DISTINCTIVE LANDSCAPES

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to river and coastal landforms.

Meanders

Large bends in a river where the current flows faster on the outside due to a deeper channel, causing more erosion.

Oxbow lakes

Lakes formed when a river cuts off a meander, creating a crescent-shaped body of water.

Floodplains

Flat land on either side of a river that is occasionally flooded, where silt and sediment are deposited.

Levees

Raised banks along rivers formed by the deposition of sediment during floods.

V-shaped valleys

Valleys formed by vertical erosion, typically found in the upper course of a river.

Abrasion

A process of erosion where particles scrape against the riverbed or valley sides, deepening them.

Waterfalls

Landforms created when a river flows over hard rock followed by soft rock, causing vertical erosion and creating a steep drop.

Longshore drift

The process by which waves, driven by prevailing winds, transport sand and shingle along the coast.

Spits

Beaches that extend into the sea, formed by longshore drift and connected to the mainland at one end.

Headlands

Areas of resistant rock that erode more slowly than surrounding rock, forming steep cliffs.

Caves

Formed by the erosion of rock due to hydraulic action and abrasion, often leading to the formation of arches.

Mass movement

The shifting of rocks and loose material down a slope, contributing to coastal erosion.

Hydraulic action

The pressure exerted by waves crashing against rock, causing erosion.

Biological weathering

The breakdown of rock by living organisms, such as plant roots growing into cracks.

Mechanical weathering

The physical breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition, such as freeze-thaw.

Chemical weathering

The breakdown of rock by changing its chemical composition, such as carbonation from rainfall.

Traction

The process of large particles, like boulders, being pushed along the riverbed by flowing water.

Suspension

The transport of small particles in water, allowing them to be carried along without settling.