Where do rivers begin? How are river systems formed? What are the parts of a river system? What is a drainage basin? The Course of a River
A river is a natural stream of water flowing in a
channel The source is the place at which a river begins It may be melting snow from the top of a mountain or a lake with a stream flowing out from it Due to gravity, the river flows downhill from its source The path that a river follows is called its course The part of the river near the source is called the upper course The middle part of the river is called the middle course Near the end of the river is the lower course The place where the river flows into the sea or ocean is called the river mouth The River System
Streams or other rivers may join the course of
a river They are called tributaries The point at which a tributary joins the main river is called the confluence The river and its tributaries form the river system The Drainage Basin Rivers drain the surrounding area by collecting surface run-off and directing it to seas or oceans The area that is drained by the river and its tributaries is called the drainage basin The boundary of a drainage basin is marked by surrounding highlands and is called the watershed The Drainage Basin (cont’d)
The watershed separates one drainage basin from another and is also known as a divide Action of Rivers
A river and the sediments it carries can
erode the river bed and its banks Over time, a channel is cut into the land The channel eventually deepens to form a valley Valleys One of the results of the action of rivers The shape of a valley depends on how the river cuts into the land In the upper course, the river is flowing down very steep slopes Enough energy to cause great erosion Cuts deep into the land and a V-shaped valley forms A steep-sided valley with river flowing at the bottom is called a canyon In the middle course, the river flows across less steep land Cuts less deeply into the land Erodes the land sideways and downwards Starts to deposit sediments Sides of valley becomes wider
In the lower course, the land is almost flat Bends in the river are very pronounced More sediments deposited Erosion of bends continues Deposition of sediments along its channel results in a wide, flat-floored valley Rapids and Waterfalls
River flows over alternating bands of hard
and soft rocks Soft rocks erode faster Hard rocks jut out A series of small and short falls develop These falls are known as rapids A waterfall is a vertical flow of fast-moving water from a great height Rapids and Waterfalls (cont’d)
A waterfall usually forms when a river flows
over hard and soft rocks The soft rock is eroded more quickly A ledge is formed over which water falls The force of the water is so great that it cuts a depression or plunge pool at the bottom Meanders Curves and bends in the lower course of the river Formed when the river erodes sideways and deposits sediments on the opposite banks of the curves Deltas
A river deposits its sediments when it flows
into the sea or a lake The deposits build up and block any further movement of the river A river has to follow other routes called distributaries Distributaries branch out from a river Deltas (cont’d) A delta is a flat, low-lying area where layers of sediments have been deposited over time For a delta to form The river must be carrying a lot of sediments Currents along the coast must not be too strong to carry away the sediments faster than they can be deposited Rivers and the Water Cycle When it rains, some water soaks into the ground and some of it collects, forming streams and rivers that eventually flow into the sea. The water that falls as rain is constantly recycled because water can change from a liquid to a gas (a process known as evaporation) and back to a liquid again (condensation). The water from rivers, seas and oceans is turned into water vapour by the sun’s heat and by the wind. This vapour rises up into the sky and the cold air there makes the vapour condense into droplets and form clouds. These droplets grow bigger and heavier until they eventually fall as rain. This continuous movement of water is called the water cycle. Three quarters of planet earth’s surface is covered by salt water – the seas and oceans. The quarter of the surface which is land holds more water – this is fresh and will be found in rivers, lakes or underground. A river is therefore a very important part of the water cycle, carrying rain water back to the sea. It can be a long journey for a raindrop. Rivers can run for many hundreds of miles. The longest river in the world is the Nile in Africa. It is 6,700km long. The longest river in Britain is the River Severn, which is 354km long. Of course, not all the water flowing down the rivers is returned to the sea straight away. Some of the water that we use in our homes, schools, shops, offices, factories etc. comes from rivers. When we use water we remove it from the natural water cycle and return it to rivers via sewage treatment systems. This is a manmade cycle.