Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Characteristics,
Changes &
Landforms
What is a drainage basin?
Tributary
Mouth A river which joins a larger river.
Where the river
flows into the
sea, or sometimes Catchment
a lake. The area from
which water
Watershed drains into a
The boundary particular
dividing one drainage basin.
drainage basin
from another- a
ridge of high Source
land. The upland area
where the river
Confluence
begins.
The point at which two rivers join.
Features of a drainage basin on a map.
Confluence
b Source
d Watershed
a Tributary
The Long Profile of a River
Gradient/slope decreasing
A
0 50 100 150 200 250
B Energy increases
Middle Course C
Lower Course
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Distance from sea in Kms.
Valley & Channel Cross-Sections
A B C
Upper Course Middle Course Lower Course
What are the main features of a river?
Steeply sloping towards the Shallow slopes towards the Almost at sea level, very gently
Long Profile
lower sections of the river mouth of the river sloping towards its mouth
Interlocking spurs;
Meanders; slip-off slopes; ox- Deltas; flood plains; levees;
Features waterfalls; V-shaped valley;
bow lakes meanders; ox-bow lakes
gorges
Learning Objectives:
•To know and
understand the
formation of
landforms in a river’s
upper course.
•To understand the
processes that
operate in a river’s
upper course
What processes occur in a river?
There are 3 processes taking place in
every river.
These are:
Erosion (The wearing away of the land)
3 4
Interlocking spurs
A typical upper course V-Shaped
valley with interlocking spurs, steep
valley sides and active slope
processes.
The diagram below shows the
formation of interlocking spurs.
Can you draw
an annotated
sketch of
this valley to
show how it is
formed?
River load in upper course
WHAT IS A
WATERFALL?
A waterfall is
formed where
water flows
over a cliff
or very steep
drop in the
river's bed.
High Force Waterfall R. Tees
Formation of a Waterfall.
• A waterfall is a steep drop in the course of a river.
• They form when a band of hard resistant rock (cap rock) lies over
softer, less resistant rock.
• The softer rock is quickly eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion,
causing the harder rock to be undercut.
• The hard rock overhangs until it can no longer carry its own weight.
• The overhang collapses and then breaks up in the water below.
• The great power of the water at the base of the waterfall causes a
plunge pool to form.
• The bed of the river below the waterfall contains boulders eroded
by splash back from behind the waterfall.
• Over time the process above is frequently repeated and eventually a
steep-sided gorge forms as the waterfall retreats up stream.
Waterfall formation
Look at the diagram, How is a waterfall formed?
Can you put
the labels
below into
the correct
place on he
diagram?
High Force waterfall, R. Tees
Waterfall
s create a
gorge
upstream
as they
recede,
This is a
steep
sided
valley
with no
floodplain
.
Evidence
Upper Course of a River of
High Steep tributaries
land valley
Reservoir sides
Learning Objectives
•To understand the main processes that operate
in the middle and lower course of a river.
•To understand how meanders and oxbow lakes
are formed.
This is a picture of a river in its middle course.
Can you recognise and explain the differences
between the upper and middle course of a river?
Processes operating in the middle course
of a river
Erosion is still an important process.
The river is now flowing over flatter land and so the
dominant direction of erosion is lateral (from side to
side).
The river has a greater discharge and so has more
energy to transport material. Material that is
transported by a river is called its load.
Deposition is also an important process and occurs
when the velocity of the river decreases or if the
discharge falls due to a dry spell of weather.
What landforms are found in the middle
course?
Slip off slope Formed on the outside bend of the meander due to erosion.
River cliff Because of the gentle slope, there is a lot of frictional drag and
so therefore the river flows at this speed
Fastest flow Maximum depth of the channel. (Note the asymmetrical cross-
profile)
Slowest flow There is little frictional drag from the bed and bank at this point
and so the river can flow at this speed.
1
2
Meanders
3
Direction of meander migration
Floodplain
Slip-Off
Erosion on
Slope
the outer
bend
where
there is
faster
flow. It
creates a
river cliff
Land
use
changes
– more
urban
Small floodplain areas.
begins to develop
on either side of
the river,
Evidence of
meanders
The Lower Course of a River
Learning Objectives:
To be able to describe and explain the formation of
a flood plain, levees, delta and estuary.
Floodplains, Deltas and Levees.
The pictures below show a floodplain, a delta and levees.
Using your prior knowledge of river processes come up with
a theory to explain how they are formed. The key words
underneath each picture will help. Floodplain
Main
Channel
Main
Floodplain
deposition Channel Levee
Sea/lake
deposition slow deposit
Slow flow sea/lake flood
alluvium (silt) load large load
flood channel smaller load
flat blocked
Defintions
Flood plains
• A flood plain is the wide, flat area of land
on either side of the river in its middle and
lower course.
Levees
• Levees are natural embankments of silt
along the banks of a river, which are often
several metres higher than the flood plain.
Floodplain & Levee formation