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Important vocabulary
Word
Meaning
Carnivore
Any animal that feeds on flesh; Tyrannosaurus Rex
was a large carnivore! Insectivorous plants are also
considered carnivores.
Herbivore
Any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other
plants
Detritivore
An organism (as an earthworm or a fungus) that
feeds on dead and decomposing
organic matter
RIVERS
Alluvium
A deposit of clay, silt, sand, and gravel left by
flowing streams in a river valley or delta, typically
producing fertile soil.
(The picture here shows farming in Ladakh, India)
Backwater
A small, generally shallow body of water attached to
the main channel with little or no current of its own
pushed back by a dam or current.
(The picture here shows the Pearl River backwater
in Mississippi)
Bedload
The material carried by a river by being bounced or
rolled along its bed
Image
Bore
Confluence
Delta
A high wave caused by the surge of a flood tide
upstream in a narrowing estuary or by colliding tidal
currents.
Traveling upstream about two or three times faster
than the normal tidal current, a bore usually is
characterized by a well-defined front of one or
several waves, often breaking, followed by the
bore's main body, which rises higher than the water
level at its front.
The point at which two or more rivers meet. (The
picture here shows Roman River and River Colne in
Wivenhoe, Essex)
When a river reaches a lake or the sea the water
slows down and loses the power to carry sediment.
A delta is a large, silty area at the mouth of a river at
which the river splits into many different slowflowing channels that have muddy banks. New land
is created at deltas. Deltas are often triangularshaped, hence the name (the Greek letter 'delta' is
shaped like a triangle).
Some deltas are so large that people can live on
them. The Nile delta is a very important farming
area in Egypt.
Delta Plain
Deltas have a fairly flat section called a delta plain
that is above water. The river cuts many small
channels through the delta plain. These channels are
called distributaries. New sections of delta build up
at the mouths of the distributaries.
Deposition
The process by which sediments are laid down in
new locations
Discharge
The volume of water passing a certain point along a
stream or river in a given period
Downstream
The direction that a river or stream is flowing
Eddy current
A contrary turbulence that creates circular upstream
currents behind rocks and other obstructions and
along the edges of a stream or river channel.
Erosion
The removal or wearing away of soil or rock by
water, wind, or other agents.
Estuary
An estuary is the area where a river meets the sea
or ocean, where fresh water from the river meets
salt water from the sea
Flood
A flood is a great flowing or overflowing of water
onto land that is not usually submerged. A flood
happens when too much rain, brought by storms
and strong winds, falls and cannot be absorbed by
the soil. Rivers burst their banks and the water spills
onto the land. Strong winds blowing across the sea
make huge waves that surge onto the land and flood
coastal areas.
Flood Plain
A nearly flat plain along the course of a stream or
river that is naturally subject to flooding.
Gorge
Over time rivers can cut through bedrock. Rivers
flowing over soft sedimentary rocks can cut deep
gorges and canyons. (Gorge du Verdon)
Meander
A bend in a river. The outside of the meander has
the fastest flow and deepest water.
Mouth
Where the river ends its journey and joins a lake or
ocean
Mudflat
Low-lying muddy land that is covered at high tide
and exposed at low tide.
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a stagnant lake that is formed
alongside a winding river when the river changes
path because of soil erosion, leaving an abandoned
stream channel, cut off from the rest of the river
Plunge Pool
A depression at the base of a waterfall created by
the falling water scouring where it lands.
Riparian
Plunge pools are formed under the force of a
natural source, such as a waterfall or rapids. The
swirling water, sometimes carrying rocks within it,
erodes the riverbed into a basin, often featuring
irregular and rough sides. Plunge pools can remain
after the waterfall has ceased to exist or the stream
has been diverted.
An area of land and vegetation adjacent to a stream
that has a direct effect on the
stream. This includes woodlands, vegetation, and
floodplains.
Rapids
Found where the river meets a band of resistant
rock and usually precede a waterfall.
Riffle
A stretch of river/stream that is characterized by
shallow, fast moving water broken by the
presence of rocks and boulders.
Riverbank
The land alongside a body of water.
River basin
A river basin is an area of land drained by a river and
its tributaries.
Riverbed
The bottom of a body of water.
River channel
A channel is an area that contains flowing water
confined by banks.
Runoff
River channels vary greatly in cross-sectional size
and shape but are usually bounded by defined banks
which separate the channel from the floodplain or
valley side.
Runoff is water that drains into a river (or other
body of water) from uncontrolled streams, drains,
or sewage lines. There is runoff from agricultural
irrigation water, snowmelt, storms, etc.
It
eventually flows into lakes and the ocean.
Salination
(see transportation)
Solution
(see transportation)
Source
Where the river starts its journey.
NB – As you can see from the image to the source of
the River Thames – it isn’t always obvious!
Suspension
(See transportation)
Traction
(See transportation)
Transportation
Flowing water moves eroded material downstream
in different ways
 Solution - minerals are dissolved in the
water and carried along in solution.
 Suspension - fine light material is carried
along in the water.
 Saltation - small pebbles and stones are
bounced along the river bed.
 Traction - large boulders and rocks are
rolled along the river bed
A river or stream that flows into another stream,
river, or lake.
Tributary
A smaller river that joins a larger one
Upstream
In the opposite direction to the way a river or
stream flows
Velocity
The speed that the river flows
Waterfall
A waterfall is a sudden drop in a river as it flows
over a rock cliff. This happens when the river passes
from a layer of hard rock to a layer of softer rock,
and the water erodes away the softer rock.
Watershed
A watershed describes an area of land that contains
a common set of streams and rivers that all drain
into a single larger body of water, such as a larger
river, a lake or an ocean.
The Mississippi River watershed is an enormous
watershed. All the tributaries to the Mississippi that
collect rainwater eventually drain into the
Mississippi, which eventually drains into the Gulf of
Mexico. Rainwater that falls on more than half of
the United States subsequently drains into the
Mississippi.
Water Cycle
Water Cycle
The water cycle the natural cycle in which the sun's
energy evaporates water into the atmosphere, and
the water vapour condenses, returning to the Earth
as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.)
Atmosphere
The earth is surrounded by a layer of gases called
the atmosphere. The atmosphere is very important
to life on Earth and does many things to help
protect life and help life to survive.
Cloud
A mass of tiny droplets of water that condensed
from the air
Condensation
The forming of tiny droplets of water as water
vapour cools. Water vapour in the air is changed
into liquid water. Condensation is crucial to the
water cycle because it is responsible for the
formation of clouds.
Evaporation
Process in which the sun's heat turns liquid water
into water vapour.
Evaporation is the process by which water changes
from a liquid to a gas or vapour. Evaporation is the
primary pathway that water moves from the liquid
state back into the water
Ground water
Water found beneath Earth's surface
Infiltration
The downward movement of water from the land
surface into the soil or porous rock. Ground water
begins as precipitation. Once water infiltrates the
soil it can move vertically and horizontally through
the soil.
Precipitation
The falling to earth of any form of water (rain or
snow or hail or sleet or mist). Only 10% of water
evaporated falls as precipitation.
Surface water
Water contained in places such as lakes, ponds,
rivers, streams, and reservoirs
Transpiration
The release of water from plant leaves in to the
atmosphere
Water vapour
The gas formed when water evaporates and the
changes back in to a liquid – forming clouds.