Water on the land :
Long profile : a line representing the course of a river from its source to its mouth.
Cross profile: a line that represent what it would be like to walk from one side of the valley to the other.
Waterfall: the sudden and often vertical drop of a river along its course.
Gorge: a narrow, steep sided valley.
Meander: a bend in a river channel.
Oxbow lake: horse shoe area that represents the former area of a meander.
Flood plain: the flat area adjacent to the river channel, especially in the lower part of the course.
Levees: raised banks along the course of a river in its lower course.
Discharge: the volume of water passing through a given point in a river at any time.
Drainage basin: the area from which a river gets it water.
Flood hydrograph: a line graph drawn to show the discharge in a river in the aftermath of a period of rain.
Relief: height and slope of land.
Impermeable: rock that does not allow water to soak into it.
Porous: rock that has spaces between particles.
Pervious: rock that allows water to pass through it via vertical joints.
Deforestation: cutting down trees.
Urbanisation: the increase in the proportion of people living in cities.
Floods: when a river carries so much water that it cannot be contained by its banks and consequently overflows.
Hazard: when people lives of property is threatened.
Soil erosion: the removal of the layer of soil above the rock where plants grow.
Hard engineering: using technology to try and control rivers.
Soft engineering: the use of natural systems to try and control river flooding.
Straightening meanders: diverting the course of a river, therefore speeding up its flow out of an area.
Floodplain zoning: controlling where things are built / used on a floodplain so as to avoid damage when flooding occurs.
Water stress: when the amount of water available does not meet the amount required.
Areas of deficit: enough rain falls to provide enough water on a permanent basis.
Areas of surplus: areas that have more water than needed.
The Coastal Zone:
Fetch: the distance of open water over which the wind can blow.
Beach: a deposit of sand or shingle at the coast often found at the head of a bay.
Crest: the top of a wave.
Backwash: the backward movement of water down a beach when a wave has broken.
Constructive wave: a powerful wave with strong swash and weak backwash that surges up a beach.
Destructive wave: a wave…