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Subjects · Leaving Cert Geography

Leaving Cert Geography: Rivers

How often Rivers comes up on the Geography papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 10 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

OL Asked on 10 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

June 2028 is the first exam on the new Geography course. These come from the 2016–2026 papers, so read them as a guide.

Rivers, Higher Level(8 marks)

Quick ones on Rivers.

(a)Point where a tributary joins the main river?
  1. The source
  2. A confluence
  3. A meander
(b)Raised banks of sediment built along a channel by repeated flooding?
  1. Drumlins
  2. Spits
  3. Levees
(c)River erosion process in which the load grinds against the bed and banks?
  1. Abrasion
  2. Attrition
  3. Hydraulic action
Show the answers

(a) A confluence

(b) Levees

(c) Abrasion

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Rivers.

Higher Level

Asked on 10 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026SQ1, SQ2, SQ3, Q2B, Q3B
2025SQ2, Q1C, Q2B
2024SQ1, SQ3, Q1B, Q2B
2023SQ1, Q1C, Q2B
2022SQ4, Q2A, Q2B, Q3C
2021SQ1, Q1B, Q2C, Q3B
2019SQ2, SQ4, SQ6, Q1B, Q2C
2018SQ1, SQ9, Q1B, Q2C
2017SQ2, SQ6, Q1C, Q2A, Q3B
2016SQ5, Q2B, Q2C, Q3A

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Rivers questions

Rivers, 2 marks

River transport of fine clay and silt held up within the flowing water?

  1. Saltation
  2. Solution
  3. Suspension
Show the answer

Suspension

Material in suspension gives flooded rivers their brown colour. It settles out when the water slows, as on a floodplain.

Rivers, 2 marks

Lowest level to which a river can erode its bed, normally sea level?

  1. Bankfull level
  2. Base level
  3. The water table
Show the answer

Base level

A river cannot cut below the level of the water body it flows into, so sea level sets the limit for erosion along its whole course.

Rivers, 3 marks

Renewed downcutting by a river after a fall in sea level or a rise of the land?

  1. Rejuvenation
  2. Aggradation
  3. Meandering
Show the answer

Rejuvenation

When base level drops, the river gains extra energy to erode vertically again, even in its old-age course.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 10 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Q1B, Q2A, Q3C
2025SQ3, Q1B, Q2C, Q3A
2024SQ3, Q1C, Q2B
2023SQ4, Q2A, Q3B, Q3C
2022SQ2, Q1B, Q2B
2021SQ4, Q2B, Q3C
2019SQ3, Q1B, Q2B
2018SQ3, SQ5, Q2B, Q3C
2017SQ3, Q2B, Q3C
2016Q1B, Q1C

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Rivers questions

Rivers, 2 marks

Name for the place where a river begins?

  1. The mouth
  2. The confluence
  3. The source
Show the answer

The source

The source is usually in upland country where springs or bogs feed the stream, and the river ends at its mouth where it enters the sea.

Rivers, 2 marks

Landform made where a river flows over a band of hard rock onto softer rock?

  1. A delta
  2. A waterfall
  3. A meander
Show the answer

A waterfall

The softer rock downstream is worn away faster, leaving a step of hard rock for the water to plunge over, as at Torc Waterfall in Kerry.

Rivers, 2 marks

Name for a bend in a river's course on flat land?

  1. A meander
  2. A levee
  3. A tributary
Show the answer

A meander

Water swings fastest around the outside of a bend and erodes it, while the slower inside is a place of deposition, so the bend grows.

Other Geography topics

All of Leaving Cert Geography