river
TRANSCRIPT
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What is Geomorphology?The word “geomorphology" comes from the Greek roots "geo,“ “morph,” and “logos,” meaning “earth,” “form,” and “study,” respectively. Therefore, geomorphology is literally “the study of earth forms.”
Geomorphologists are concerned primarily with earth’s surficial features, including their origin, history, composition, and impact on human activity.
Photo by NASA
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Rivers
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• Source – The place where a river begins.• Course – The route the river takes to the
sea• Tributary – A small river that joins a larger
river.• Confluence – The point where the
tributary joins the river.
Common River Terms
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• Mouth – The point where the river enters the sea.
• Estuary – The part of the mouth that is tidal.
• Basin – The area of land drained by a river.
• Watershed – The high ground separating one river basin from another.
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RIVER PROCESSES:
Three river processes:
1. Transportation
2. Deposition
3. Erosion
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RIVER TRANSPORTATION
The load is transported by 4 ways:
Solution – material is dissolved in the water and is carried along by it. Salt carried in solution is the reason why seawater is salty. NOT VISIBLE
Suspension – fine material is carried along by the river. If the river slows down this material can be dropped on the bed of the river – this is how rivers & canals “silt up”. VISIBLE
Saltation – stones bouncing along the river bed – easily seen (bed load)
Traction – Heaviest stones dragged along river bed (bed load)
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Controlling factors of river transportation:
1.Density of the sediments2.Size of the sediment3.Velocity of water
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River depositionDeposition: when velocity begins to fall, it has less energy and no
longer had competence and capacity to carry all its load so largest
particles, materials begins to be deposited.
When occur?
1. Low discharge during period of low precipitation
2. Less velocity when river enter sea or lake.
3. Shallow water occurs on inside of a meander.
4. The load suddenly increase (debris from landslide)
5. River overflow its bank so velocity outside channel is reduced. (resulting in floodplain)
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Hydraulic ActionThe force of moving water, aided by the process of cavitation
(popping of air bubbles in the river, creating tiny explosions)Abrasion (a.k.a. Corrasion)
The river’s load (stones and sand/grit carried by the water) wears away the bed and sides – river “sandpaper”
AttritionRocks hitting each other and being worn away
SolutionChemicals in the river water wearing away the bed and banks
River erosion.Erosion: wearing away of river bed and bank. There are four main process of erosion:
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Bank CavingFormed by hydraulic action eroding the river banksLeads to a small temporary “cave” in the bank – this usually
collapses after a short period
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Abrasion/Corrasion
Stones acting as “Sandpaper” – wearing down the river bed (bottom) and banks (sides)
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Attrition
Stones hitting off each other and getting smallerIs the main reason why stones from the sea are rounded
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SolutionChemical weathering by river water
Controlling factors of river erosion:1.Nature of the rocks2.Nature of water3.Velocity of water4.Presence of joints5.Land form6.Attitude of the rocks
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Stages of a river
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Youthful StageThe youthful river has a small amount of water
but it travels very quickly down the steep mountain slope.
Most of its energy is used to erode (wear away) the landscape.
This erosion (wearing away) occurs in 4 ways.
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Landforms of the Youthful Stage
• All of the erosion by the river creates features or landforms on the landscape.
Three features created in the youthful stage are,
1. V-shaped Valleys
2. Interlocking Spurs
3. Waterfalls
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V-Shaped Valleys
• V-shaped valleys get their name from their shape. The river erodes the landscape and creates a valley in the shape of a V.
• This occurs because of Vertical Erosion. The river cuts down into the river bed, making it deeper. It creates a narrow deep valley. Mechanical weathering and mass movement create the V shape. See Diagram.
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V-Shaped Valleys
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Interlocking Spurs
• As the rivers flows it meets areas of hard rock. It cannot erode these so it flows around them.
• This creates a zigzag course. See Diagram.
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Waterfalls
• Waterfalls are formed when rivers flow over areas of hard and soft rock.
• The river erodes the soft rock but cannot erode the hard rock. This creates a step which the water starts to fall over.
• The falling water erodes deeper into the bed. The rivers load creates a Plunge Pool as it falls. See Diagram.
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Waterfalls
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The Mature Stage• We now know that during the youthful
stage the river is mainly eroding the landscape.
• Erosion breaks off particles of rock and soil from the bed and banks of the river. They are carried along by the river and are known as the Load.
• The load is carried from upland to lowland areas. This process is called River Transportation.
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Landforms of the Mature Stage
In the Mature Stage the river begins to slow down,
and so it begins to deposit some of its load. It
creates the following features.
1. Wide river valley
2. Meanders
3. Flood plain
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Landforms of the Mature Stage
Wider River Valley
In the mature stage the river moves from
side to side and the valley becomes wide
and flat. Weathering and Mass Movement
continue to wear away at the sides of the
valley. See diagram.
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Landforms of the Mature Stage
Meanders
Meanders are bends or curves along the river. They are formed by erosion anddeposition. Erosion occurs on one side of the river while deposition occurs on the opposite side. This continues, making the bends sharper. See diagrams.
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Meanders
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Meander parameters:
Meander Length :It is the axial length of one meander i.c the tangential distance between the corresponding points of a meander.
Meander Belt: It is the distance between the outer edges of clockwise and anti-clockwise loops of the meander.
Meander ratio: It is the ratio of meander belt to meander length. Crossings or cross-overs: The short straights reaches of the river connecting two consecutive
clockwise and anti-clockwise loops, are called crossings or cross-overs.
Sinuosity is the ratio between channel length and displacement (straight line distance) between two points in the river’s course.
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Landforms of the Mature Stage
Flood Plain
A flood plain is the flat area of land on either sideof the river. After heavy rain the river sometimesfloods. The water spreads out over the land oneither side of the river. When the river retreats itleaves behind a thin layer of alluvium. After manyfloods a thick layer of alluvium is created. This isvery fertile soil.
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The Old Stage
• In the Old Stage the river is carrying lots of sand and silt. It is now flowing over flat land and so it is moving slowly. Therefore it begins to drop off its load. This is called deposition. Like erosion in the Youthful Stage, deposition also creates many features or landforms.
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Landforms of the Old Stage
The following features or landforms are
created by river deposition in the Old Stage.
1. Ox-Bow Lakes
2. Levees
3. Delta
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Landforms of the Old Stage
Ox-Bow Lakes
An ox-bow lake is a horseshoeshaped lake found beside ariver. Ox-bow lakes are formedwhen continued erosion anddeposition create verypronounced meanders.
Eventually the river cuts throughthe neck of the meander.Deposition then occurs whichleaves the ox-bow lakeseparated from the river.
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How an Ox-Bow Lake is Made
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Landforms of the Old Stage
Levees
Levees are raised banks of deposited materialfound along the banks of the river. When the riverfloods and spreads out over the floodplain, theheaviest material is deposited close to the river.Over time and after many periods of flooding thisdeposited material forms levees along the banks ofthe river.
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Levees – Raised Banks
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Landforms of the Old Stage
Delta
A Delta is a triangular shaped piece of landwhich is formed at the mouth of the river. Asthe river enters the sea it drops off all theremaining material it is carrying. Thismaterial builds up to form new land. The river isforced to break up into smaller channels calleddistributaries.
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