Glossary
A
- atmosphere
- - the blanket of air which covers the earth
B
- basin
- - a bowl shaped land formation usually caused by a glacier
- brackish
- - water that is not fresh but is not fully salt water
C
- canyon
- - walls of rock along a river, sometimes very steep
- condensation
- - water vapor that is forming droplets
D
- dams
- - earth or other construction along a river to control water flow
- debris
- - rock, soil or other material not considered useful
- delta
- - a collection of rocks and soil at the mouth of a river
- drainage basin
- - the area of land drained by a major river system
E
- erosion
- - the movement of rock and soil
- estuary
- - an area of a river where the fresh water meets the salt water
- evaporation
- - the changing of water to water vapor
F
- flood
- - excess water from a river which spills over its banks
- flood plain
- - the area often affected by a flood
- fork
- - the place where two rivers meet
G
- gaseous
- - in a gas-like state; not solid, not liquid - like steam
- glacier
- - a body of snow and ice that moves like a river
H
- headwaters
- - the beginning of a river
M
- meander
- - the twisting and turning of a river's flow
- moraine
- - the leftover matter - usually rock and debris from a glacier
- mouth
- - the point at which a river empties into another body of water
O
- oxbow lake
- - a U shaped remnant of a part of a meander which forms a lake
P
- plunge pool
- - the deep pool that forms at the bottom of a waterfall
- precipitation
- - water that falls from the clouds - rain, snow, hail or sleet
- prehistoric
- - before people were around to keep records of history
R
- runoff
- - water that melts and runs off of a mountain
S
- snowcaps
- - the snow at the top of a mountain
T
- tributary
- - smaller rivers which collect together to make a bigger river
V
- valleys
- - V shaped grooves formed by erosion
W
- water cycle
- - the process of water moving from a lake or ocean to the clouds and back to the earth again
