of a river (4)

A
  • Tributaries
  • Deeper and wider river channel than in the upper course
  • Small angular bed load
  • U shaped valley, more gradual relief of the land than in the upper course
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18
Q

erosion, undercut, overhang, plunge pool, abrasion, hydraulic action, retreat

Briefly outline the 6 main phases in waterfall formation, draw a labelled diagram if it helps

A
  1. When river flows over hard and softer rock, the softer is eroded more rapidly (creating a dip)
  2. Over time the dip becomes deeper amd eventually the harder rock is undercut (creating an overhang)
  3. Below the overhang, a plunge pool forms
  4. Overhanging rock is unsupported and will begin to crack and fall into the plunge pool.
  5. Pieces of are swirled around in the plunge pool, making it larger by abrasion and hydraulic action making it larger
  6. As overhang continues to fall off, the waterfall will retreat upstream.
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19
Q

How is a gorge formed?

A

As a waterfall retreats due to overhang collapsing into the river, a gorge is cut into the land.

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20
Q

What is a meander, when are they most likely to occur and why?

A

A winding curve or bend in a river, typical of the lower and middle course because there is a higher volume of water with more energy and** less friction** acting upon it. They are created by lateral erosion.

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21
Q

Describe the five main stages of meander formation

Try and include these terms: pools, riffles, hydraulic action, abrasion, river cliff, slip-off slope

A
  1. River flow weaves around sediment on the river bed, creating deeper pathways in some places (pools) and shallow areas where there is more sediment (riffles).
  2. The river flow will swing from side to side, around the riffles.
  3. The river bank on the outside of a bend in the river is increasingly eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion, creating a river cliff. Sediment is deposited on the inside of a river to form a slip-off slope.
  4. Meanders are perpetuated by helicoidal flow, when the water hits the outer bank it deposits eroded material on the inner bank.
  5. Over time, the bend will become tighter and end points, closer together.
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22
Q

Draw the hydrological cycle (there are 10 main processes)

A
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23
Q

List the 5 main features of a river

A
  1. Watershed
  2. The source
  3. Main river channel
  4. Tributary
  5. Confluence
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24
Q

What is a watershed?

A

The boundary of a river, any water falling outside of it will flow into another basin

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25
Q

In what unit is the volume of flowing water in a river measured?

A

Cumecs (cubic metres per second)

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26
Q

What does the bar and the line of a storm hydrograph show?

A
  • The bar shows how a river responds to a period of rainfall
  • The line shows how precipitation effects river discharge.
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27
Q

What is peak rainfall and peak discharge?

A

Peak rainfall: when rainfall is at it’s highest

Peak discharge - when river flow has reached it’s maximum

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28
Q

Define ‘lag time’

A

The period between peak rainfall and peak discharge

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29
Q

What is the rising and falling limb show on a storm hydrograph?

A

The rising limb indicates when river flow is rising, whereas the falling limb is when the river’s flow begins to fall (after it has peaked).

30
Q

List the four physical factors that affect river discharge

A
  • Rainfall
  • Temperature
  • Relief of the land
  • Rock type (impermeable/non-porous or permeable/porous)
31
Q

Which two human factors can impact on river discharge?

A
  • Urbanisation
  • Deforestation
32
Q

On what day in 2004 did the Boscastle floods occur and how much rain fell that day?

A

16 August

8 inches of rain

33
Q

How much water flowed through Boscastle high street on the day of the floods and which river is this equivalent to?

A

440million gallons, equivalent to The Thames

34
Q

Give the four physical causes of the Boscastle floods

A
  • The local area was saturated by weeks of rainfall
  • Impearmeable underlying rock prevented infiltration
  • Steep v-shaped valleys increased surface run-off
  • The town is situated on the confluence of 3 rivers (Jordan, Paradise, Valency)
35
Q

Which two human factors caused the flooding in Boscastle in 2004

A
  • Car parks either side of the Valency increased surface run-off
  • Deforestation opposite Minster wood
36
Q

List 6 primary effects of the floods in Boscastle in 2004

A
  • 3m wall of water destroyed infrastructure, sweeping cars out to sea
  • Over 100 cars were left washed into the harbour
  • 2 coastguard helicopters were scrambled, 100 people airlifted from their homes
  • Silt and debris was left
  • Visitor centre collapsed
  • No deaths occurred
37
Q

Give 7 immediate responses to the Bostcastle floods

A
  • Environment agency issued flood warnings
  • Rapid evacuation
  • Fire brigade and police on the scene within an hour
  • Falmouth coastguard mobilised
  • RAF helicopters from Chivenor saved 150 people
  • Lifeboats and motorised dinghies went from house to house rescuing people and checking cars out at sea.
  • Temporary accomodation set up on Boscastle football pitch.
38
Q

List 4 long term responses to the Boscastle floods of 2004

A
  • North Cornwall District Council banned residents from returning to look at their homes for 10 days while structural engineers inspected properties
  • Residents returned home within 6 months, following an extensive clear up
  • Telephone, water and gas supplies were reinstalled within 6 months
  • Insurance and compensation was paid to businesses and families totalling £15million
  • The tourist industry suffered
39
Q

Define ‘hard engineering’

A

Hard engineering is the use of man-made structural engineering to prevent flooding

40
Q

What is soft engineering?

A

Soft engineering is the use of natural engineering to reduce the impact of flooding

41
Q

List some of the hard engineering strategies employed in the Boscastle Flood Management Plan (there are 9 in total)

A
  • Car park with permeable service
  • River bank widened
  • Existing car park raised
  • Road and drainage improvements
  • River wall installed
  • River Jordam flood relief culvet outfall
  • Lowered access road to accept water
  • River valency widened and lowered
  • Sewage pumping station installed
42
Q

What are the three soft engineering strategies used in the Boscastle Flood Management plan?

A
  • Tree management (afforestation)
  • Area for river to deposit sediment
  • Gauging station to measure flood and speed of river
43
Q

Where is the Swat Valley?

A

The Swat Valley is situated in the North East of Pakistan.

44
Q

When did the Swat Valley floods occur and how many people did they impact?

A

The Swat Valley flooded on the 9th August 2010, it effected 17 million people and was the worst flooding in the country’s history.

45
Q

Give two physical causes of the Pakistan Floods in 2010

A
  • Heavy monsoon rain lasted for months, causing the ground to be saturated and the River Indus to burst it’s banks.
  • There was a high surface run-off from the Himalayan mountains, due to the steep relief of the hillside and impermeable rock.
46
Q

List six social impacts of the Swat Valley floods

A
  • 1781 fatalities.
  • 2966 people injured.
  • 1.9 million houses damaged, families displaced
  • The Swat Valley was totally cut off from elsewhere
  • Contaminated flood water led to outbreaks of cholera and typhoid
  • 6 million people needed food aid
47
Q

Give four main environmental impacts of the Swat Valley

A
  • Sukkur Barrage (a small dam) was breached - intensifying the flooding in the South of the region
  • Farmland and crops were ruined by silt deposits
  • 69,000km2 of Pakistan’s most fertile farmland was submerged (total wheat crop damages were estimated to be over $500 million)
  • Enormous mudslides occurred
48
Q

List 4 ways the Pakistan floods impacted the economy

A
  • UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon initially estimated $460 million for emergency relief, noting that the flood was the worst disaster he had ever seen.
  • The Pakistani economy was harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops.
  • Many families and communities lost all their belongings and homes, with little means to claim compensation. (722,000homes decimated)
  • Total economic impact is said to be as much as $43 billion.
49
Q

List four main short term responses to the Swat Valley floods

A
  1. Heavy reliance on international aid (Red Cross and Oxfam)
  2. The swat valley was inaccessible by helicopter so donkeys had to be used
  3. Mainly slow and uncoordinated response (the Pakistan government struggled to cope)
  4. Foreign Governments donated millions of dollars, and Saudi Arabia and the USA promised $600 million in flood aid. But this response was slow as the world had just given to the Haiti disaster (donor fatigue)
50
Q

Give 4 long term responses to the Pakistan floods of 2010

A
  1. The UN’s World Food Programme provided food aid but by November 2010, they were warning that they might have cut the amount of food handed out, due to a lack of donations from richer countries
  2. UN Ambassador Angelina Jolie helped to increase publicity and raise money to rebuild the region
  3. The Taliban took advantage of the slow reponse to the distaster and won over villages in the North
  4. The World Bank agreed to lend Pakistan $900m to help long-term reconstruction.
51
Q

When and where was the Three Gorges Dam constructed? How much did it cost and how long is it?

A

Constructed on the Yangtze River, the world’s third longest river (in China)

Work began in 1994 and it was completed in 2012

Cost $39billion

Dam wall is 2,309m long

52
Q

What are the three main benefits of the Three Gorges Dam?

A
  1. Hydro-electric power produced for a growing population
  2. Less flooding on the Yangtze - 1/100 to 1/1000 flood likelihood
  3. Jobs for people on the dam and people had to be employed to clear the constant build up of rubbish on the river
53
Q

List the 6 disadvantages of the Three Gorges Dam

A
  1. 1.4 million people were relocated
  2. No compensation given
  3. Settlements lost - 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,300 villages
  4. Dam prevents deposition on farmland, making it less fertile
  5. Most polluted reservoir on Earth (265 billion gallons of sewage pumped in every year)
  6. Higher river levels caused the river banks to erode and homes to be destabilised
54
Q

Give an example of where straightening has been used to prevent river flooding and describe how

A

On the Mississippi River, USA

River straightening means that water flows away from the city more quickly, linear rivers flow faster than sinous ones and don’t desposit as much sediment

55
Q

What is the main disadvantage with river straightening?

A

It leads to further flooding downstream

56
Q

List 3 soft engineering methods commonly used to prevent damage caused by river flooding

A
  1. Warnings and preparation
  2. Afforestation
  3. Floodplain zoning
57
Q

Which bodies in the UK are used to warn and prepare communities for river flooding? How do they do this?

A

The Environment Agency and The Met Office

Met office warnings: Yellow (be aware), Amber (be prepared) and Red (take action)

People can be informed to put out sand bags and move belongings/furniture upstairs. Emergency services are informed.

58
Q

Outline a mini case study for afforestation. Mention a few adavantages and disadvantages.

A

Yellow River, China

  • Planting of trees increase interception (takes longer for precipitation to reach the river)
  • 20% increase in trees in two years
  • Provides habitat, employment, reduces greenhouse gas effect
  • However, only lessens flood impact - doesn’t stop it. Insurance for properties nearby are still high.
59
Q

Describe how floodplain zoning has been put into effect around the Rhine river in Germany. What is the main disadvantages of this method?

A
  • Floodplain has been divided into risk areas
  • Water meadows put in place to absorb river
  • Trees and parks act as a buffer zone
  • Hospitals and schools further from river

Disadvantage: Land is lost and cannot be used to build on.

60
Q

What does the term ‘room for the river’ reflect?

A

It reflects a new philosophy in river management - working with the river and sustainably using the flood plain to remove the risk of flooding

61
Q

How much water does the average person in Mozambique use per day? And how much water does a low-fill toilet in the US use per flush?

A

In Mozambique: 1.3 gallons per person per day

In the US: 1.6 gallons per toilet per flush

62
Q

How many people die worldwide due to water related disease every minute?

A

4

63
Q

By what percentage has water usage per household increased in the UK in the last 30 years?

A

70%

64
Q

Give some reaons for increased water usage

A
  • Rising population
  • Greater income ⇒ more bathrooms
  • Technology ⇒ dishwashers/washing machines
  • Gardening - larger gardens, sprinklers/hoses
  • Change in attitudes - taking water for granted, convenience (showers)
  • Awareness of hygiene
  • Car washing
65
Q

How many litres of water does a person from

a) the UK
b) Africa
c) the US

use on average per day?

A

a) UK - 150 litres
b) Africa - 47 litres
c) USA - 578 litres

66
Q

What is ‘water stress’?

A

Water stress is when the amount of water available isn’t enough to meet demand

67
Q

Why is the South East of the UK suffering from water defecit?

A

It has a high popualtion density and low rainfall - rain occurs more in the west.

68
Q

Where is the Kielder water reservoir and how much did it cost?

A

The Kielder Water reservoir is in Northumberland, it is the biggest man-made reservoir in Europe. It cost $167million to build and is a water transfer scheme.

69
Q

Outline the pros and cons of the Kielder water reservoir

A

Pros: North East has most reliable water supply (rainfall), reservoir manages flow of the river Tyne, flood protection for Newcastle, provides HEP, free recreational activities (picnic sites, nature trails), provides water habitat (conservation area)

Cons: Habitats and farmland lost, people relocated

70
Q

How does the Kielder reservoir benefit the rest of the UK?

A

Water can be collected and then transported elsewhere (eg. to the south east, where they are experiencing water defecit)

Geography (Physical) (3 decks)

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