River erosion – potholes

Olympic river journey

Lovely film here showing the path of a river and land use. Oh and a bit of British nostalgia via the Olympic 2012 opening ceremony too.

Australian floods

I only have few minutes to post this one just now. All I can say is wow! Glad I'm not in this area. I feel really sorry for all who are suffering as a result of this.

World rivers in trouble

Nice map here from the Guardian showing this issue. See here. This map shows the change in run-off worked out from records worldwide between 1948 and 2004, with blue shades indicating more water and reddish colors less water. This really is climate change "in your face". look at the UKs plus figure and remember the flooding problems we have had in our country in recent years. Some of these have been written on this blog. Do a quick search at the top on flooding. As this article says though the worst areas affected are in Africa and water may be the cause of the next war.

World’s rivers are drying up.

Water levels in some of the world's important rivers have dropped by a huge amount over the past 50 years. This is partly due to climate change and will become even more important as the population increases in the future. Read more here and /or try the water quiz here.

Water or Blue Gold?

Nice article here in today’s Independent on this issue. Some of you have been hearing me for years about how important water is in the world and how the next big war will probably start over this. (Depressing stuff). Read this article and you’ll see what I mean.

Hydrosphere revision

A little reminder of this site. We may get a chance to use it in class on Monday but time is tight before your NAB on Tuesday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/int/geog/rivers/flash.shtml

Don't forget to use the labels on the right here to help you revise. Look at the lithosphere one and Higher Coasts. Lots for the Hydrosphere and Atmosphere too. (for Int 2 as well!) We haven't finished the Biosphere yet so there isn't much chance of this one appearing. No more hints!

River processes

Higher, S grade revision

Some good animations here for revision of S grade river features. (Ignore all the rest S4 as your course is different. Highers / Int 2 - Look at the rivers and coast links and Higher only - use the Atmosphere links too. Plenty to keep you out of those Kirkmichael parties!

Link here

This one is good too although again a slightly different syllabus to ours.

A reminder also of S-cool here and the English GSCE Bitesize site as well as the Standard Grade and Higher Bitesize sites for Scotland. Use them all folks!

Higher/ Int 2 Hydrosphere

Good site here with a series of exercises to test your knowledge as you go. Great for weekly revision in preparation for your NAB. Try ALL the links in the RIVER section and don’t cheat!

Hydrosphere

River Measurments
This is designed for a different course to ours but looks good for advanced Higher and is also suitable for Highers to “dip” into.

Click logo for link.

Storm Hydrograph revision

This is a little basic for you but it is a good start to your revision programme. Remember the Physical Nab is coming up after the Easter hols. try here first.
This one is more detailed. Try this assessment for a real challenge. The tutorial will give you all the answers. If you get this all correct please do not bother with Higher Geography but go straight to university now!

Niagara Formation

Geography - Niagara Falls

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Popup River Basin to make yourself!

Oh go on and try this - maybe during a wet day in the Xmas holidays when you have stuffed your face with chocolate and there is nothing good on the TV and you have lost your new ipod or fallen out with the rest of the family. It looks good and I want to see the results please.

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The Drainage Basin

Precipitation is water in the form of rain or snow falling to the ground. Some water returns to the atmosphere by evaporation from the leaves of plants and from the ground, and by transpiration by plants. Except in the most arid environments, precipitation normally exceeds evapotranspiration. The surplus water eventually makes its way through the drainage system—although it may be stored first on the surface, in depressions and ponds, or in the soil as soil moisture and groundwater. Overland flow, which occurs when not all the precipitation can infiltrate the soil, moves quickly to streams and rivers. Infiltrated water moves more slowly—as throughflow and interflow in partially saturated soils, and as groundwater flow in saturated soils. Basin channel run-off is the combined result of quickflow (overland flow plus interflow) and baseflow (groundwater flow).

Good revison site here and wikipedias explanation here.

Powerful stuff!

Brilliant example here of the powerful force of water. Look at the dramatic effects of river erosion. Geography “in your face” whether you like it or not! Click here.