Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Geography B (C112) · Spec 2.2
Rivers and river management
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- A drainage basin has stores (such as vegetation, soil and the river) and flows (such as infiltration, surface runoff and transpiration).
- A hydrograph has a rising limb, a peak and a falling limb. Lag time is the time between peak rainfall and peak discharge. Urban catchments usually have a shorter lag time.
- Rivers erode (hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, solution), transport (traction, saltation, suspension, solution) and deposit.
- The upper course has a V-shaped valley, waterfalls and gorges. The lower course has meanders, ox-bow lakes, levees and a floodplain.
- Flood risk goes up with physical causes, such as heavy prolonged rainfall and impermeable rock, and human causes, such as deforestation and building on the floodplain.
- Hard engineering includes embankments and flood walls. Soft engineering includes floodplain zoning and planting trees. People can disagree about which is best.
Key terms
- Drainage basin
- The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
- Discharge
- The volume of water passing a point in the river each second.
- Lag time
- The time between peak rainfall and peak discharge.
- Hydrograph
- A graph showing river discharge over time after rainfall.
- Levee
- A raised bank of sediment built up beside a river during floods.
- Floodplain zoning
- Controlling what can be built on land that floods.
- Attrition
- Rocks carried by the river knock together and become smaller and rounder.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up attrition and abrasion. Attrition is rocks hitting each other. Abrasion is rocks scraping the bed and banks.
- Putting infiltration, transpiration and vegetation in the same box. Vegetation is a store. The others are flows.
- Writing a definition of 'sustainable' and stopping. Explain why the scheme is sustainable for people, money and the environment.
- Saying erosion is the only process that matters. Transport and deposition build many river landforms.
Exam tip
Questions on a river or flood use maps, graphs and photos from the paper. Quote what you can see, such as a place name, a grid reference or a number from the hydrograph. For explain questions, give a reason and then follow it with 'so' or 'which means'.
Free practice questions
7 questions, 13 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
What is the shape of a river valley in its upper course?
- Question 2 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
On a hydrograph the ___ limb shows discharge increasing and the ___ limb shows it decreasing.
Word bank: base · falling · rising
- Question 3 · Matching[3 marks]
Match each way a river moves its load to its description.
- Question 4 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO are soft engineering methods for river flooding?
Choose 2.
- Question 5 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put the stages of waterfall and gorge formation in order.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1The soft rock is undercut and a plunge pool forms
- 2Hard rock lies over softer rock
- 3The overhanging hard rock collapses
- 4The waterfall retreats upstream, leaving a gorge
- Question 6 · Sort into groups[3 marks]
Sort each flood-risk factor into the correct group.
Deforestation
Impermeable rock
Heavy, prolonged rainfall
- Question 7 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which statement describes attrition in a river?