River transportation

This is the movement of eroded material downstream. The material includes sand
particles, pebbles, and even large boulders.
The main four river transport processes

Saltation
This is the movement of sand and pebbles where they are temporarily lifted from the
riverbed and thrown into the water current but later bounce back onto the riverbed.
• small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed in a leap-
frogging movement
Such movement occurs because the particles are too heavy to be suspended in the
water body, but at the same time too light to remain on the riverbed as traction load.
Suspension
This is the way very fine particles, clay, and silt, are moved within the moving body of
water. The greater the rivers velocity and turbulence the larger the quantity of clay and
silt that are transported.
• fine light material is lifted/carried up along in the river water for longer
distances. The material may discolour the water.
Suspension Load gives the water its colour, depending on the on the local soils.
Solution
This is the movement of dissolved material within the water. Usually, the water would
be carrying dissolved limestone, chalk, or dolomite.
• minerals are dissolved in the water and carried along in solution. This
typically occurs in areas where the underlying bedrock is limestone.

Traction
This together with saltation is commonly referred to as bedload.
This is the process that moves the largest sized particles, for example cobbles and
boulders, by rolling them along the riverbed.
• large boulders and rocks are rolled or dragged along the riverbed by the
force of water.
It usually takes place during floods when the rivers energy increases significantly. As
water moves over a big particle at rest, the particle is subjected to a drag force. If the
drag force overcomes the inertia of the particle, then the particle begins to move by
rolling along the riverbed.

Learning tip
Rivers need energy to transport material, and levels of energy change as the river
moves from source to mouth.
• When energy levels are very high, large rocks and boulders can be transported.
Energy levels are usually higher near a river's source when its course is steep
and its valley narrow. Energy levels rise even higher in times of flood.
• When energy levels are low, only small particles can be transported (if any).
Energy levels are lowest when velocity drops as a river enters a lake or sea (at
the mouth).

Deposition
Deposition is the processes where material being transported by a river is laid down.
When a river loses energy, it will drop or deposit some of the material it is carrying.
Deposition usually occurs when:
• There is a reduction in the gradient of the river, for example when the river
meeting a lake or a sea., often forming a delta.
• Deposition may take place when a river enters an area of shallow water or when
the volume of water decreases - for example, after a flood or during times of
drought.
• There is shallow water, for example on the inside of a meander
• There is an increase in the size of the load. This may be due to a tributary
bringing in larger particles. The river is forced to slow down resulting in
deposition.
 • When the river floods and overflows its banks, resulting in a reduced velocity
on the flood plain outside the main channel.
In general, the largest and heavier material (large boulders are the first to be
deposited, followed by smaller particles (silt and clay) carried further downstream

Glossary
Load
Gradient
Stream competence
Stream capacity
River discharge