Rivers and Lakes

By Ryan Calleja 3.1

Water

• water is the main source of rivers and lakes which is formed with the help of abundant rainfall. Rain falls on mountains and when the water slides down the mountains, water will be collected, and by time, a lake or river forms. Lakes are often formed when rivers flood and change their courses. Lakes are often classed according to the kind of water they contain – fresh or saline.

River channel • A river channel is

a body of water that flows deeper in the center and moves along a path which is confined by the river bed and banks. Rivers flow in a channel. The channel has banks and a bed. floods occur when a river overflows its channel.

River source • A river begins

at its source. Another word for river source is headwaters. The river source, probable the most tributary away from the mouth, was the first part of the river that was created. The source of the Amazon is 6500km from the sea.

Tributary • A tributary is a small river. tributaries flow into the main river. A typical river has a lot of tributaries. one of the most important tributary of a river is the source. If flooding of a main river occurs this can effect the course of the tributary, and eventually become a source for the main river.

River mouth • Rivers flow into the

sea or a lake. The end of a river is called a mouth. The mouth of the Amazon is 50km wide. The moth is the most part of the river that contains the most water. The mouth of a river is the lower end of the river which is also known as the base level.

River basin

• A river basin is an area of land where rain collects. The river basin of the Amazon is the size of Europe. People that live near lakes must be careful because their actions on that land affect water quality and quantity far downstream.

• The boundary or edge of a river basin is called a watershed. It is usually on high ground. The watershed is made up of a network of connected waterways. Watersheds come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Within the watershed boundary, the network of creeks and streams shows a branching pattern.

River Nile • The river Nile has

two sources. The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and fertile soil, but the former being the longer of the two. The northern section of the river flows almost entirely through desert, from Sudan into Egypt.

Lake Colorado

• The river Colorado starts in the mountains north of Grand Junction, Colorado. The river is approximately 2,330 km long. About a mile downstream from its source, the Colorado River has carved its first canyon, the narrow, deep Little Yellowstone Canyon.

Mississippi • The river starts at Lake Itasca but this does not provide the water it needs to continuously flow. At its source it is very small and it is fed by water in the water table. Also, other rivers, called tributaries, flow into it giving it another source of water. The Mississippi Rivers is about 2, 340 miles long.

Lakes

• Lakes are streams of water that can lead to the sea. Lakes flood by rain, and this can cause severe damage to buildings and death. Lakes get the water either from mountains or directly from rain. The water in the lakes can provide electricity with the method called hydro-electricity.

Hydro electricity

• Hydro-electricity is a way to get power from water. This is an advantage because instead we use fossil fuels which can pollute the air, we use the renewable source: water. The water is also fresh, so we can get another thing from lakes, drinkable water.

Fresh water from lakes.

• Lakes, unlike seas, don not have a lot of salts in them, so it is easier and takes less power that to turn sea water into drinkable water. If the Nile river wasn’t in Egypt, Egypt would be just a big desert.

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