Key Enquiry Question 3 - River Flooding and Management

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Multiple Choice Quiz 5 River flooding and Management

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What is the interception zone? *

1 point

the capture of rainwater by leaves and branches. Some evaporates again and the rest drips from the leaves to the soil.

the changing of a liquid into vapour or gas. Some rainfall is evaporated into water vapour by the heat of the sun.

the soaking of rainwater into the ground.

rainwater that runs across the surface of the ground and drains into the river.

What is infiltration? *

1 point

the capture of rainwater by leaves and branches. Some evaporates again and the rest drips from the leaves to the soil.

the changing of a liquid into vapour or gas. Some rainfall is evaporated into water vapour by the heat of the sun.

the soaking of rainwater into the ground.

rainwater that runs across the surface of the ground and drains into the river.

What is evaporation? *

1 point

the capture of rainwater by leaves and branches. Some evaporates again and the rest drips from the leaves to the soil.

the changing of a liquid into vapour or gas. Some rainfall is evaporated into water vapour by the heat of the sun.

the soaking of rainwater into the ground.

rainwater that runs across the surface of the ground and drains into the river.

What is surface runoff? *

1 point

the capture of rainwater by leaves and branches. Some evaporates again and the rest drips from the leaves to the soil.

the changing of a liquid into vapour or gas. Some rainfall is evaporated into water vapour by the heat of the sun.

the soaking of rainwater into the ground.

rainwater that runs across the surface of the ground and drains into the river.

What influences how quickly surface runoff occurs? *

1 point

How much rain has fallen recently - known as antecedent rainfall. If the weather has been wet, the soil may already be saturated, unable to absorb any more, making flooding more likely.

How permeable the geology and soil type are. Sandstone and chalk are permeable and absorb water easily, so surface runoff is rare. Clay soils are impermeable, so runoff occurs quickly.

How heavily rain falls. Heavy storms cause low infiltration and rapid runoff.

The shape of a river basin. Circular shaped basins increase flood risk whereas longer, thinner-shaped basins have low flood risk.

All of the above

What is transpiration? *

1 point

The flow of rainwater sideways through the soil, towards the river.

The upper limit of saturated rock below the ground.

When plants lose water vapour, mainly through pores in their leaves.

The movement of water through rocks in the ground.

What is throughflow? *

1 point

The flow of rainwater sideways through the soil, towards the river.

The upper limit of saturated rock below the ground.

When plants lose water vapour, mainly through pores in their leaves.

The movement of water through rocks in the ground.

What is the water table? *

1 point

The flow of rainwater sideways through the soil, towards the river.

The upper limit of saturated rock below the ground.

When plants lose water vapour, mainly through pores in their leaves.

The movement of water through rocks in the ground.

What is groundwater flow? *

1 point

The flow of rainwater sideways through the soil, towards the river.

The upper limit of saturated rock below the ground.

When plants lose water vapour, mainly through pores in their leaves.

The movement of water through rocks in the ground.

What is a storm hydrograph? *

1 point

a graph which shows how a river changes as a result of rainfall. It shows two things: rainfall and discharge

a calculation measured in global hectares (gha). Its' the amount of land and water required to produce resources and deal with waste from each country.

a narrow zone of low pressure near the Equator where northern and southern air masses converge.

a scale that classifies hurricanes into five different categories according to their wind strength.

Which statement is accurate to drainage basin A? *

1 point

This hydrograph shows how a river behaves in rural areas, woodland, on permeable soils (where water is absorbed) or in summer (where water is evaporated). Each increases the time for water to reach a river, so lag time is longer and peak discharge is lower.

This hydrograph reacts to rainfall quickly. This happens during heavy rainfall, and in urban areas where impermeable surfaces like roofs allow surface runoff and little infiltration. Drains force water into rivers rapidly so river levels rise quickly.

How can humans influence the shape of a hydrograph?

1 point

Landuse change can replace fields or woodland with buildings and roads, or pasture with arable land (crops) leading to more surface runoff, reducing lag time.

Urbanisation leads to more surface runoff, so rain reaches a river quickly, reducing lag time.

Deforestation can change hydrograph shape by reducing interception and infiltration, whereas afforestation has the opposite effect and can reduce flooding.

All of the above.

Clear selection

What were some of the physical causes of the Sheffield floods?

1 point

Sheffield lies at the foot of the Pennines, where three rivers meet. Several reservoirs in the upper course of these rivers store water for Sheffield and these reservoirs filled and overflowed in June 2007 due to heavy rain.

Sheffield is known as the city of seven hills - the hills are steep, which causes surface run-off to occur quickly.

On 15 June 2007 90mm of rain fell over Sheffield - more than one month's rainfall which saturated the soil. This was followed by heavier rain on 25 June, when almost 100mm fell in just 24 hours.

All of the above

Clear selection

Which of the following impacts of the Sheffield flood are economic?

1 point

1000 businesses were affected by the floods - one company in particular (Clarkson Osborn) suffered £15 million in flood damage, Meadowhall Shopping Centre was flooded and had to be closed for a week, and Hillsborough Football Stadium was under 8 metres of water and cost several million pounds to repair.

Roads were damaged or blocked, and rail links flooded for several days.

There were health risks from raw sewage escaping into the floodwater.

Two people drowned in the floodwaters, 1200 homes were flooded, 13,000 people were left without power for several days.

Clear selection

What are the human causes of the Sheffield floods?

1 point

Most of Sheffield is built up, like most heavily urbanised areas its surfaces are concrete, brick and tarmac - all impermeable.

Sheffield's drains, channels and flood defences were overwhelmed by extreme flows of water.

The city's drainage system was designed to deal with rainfall amounts that might occur once in 30 years, however the rains that occurred in 2007 were a 1 in 400 year event.

All of the above

Clear selection

What caused the floods in Somerset in 2014?

1 point

The winter of 2014 brought 12 major storms, more severe gales than any winter since 1871, and the most rainfall since 1766.

Farmers claimed that public spending cuts had resulted in less dredging being done to artificially make the rivers deeper.

All of the above

Clear selection

What do scientists predict climate change will bring to the UK?

1 point

less storminess with less damaging winds, lower chance of floods, lower spring tides, and less storm surges.

greater storminess with damaging winds, higher longer-lasting floods, higher spring tides and more storm surges.

Clear selection

What are examples of hard engineering techniques to manage rivers?

1 point

flood plain retention and river channel restoration

afforestation and reducing planning permission for building near rivers

flood walls, constructing artificial levees, dredging, and flood relief channels

Clear selection

What do hard engineering techniques attempt to do?

1 point

Create solutions which adapt to flood risks, and allow natural processes to deal with rainwater.

Build to defend areas from floodwater.

Clear selection

How effective are flood walls?

1 point

These are fairly cheap, and are 'one-off' costs - once a wall is built, its done.

Useful for city centres where space is limited.

They disperse water quickly and can increase the flood risk downstream.

All of the above

Clear selection

What is the monetary cost of constructing levees?

1 point

£50,000

A 1km channel in Rotheram cost £14m in 2008.

It depends on the type of wall and material used.

Up to £1m depending on the materials used.

Clear selection

Why would some places choose to dredge a river?

1 point

By dredging the river this can increase channel capacity, or line it with concrete to speed up river flow to get flood water away quickly.

By building a high wall alongside river it increases its capacity to prevent flooding.

To increase the capacity of the river - and are normally built at a distance from the river which increases capacity even more.

To create extra channels to divert excess water from city centres.

Clear selection

What are the positives and negatives of building flood relief channels?

1 point

They are expensive, but allow people to live beside rivers or farm with reduced fear of flooding.

The concrete lining is expensive to build but cheap to maintain.

It protects built up areas but could cause flooding elsewhere.

Clear selection

Why does the environment agency believe that hard defences are not the solution anymore?

1 point

Because hard defences are sustainable and in the long run they hope these will reduce rivers' response time.

They cost a great deal and can rarely be made big enough to cope with the largest floods.

Clear selection

How does flood plain retention work?

1 point

Concrete and other hard engineering materials are stripped away and replaced with sediment and planted with trees.

The level of flood plains is lowered and their surfaces restored to shrubs or grassland, so they retain water over a period and release it slowly into the river.

Clear selection

How effective is flood plain retention?

1 point

It increases the ability to store floodwater.

Flooding can be reduced despite heavy rains due to increasing rates of interception and infiltration.

Where it has been used in Darlington, recent floods have been the result of backlogged drains, not by the river overtopping its banks.

All of the above

Clear selection

What is the cost for flood plain retention and river channel restoration?

1 point

£30m for 7km stretches.

£1.2 million in total for 2km stretches.

Clear selection

How does river channel restoration work?

0 points

Meanders are rebuilt, lengthening of the river takes places as a result and slows the water down.

Banks are lowered to make the river flood other land (eg parks) that don't cause damage to buildings or other infrastructure.

Concrete and other hard engineering materials are stripped away and replaced with sediment and planted with trees.

All of the above.

Clear selection

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