1+River+environments

**These are //KEYWORDS// which you should use wherever possible**
** abstraction ** Removal of water from rivers, lakes or groundwater for human use. **channel** The part of a valley floor occupied by the flowing water of a stream or river. **erosion** The wearing down of the land by water, ice, wind and gravity.
 * base flow ** That part of a river’s discharge fed by groundwater.
 * discharge ** The quantity of water that passes a given point on a stream or riverbank within a given period of time.
 * drainage basin ** The area drained by a river and its tributaries, bounded by a watershed.
 * flood plain ** That part of a valley floor over which a river spreads during seasonal floods.
 * hydrograph ** A graph on which variations in a river’s discharge are plotted against time.
 * hydrological cycle ** The unending movement of water between land, sea and atmosphere.
 * impermeable ** Rocks that do not allow water to pass through them.
 * interlocking spurs ** A series of ridges projecting out on alternate sides of a valley and around which a river winds its course.
 * levee ** A bank of sediment formed along the edge of a river channel deposited by floodwater.
 * mass-movement ** The movement of weathered rock downslope without the direct action of running water.
 * meander ** A pronounced bend in a river.
 * precipitation ** The deposition of moisture on the Earth’s surface, in the form of dew, frost, rain, hail, sleet or snow.
 * stores ** Places within a system where materials or energy are held for a time.
 * streamflow ** The flow of surface water in a well-defined channel.
 * watershed ** The dividing line between one drainage basin and another.
 * weathering ** The chemical alteration and physical breakdown of rock in situ.

media type="file" key="RiverKentSlides.swf" width="576" height="432" **Key questions** 1. What is the hydrological cycle and how does it work? [Hydrological cycle is the water cycle with knobs on!] 2. What are the features of a drainage basin? 3. What are the factors that affect river regimes and hydrographs? 4. What are the processes that help develop landscapes? 5. How are the main river features formed? Which processes are involved? 6. What are main uses that humans have for water? 7. What causes water shortage and what activities in particular are creating a rising demand? [Case study of a country with a rising demand for water] 8. What are the causes of water pollution? How can we provide enough clean water?[Case study of a dam or reservoir] 9. What causes floods? How can we control flooding? [Case study of a flood defence scheme] 10. What can we measure in rivers and how can we do it? 11. General interesting stuff and revision