AQA A Geography Water on the Land

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Formations, case studies, definitions... everything you need to know for the Water on the Land unit of AQA GCSE Geography
Natalia  Cliff
Flashcards by Natalia Cliff, updated more than 1 year ago
Natalia  Cliff
Created by Natalia Cliff over 7 years ago
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Resource summary

Question Answer
What is erosion? the sculpting of a landscape, for example by rivers, involving removal of material
What are the types of erosion? -Hydraulic action -Abrasion -Attrition -Solution
What is hydraulic action? The power of the volume of water moving in the river (the sheer force of the water)
What is abrasion? Abrasion occurs when the larger load of the river hits the bed and banks, causing bits to break off
What is attrition? Attrition is the knocking together of stones and boulders in the river, making them gradually smaller and smoother
What is solution? Solution is the dissolving of rocks and minerals by water
What is transportation? Transportation is the carrying of sediment downstream from the point where it has been eroded to where it is deposited
What are the kinds of transportation? -Traction -Saltation -Suspension -Solution
What is traction? Traction is the rolling of the largest rocks and boulders along the river bed
What is saltation? Saltation is the bouncing movement of small stones and grains of sand along the river bed
What is suspension? small material being carried by the water that neither floats nor sinks
What is solution? Dissolved rocks and minerals being carried by the water
What is deposition? Deposition is the dumping of sediment that has been transported by the river The river deposits it's load when it loses energy
Draw a river's long profile
Draw the changes of a river's cross profile
What are the characteristics of a river in it's upper course? -Shallow, narrow channel -Vertical erosion -Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition -Some traction and saltation at high flow -Deposition of large material -Large load
What are the characteristics of a river in it's middle course? -Wider, deeper channel -Some vertical erosion, lateral erosion is more important -Hydraulic action less important -Mainly Suspension, some traction and saltation still present -Deposition more obvious -Load size reduced
What are the characteristics of a river in it's lower course? -Widest, deepest channel -Little erosion, only a little lateral -Erosion a lot less important -Suspension dominant -Deposition of fine material -Large amount of very small load
Formation of a Waterfall -Water flows over a band of hard over a band of soft rock -Soft rock erodes (hydraulic action and abrasion) to form a plunge pool -This leaves an overhang -Overhand collapses due to lack of support and gravity -Process repeats itself -Waterfall retreats upstream
Diagrams for formation of a waterfall
Formation of a gorge -All of the steps for formation of a waterfall -The retreating waterfall cuts out a steep sided valley called a gorge
Formation of a meander -River erodes more on one side and undercuts the bank -Deposition occurs on the other side with a slip off slope -Erosion the inside of the bend, deposition on the outside -Over time meander bends more as it migrates downstream
Diagram for formation of a meander
Formation of an ox-bow lake -All of the steps for formation of a meander -As the meander migrates downstream, erosion causes the neck to tighten -Eventually the river breaks through -Deposition cuts off the meander leaving behind an ox bow lake
Diagram for formation of an ox bow lake
Formation of a floodplain and levees -River floods in the lower course -Once it's flooded, loses all of it's energy so deposits fine load -Heavier load deposited first, creating heightened banks called levees -Smaller load fills holes and gaps in the ground creating a flat floodplain next to the river
Diagram for formation of floodplain and levees
How does rainwater travel through/on the ground?
Describe and label a storm hydrograph
What factors affect river discharge? Why do rivers flood? -Deforestation (less interception) -Urbanisation (more impermeable surfaces, so more surface run off) -Building construction -Amount of rainfall -Temperature (evaporation) -Relief (slope) of the land -Rock type (impermeable rocks mean more surface run off) -Previous weather (if soil saturated then more surface run off) -prolonged rain, heavy rain, snowmelt
Are floods getting more frequent? YES: -More floods reported -Could be caused by changes in weather NO: -People just building more on floodplains so floods affect more people and seem worse
Cockermouth flooding of 2009 What were the causes? What happened? -Wet autumn so ground saturated -Torrential rain, most rain ever to fall in 24 hours -Steep relief in hilly lake district -2.5 m of water cascaded down the main road
Cockermouth flooding of 2009 What were the social effects? -one policeman died -1300 people affected by the flood -Homes without power or water -Local schools shut down -Workington (northern part) cut off
Cockermouth flooding of 2009 What were the economic effects? -Insurance companies expected to pay over £100 000 000 -Land inundated (large rocks) -Livestock killed -Walls, farm houses and machinery destroyed -Shop stock destroyed -1 m mud and silt to be cleared
Cockermouth flooding of 2009 What were the short term responses? -200 people airlifted out -Some rescued by boat -Evacuated people put in a temporary shelter -Flooded buildings assessed -small businesses given temporary trading accommodation
Cockermouth flooding of 2009 What were the long term responses? -1800 bridges inspected -Residents given alternative accommodation for months -Several roads in the town square needed were completely resurfaced
Bangladesh flooding of 2004 What were the causes? -Bangladesh is low-lying and on the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna delta -Deforestation in Nepal meant more water in rivers -Snow melt from the Himalayas -Heavy monsoon rain -Heaviest rain in 50 years 35 cm on one day -By July 60% of country flooded
Bangladesh flooding of 2004 What were the effects? -750 deaths -30 mill homeless out of 140 mill -100 000 people in Dhaka alone suffering from diarrhea as floodwater spread sewage -roads, railways and bridges destroyed, hampering aid -School and Hospital damage was $7 billion -Rice (main food crop) washed away with vegetables and cash crop like sugar cane -30% increase price of rice
Bangladesh flooding 2004 What were the short term responses? -food, medicine and clothing distributed -WaterAid distributed water purification tablets -Local communities rebuilt homes
Bangladesh flooding 2004 What were the long term responses? -UN appealed for $74 million but only received 20% -Embankments built (but don't really work) -Flood warning system with flood shelters (areas of raised land)
What is hard engineering? Building artificial structures aimed at controlling natural processes
What kind of hard engineering can be used for rivers? -Dams -Reservoirs -Straightening meanders (deals with flooding)
Three Gorges Dam China Where is it? -China... -Yichang on the Yangtze
Three Gorges Dam China What are the benefits? -Floods reduced from 1 in 10 year to 1 in 100 year event -Helps 15 mill people living in high flood risk areas -Protects 25 000 ha of farmland -Helps flood control, navigation and power generation
Three Gorges Dam China What are the issues? -Yangtze used to carry 500 mill tonnes silt every year, half of that now behind the dam reducing reservoir capacity and starving farmland downstream -Chongqing pumps 1 billion tonnes of sewage into the river every year -Factories put in toxic substances -1.4 million people forcibly removed but never given compensation, $30 mill set aside for this taken by corrupt officials
What is soft engineering? Tries to work with the natural river system in a sustainable way
Examples of soft engineering -Avoid building on flood plains -Flood plain zoning -Do nothing -Flood warning -Planting trees
Brisbane Floodplain zoning -Avoid areas near river -Then pastures for grazing -Playing fields -Roads and car parks -Industry -Finally housing This diminishes negative affects of flooding
Why does is the UK using more water? -More affluent lifestyle -Growing population
How can this be dealt with? -Water transfer from areas of water surplus to areas of water deficit -Conservation tactics
Water are water conservation tactics? -Houses designed with better water efficiency -Devices in toilet cisterns mean less water is used -Rainwater collected -Bath water recycled to flush toilets -Shower rather than bath
Keilder Water Reservoir, Northumberland Where is it? How many people does it supply? What's the daily supply? -Northumberland (northwest England, a high precipitation zone) -supplies 2.5 mill people -daily supply of 729 million litres
Keilder Water Reservoir, Northumberland What are the advantages? -hydroelectric power of 6 MW of power -Flood prevention -£6 mill raised through tourism -Several sites of SSSI's that protect red squirrels for instance
Keilder Water Reservoir, Northumberland What are the disadvantages? -holds back necessary sediment -58 families displaced from their homes -2700 ha of habitat lost -clear water erosion further downstream
Where has flooding occurred in the UK in the past 20 years -1998 Easter floods (central England) -2000 Millennium floods (all of UK) -2007 floods in Gloucestershire -2012 floods all across UK
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