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Rivers
Rivers
AN INTRODUCTION
DEFINITIONS
Drainage Basin the area drained by a river and its
Definitions
Source where the river starts.
Mouth where the river meets the sea. Most rivers
Drainage Basin
All
rivers receive a
water supply and the
area of land that this
comes from is known
as a drainage basin.
The boundaries of the
basin are known as the
watershed and will
usually be marked by
areas of high land.
Water Divide
Water Divide
Two
adjacent
drainage basins are
separated from each
other by a water
divide usually an
area of high land.
Variables in a River
Uniform Channel
Velocity
Asymmetric Channel
Velocity
River Variables
Roughness (1)
Channel Bed Roughness: Decreases as the
River Variables
Roughness (2)
source to mouth.
The sources of rivers are often found at watersheds
(high ridges of land separating adjacent drainage
basins from each other) and the water starts to flow
downhill.
This changes because the river changes from eroding
vertically at the source, to laterally further
downstream (together with the effects of deposition
further downstream too).
The changes in gradient are related to discharge
which increases as the gradient decreases.
transported by a river.
The way in which material is moved depends
on its size. There are downstream changes in
the amount and the mean particle size of
load.
Type of load
Bed load
Type of particles
Sand, pebbles
Diameter of particles
Over 0.1mm
Saltation and
traction
0.001 - 0.1 mm
Suspension
Soluble material -
Solution
river is from the river's upper course. The further these rocks are
carried downstream, the more time there will have been for them to
have been eroded by attrition and abrasion. Abrasion and attrition
makes rocks both smaller and rounder.
More time for weathering - much of the river's erosion occurs at times
of high discharge. During times of low flow, stones are stored on the
beds or banks. The longer the stones spend in storage, the longer they
will be affected by weathering processes (such as frost shattering).
Sorting - the river sorts particles of different sizes. Smaller particles are
Hjulstrm Curve
The
relationship
between
erosion,
transport
and
deposition of sediment
is complex and can be
shown
by
theHjulstromdiagram.
Long Profile
Gradient refers to how steep an area of land
is.
The long profile of a river shows the change
in gradient of the land through which a river
flows. Rivers usually start on high land and
flow downhill to the sea.
In the upper course, rivers flow down steep
gradients to reach lower land.
The lower course is more gentle as the river
is closer to sea level. When the river reaches
sea level, the channel flows over flat land.
Cross-Sections or CrossProfiles
A river cross-section or cross-profile shows the shape of a
Cross-Sections or CrossProfiles
In the upper course, the valley and channel
Cross-Sections or CrossProfiles
In
Cross-Sections or CrossProfiles
In the lower course the valley is now very
deeper.