AQA GCSE Geography · 3.1.3

River processes and landforms

50 revision questions with answers for 3.1.3 River processes and landforms in AQA GCSE Geography (spec 8035). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is a drainage basin?
Answer:
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries, bounded by a watershed (high ground). The source is where the river starts, the mouth where it meets the sea and a confluence where rivers join.
Question 2 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is the long profile of a river?
Answer:
A cross-section of the river's course from source to mouth. It is steep in the upper course and becomes gentler, forming a concave curve.
Question 3 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe the upper course of a river.
Answer:
Close to the source in the hills. The channel is narrow and shallow with a steep gradient, large angular rocks, and mostly vertical erosion.
Question 4 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe the middle course of a river.
Answer:
The gradient is gentler, the channel wider and deeper, and the river carries more water. Lateral erosion widens the valley and meanders begin to form.
Question 5 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe the lower course of a river.
Answer:
Close to the mouth. The channel is wide, deep and the gradient is gentle. The river meanders across a broad flat floodplain and deposition is dominant.
Question 6 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe the cross profile of a river valley in the upper course.
Answer:
Narrow and V-shaped with steep valley sides, a small shallow channel, and often interlocking spurs. Vertical erosion deepens the valley.
Question 7 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe the cross profile of the middle and lower course.
Answer:
In the middle course the valley is wider with gentler sides. In the lower course it is very wide and flat, with a floodplain and deep, wide channel.
Question 8 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do river characteristics change downstream?
Answer:
Discharge, channel width and depth, and velocity increase, while load size decreases because rocks are worn down. Gradient falls.
Question 9 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is hydraulic action?
Answer:
The force of water against the bed and banks pushes water and air into cracks, which weakens and breaks off material.
Question 10 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is abrasion?
Answer:
The river carries rocks that scrape and wear away the bed and banks, like sandpaper. It is a main cause of channel erosion.
Question 11 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is attrition in a river?
Answer:
Rocks carried by the river knock against each other and break into smaller, rounder pieces.
Question 12 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is solution (corrosion) in a river?
Answer:
Soluble rocks such as limestone and chalk are dissolved by slightly acidic river water and carried away as part of the water.
Question 13 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is vertical erosion?
Answer:
Downward erosion of the river bed. It dominates in the upper course, cutting a steep V-shaped valley.
Question 14 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is lateral erosion?
Answer:
Sideways erosion of the banks. It dominates in the middle and lower courses, widening the valley and creating meanders.
Question 15 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is traction?
Answer:
The largest boulders and stones are rolled along the river bed by the force of the current, mainly during floods.
Question 16 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is saltation?
Answer:
Small stones and pebbles are bounced along the bed in a series of short hops.
Question 17 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is suspension?
Answer:
Fine particles of silt and clay are carried within the flow of the water, giving a river its brown colour after rain.
Question 18 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is solution (transportation)?
Answer:
Dissolved minerals are carried invisibly in the water, as when limestone is dissolved by the river.
Question 19 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why do rivers deposit sediment?
Answer:
The river loses energy, for example when the water is shallow, the volume decreases after a flood or drought, it slows on the inside of a bend or it reaches the sea.
Question 20 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What factors affect the rate of river erosion?
Answer:
Velocity and discharge, the amount and size of load, the rock type and structure, gradient, and human activity such as removing vegetation.
Question 21 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How does the size of the load change downstream?
Answer:
Rocks become smaller and more rounded because of attrition and abrasion, so large angular boulders are in the upper course and fine silt in the lower course.
Question 22 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do interlocking spurs form?
Answer:
In the upper course the river is not powerful enough to erode sideways, so it winds around hard rock ridges (spurs) which overlap like the teeth of a zip.
Question 23 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How does a waterfall form?
Answer:
A river flows over a layer of hard rock lying on softer rock. The soft rock erodes faster, undercutting the hard layer, which collapses, and the process repeats as the waterfall retreats.
Question 24 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is a plunge pool?
Answer:
A deep pool at the base of a waterfall, hollowed out by the force of falling water and swirling rocks (hydraulic action and abrasion).
Question 25 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How does a gorge form?
Answer:
As a waterfall retreats upstream through erosion and collapse, it leaves behind a steep-sided, narrow valley called a gorge.
Question 26 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Which landforms are found on the River Tees?
Answer:
High Force waterfall and the gorge below it, Cauldron Snout, meanders such as those near Yarm and Worsall, a wide floodplain and the Tees estuary near Middlesbrough.
Question 27 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe High Force on the River Tees.
Answer:
A waterfall of about 21 m, formed where the Tees flows over resistant dolerite (whinstone) onto softer limestone and shale. A gorge extends downstream.
Question 28 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Where is the River Tees and where does it flow?
Answer:
It rises on Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows about 130 km east through Teesdale and Teesside to the North Sea, forming an estuary at Middlesbrough.
Question 29 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do meanders form?
Answer:
Water flows fastest on the outside of a bend, eroding a river cliff, and slowest on the inside, where it deposits sediment as a slip-off slope. The bend gradually grows.
Question 30 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is a river cliff and a slip-off slope?
Answer:
A river cliff is a steep bank on the outside of a meander, made by erosion. A slip-off slope is a gentle slope of deposited sediment on the inside.
Question 31 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How does an ox-bow lake form?
Answer:
Erosion on the outside of a meander narrows the neck until, in a flood, the river cuts through. Deposition seals the ends, leaving a curved lake cut off from the main channel.
Question 32 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is a floodplain and how does it form?
Answer:
The wide, flat valley floor beside a river in the middle and lower course. It forms from lateral erosion and from silt deposited when the river floods.
Question 33 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why is the floodplain fertile?
Answer:
Floods repeatedly leave behind fine, nutrient-rich silt (alluvium), which makes the land good for farming.
Question 34 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do levees (levées) form?
Answer:
When a river floods, the heaviest sediment is dropped nearest the channel because velocity falls quickly. Repeated floods build natural raised banks on either side.
Question 35 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is an estuary?
Answer:
The tidal mouth of a river where fresh water meets the sea. It is wide, with mudflats and salt marsh formed by deposition of fine sediment.
Question 36 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Describe the Tees estuary.
Answer:
It lies at Teesmouth near Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. It has wide mudflats and salt marsh at Seal Sands, an important bird habitat, and is lined with ports and industry.
Question 37 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why is the estuary important for wildlife?
Answer:
Mudflats and salt marsh are rich in invertebrates that feed waders and wildfowl, and the sheltered waters are nursery areas for fish.
Question 38 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why does deposition occur in an estuary?
Answer:
The river slows as it meets the sea and the tide, and salt water makes fine clay particles stick together and settle.
Question 39 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why are V-shaped valleys steep-sided in the upper course?
Answer:
The river has a steep gradient and cuts downward faster than the sides are weathered, so steep slopes form with a narrow channel.
Question 40 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why does the river meander more in the middle and lower courses?
Answer:
Lateral erosion becomes stronger than vertical erosion and the river has a gentle gradient, so it winds from side to side.
Question 41 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How does discharge change along a river?
Answer:
Discharge, the volume of water passing a point each second, increases downstream as tributaries and groundwater add water.
Question 42 · Spec 3.1.3.3
Why can velocity increase downstream even though the gradient is gentler?
Answer:
The channel is wider, deeper and smoother with a larger cross-section and less friction against the bed, so water flows more efficiently.
Question 43 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What are the land uses in the upper Tees valley?
Answer:
Mostly upland sheep farming, moorland, reservoirs (Cow Green), tourism and nature reserves, because the land is steep, wet and cold.
Question 44 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What are the land uses in the lower Tees valley?
Answer:
Towns such as Yarm, Stockton and Middlesbrough, industry such as chemicals and steel, ports, farming on the floodplain and flood defences.
Question 45 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do rock type and structure affect river landforms?
Answer:
Resistant rock bands cause waterfalls and gorges, while soft rock erodes into wide valleys. Joints and faults are weaknesses the river can exploit.
Question 46 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How can you identify the course of a river on an OS map?
Answer:
Close contour lines and a V-shaped valley mean the upper course. Wide spacing, a winding channel and a flat valley floor mean middle or lower course.
Question 47 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do meanders change over time?
Answer:
Erosion on outer banks and deposition on inner banks makes the loop move downstream and grow until it may be cut off to form an ox-bow lake.
Question 48 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is a tributary?
Answer:
A smaller stream or river that joins a larger river at a confluence, adding water and sediment.
Question 49 · Spec 3.1.3.3
What is the river's bed load?
Answer:
The coarse material (boulders, pebbles) that is rolled or bounced along the river bed, moved mainly by traction and saltation during floods.
Question 50 · Spec 3.1.3.3
How do human activities affect river erosion and deposition?
Answer:
Dams trap sediment and reduce flow downstream, deforestation and urban drainage increase run-off and erosion, and straightening or embanking channels changes where erosion and deposition occur.

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