social studies vocabulary #121-140
Terms
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- delta
- is a fan-shaped area of land at the mouth, or lower end, of a river, formed by eroded material that has been carried downstream and dropped in quantities larger than can be carried off by tides or currents. The Nile and Mississippi Rivers have deltas.
- ice age
- is any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface; the most recent ice age ended about 10,000 years ago.
- strait
- is a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water.
- canal lock or navigation lock
- is a device that lifts or lowers boats, barges or other vessels from one water level to another
- erosion
- is the movement of weathered material from one place to another. Water, wind, ice, and gravity are the driving force of erosion.
- continental divide
- is a mountain range that separates the waters of rivers and streams which flow into the Pacific Ocean from those flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
- runoff
- refers to the water from rain, melting snow, or irrigation that flows over the ground surface and returns to streams, running off the land to the stream. Runoff includes the water and everything it picks up along the way.
- source
- is the place where something begins. The source of a river is where the river begins.
- downstream
- is in the direction with the flow of a stream or river; downriver. Away from the source (going with the flow).
- flood prone area
- is an area that may or may not be within a water body's regular flood plain, but will occasionally flood as waters rise.
- tributary
- is a river or stream that flows into a larger river or stream.
- waterfall
- is water that flows over the edge of a cliff or steep mountainside.
- isthmus
- is a relatively narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas with water on both sides.
- flood
- is the rising and overflowing of a body of water onto land that is normally dry.
- mouth
- of a river is the place where a river empties into a larger body of water. The mouth is where the river ends
- weathering
- is the action of breaking down of rocks. Weathering can be either a mechanical process or a chemical process. It is usually both.
- glacier
- is a large body of ice that moves slowly down a mountainside or from highlands towards sea level. A glacier is a slow moving, frozen river of ice.
- canal
- is a man--made waterway connecting two larger bodies of water designed to carry ships, goods, or water. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- floodplain
- refers to the relatively flat area of land bordering a river or lake that may be covered with water during a flood.
- upstream
- is towards the source of the river or against the current. (Upriver)