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The base of a waterfall is called a plunge pool.

River Landscapes 02

Explore how rivers shape valleys, carve out channels and build landforms. This KS3 Geography quiz looks at erosion, transport and deposition along different parts of a river’s course.

Explore the Topic →

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Fascinating Fact:

Meanders are large bends in a river that form when water flows faster on the outside of the bend, eroding the bank, and slower on the inside, depositing material.

In KS3 Geography, pupils study river landscapes from source to mouth. They learn how erosion cuts into rock, how rivers transport material and how deposition builds features such as floodplains and deltas.

Key Terms

Erosion: The wearing away of rock and soil by moving water, ice, wind or waves.
Deposition: The laying down of material carried by a river when the water slows down and loses energy.
Floodplain: The flat area beside a river that is built up by repeated flooding and deposition of fine sediment.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are the main stages or courses of a river?

A river is usually described as having an upper course near the source, a middle course where the valley widens and a lower course near the mouth where it meets the sea or a lake.

What landforms can be found in a river landscape?

Common river landforms include V-shaped valleys, waterfalls, rapids, wide floodplains and deltas. Each feature forms where erosion or deposition is strongest along the river’s course.

How do rivers change the landscape over time?

Over many years, rivers cut down into rock, widen valleys and move large amounts of sediment. This gradual erosion and deposition can completely reshape a landscape and create new landforms.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

What is the point where a river starts to flow?

Ketchup

Leak

Sauce

Source

A source is often a spring where water can be seen coming out of the ground. Sometimes the flow of a spring is very low and it is just a marshy spot on the hillside with a small stream trickling away from its lowest point

2 .

Which is not a way for water to run into a river?

Contraflow

Groundwater flow

Surface runoff

Throughflow

Contraflow is a way of controlling road traffic!

3 .

What type of lakes are the remains of old meanders?

Longbow

Ox-bow

Remnant

Ribbon

Formed if the meander is cut off from the main river when the river flow rate is high e.g. during a flood

4 .

Some river mouths have what feature?

Delta

Glacier

Gorge

Rapids

Low-lying land formed from deposited material

5 .

What is the correct term for the bottom of a river channel?

Base

Bed

Bum

Bunk

The bed of a river in its early stages is usually rocky but in its final stages near its mouth, the river bed is usually mud

6 .

Which of the following can be formed by both deposition and erosion?

Levee

Ox-bow lake

V-shaped valley

Waterfall

The river erodes a meander, which becomes more and more 'horseshoe' shaped. As the two ends of the 'horseshoe' meet, the river can break through, cutting off the meander from the flow of the river. Silt is then deposited at the ends of the meander as the flow is slower, creating the ox-bow lake

7 .

A river deposit of very fertile material is called what?

Alluvium

Cap rock

Load

Moraine

Alluvial soil makes good farmland

8 .

The area drained by a river is the drainage…what?

Basin

Bowl

Plateau

Reservoir

Some river basins can be huge

9 .

Where would a plunge pool be found?

At the base of a waterfall

In a delta

Near the source

On a flood plain

It is an area where erosion is high and is situated where the water coming over the waterfall lands

10 .

High land separating two drainage basins has what name?

Border fell

Drainage spur

Watermark

Watershed

Two rivers can have their sources only a few metres apart but if they are on opposite sides of a watershed, their mouths could be hundreds of kilometers apart

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Rivers and Water

Author: Jan Crompton (KS3 Geography & History Teacher, Professional Quiz Writer)