Study the word list: GCSE Geography: River Landscapes in the UK 1

Key words for GCSE Geography.

Word list: GCSE Geography: River Landscapes in the UK 1

	abrasion	Abrasion is when rocks carried by the river break down the river banks and bed.
	attrition	Attrition is when rocks carried by the river crash together and break down into smaller pieces.
	dam	A dam is a barrier constructed to hold back water and form a reservoir.
	discharge	The discharge of a river is the total volume of water flowing through a river channel at a given point.
	embankments	Embankments are raised banks constructed along a river allowing it to hold more water.
	engineering	Hard engineering is the building of artificial structures to reduce the impact of river processes.
	estuary	An estuary is the point where a river meets the sea.
	flood	Floods occur when river discharge exceeds the channels volume.
	fluvial	Fluvial processes are processes that relate to erosion, transport and deposition by a river.
	gorge	A gorge is a steep sided, narrow valley.
	hydraulic	Hydraulic action is the wearing away of riverbanks due to the build up of air pressure in cracks and crevices.
	hydrograph	An hydrograph shows the discharge of a river over a period of time.
	interlocking	Interlocking spurs are the hills that a river winds around.
	lateral	Lateral erosion is the sideways erosion of the channel by a river.
	levees	Levees are the natural or man made embankments of sediment on the bank of a river.
	meander	A meander is a bend in the river.
	oxbow	An oxbow lake is a U shaped lake formed when a wide meander is cut off from the river.
	plain	Flood plains are the flat areas of land either side of a river channel.
	precipitation	Precipitation is any kind of moisture falling from the atmosphere.
	processes	Fluvial processes are the interactions between the flowing water and the natural channels of a river.