Rivers Flashcards
The main characteristics of levees are:
- raised river banks
- consist of gravel, stones and small sediment
- steep on the channel side, gentle sloping on the land side
- relatively flat top covered in grass
Find out more about landforms in the lower course of the river.
Due to erosion on the outside of a bend and deposition on the inside, the shape of a meander will change over a period of time. Erosion narrows the neck of the land within the meander and as the process continues, the meanders move closer together. When there is a very high discharge (usually during a flood), the river cuts across the neck, taking a new, straighter and shorter route. Deposition will occur to cut off the original meander, leaving a horseshoe-shaped oxbow lake.
Find out more about meanders and oxbow lakes.
It becomes more rounded and smaller.
Find out more about river erosion.
Interlocking spurs are fingers of land that jut out into the river valley that streams and rivers are forced to flow around in the upper course.
Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.
A waterfall is a step in the long profile of the valley. It is where water falls down the vertical drop in the channel usually from a considerable height.
Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.