Rivers

1. Hydrological Cycle
2. River system
3. Drainage Basin
4. River Processes
5. River landforms
6. River Hazards
7. River Management

ALLPPT.com _ Free PowerPoint Templates, Diagrams and Charts

Remember your lesson about the
river.
All rivers receive their water from precipitation.
Hydrological Cycle
Condensation
-the conversion of a vapor or gas to a liquid.
-It occurs when warm air rises, cools and loses its
capacity to hold water vapor. As a result, excess water
Vapor condenses to form cloud water.
Precipitation

 -is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water

vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms
of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, and hail.
Interception
-Refers to water stored be vegetation

3 main components:
1.Interception loss – water retained by plant surfaces

2.Throughfall – water that falls through gaps in the

vegetation or drops from leaves, twigs or stems.

3. Stem flow – water that trickles along twigs, branches

and trunk.
Evaporation – is when liquid or solid turns into gas

Factors that affects evaporation:

1.Temperature (high temp high evap)
2.Humidity ( atmospheric moisture) (low hum high evap)
3.Wind speed (high ws high evap)
4.Others: water quality, depth of water, size of the body of
water, vegetation cover and color of the surface (albedo or
reflectivity of the surface)
Evapotranspiration

Is the combined effects of evaporation and transpiration

Transpiration – process by which water is transferred from

roots of vegetation from the soil to the atmosphere
Also known as water loss.

Evapotranspiration is when surface water being evaporated

From the leaves
River system –have inputs, transfer and outputs

STORES and FLOWS

Stores are those place where water is held for a period of
time.
Flows are thew ways in which water is moved around the
hydrogical cycle
-Overland Flow
Water flowing across the Earth’s surface

-Infiltration

Is the process by which water soaks into the ground.

Infiltration capacity is the maximum rate at which rain

can enter (absorbed) the soil or ground at a given time.
-Throughflow
The movement of water through the soil between the
surface and the groundwater store (water table)

-Percolation
The transfer of water down into the rocks and aquifers

-Groundwater flow
The flow of water through the rocks in the subsurface
Aquifers-
Permeable rock like sandstone and lime stones.
Keywords: River terminology

1. Bed - the bottom of the river channel.

2. Banks - The sides of the river channel. A river has two banks.
3. Wetted Perimeter - The length of the bed and the banks in contact
with the river.
4. Channel - The route course (between bed and banks) that a river
flows. The flow of the river is often described as channel flow
5. Thalweg - The fastest part of the river. The thalweg is always near
the middle of the river channel, where there is least friction
Downstream changes
Where is the river heading and what is it doing?

3 main roles:
1.To erode the river channel
2.To transport materials
3.To create new and depositional landforms
River Process
1. Erosion
Factors affecting erosion

1. Load
2. Velocity and discharge
3. Gradient
4. Geology
5. pH
6. Human impact
River Process
2. Transport
 River Process
3. Deposition

is the processes where material being

transported by
a river is deposited. Deposition occurs when
a river loses energy. This can be when a
 river enters a shallow area (this coud be
when it floods and comes into contact with the
flood plain) or towards its mouth where it meets
another body of water.
Energy in the river
It determines the river’s movement

1. Potential energy – caused by weight and elevation (height)

2. Kinetic energy – caused by gravity and flow

- The rougher the channel the more energy will be lost

- The smoother the less friction, the more energy available to
work
Channel Shape
What is a river channel?

- a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline

of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of fluid,
most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait.

- The shape of the channel will tell the efficiency of the

channel where the river flows
 Hydraulic Radius
The ratio of the cross –sectional area of the channel in
which a fluid is flowing.

It is determined by the
width, depth, radius, Higher ratio shows
Velocity and the more efficiency
materials forming the
channel

Cross-sectional area =
w(d)
Wetted perimeter =
A+B+C
HR = CSA/WP
Channel Roughness
-It is caused by friction which slows
down velocity.
-Friction is caused by irregularities in
the river bed (type of soil), boulders
(big rocks), trees and vegetation or
just by water moving along the bed
and the bank.
Velocity: Is the measure of the speed and direction of an object
(to be very simple - the speed the river is travelling). Velocity is
normally measured in m/s (metres per second). It is commonly
believed that the velocity of rivers is faster in the upper course.
However, this is not true, the velocity of the river actually
increases as you near the mouth.
Reason:
This because the cross-section of the river is smaller near the
source so there is greater friction and also the discharge is
smaller. Nearer the mouth the discharge of the river increases
as does the rivers cross-section meaning less energy is lost to
friction. We measure velocity with the formula: speed =
distance/time.
Discharge: Is the amount of water being
carried by a river. Discharge is measured
as cubic metres per second (CUMECS).
We calculate discharge by using the
formula :
discharge = cross-section x velocity.
Discharge (also width, depth and velocity)
usually increases downstream
But, channel roughness decreases
Gradient: Gradient means how
steep something is. The gradient of
the river will normally get less steep
as it travels from the source to the
mouth.
 Shape and roughness
Upstream
Gradient is high
River is narrow and shallow
Velocity is low
High friction
Roughness is high
Discharge low
Load particles are bigger
Difficult to transport
Downstream
Gradient is low
River gets wider and deeper
Velocity is high
Low Friction
Roughness is low
Discharge high
Load particles are smaller
Easier to transport
Features of erosion
Upper cours V-shape Valley
1. The river erodes downward
(vertical erosion)
2. The sides are cut down and
attacked by weathering, the
loosed material creeps down the
slope by gravity or is washed by
rainwater. (lateral erosion)

Interlocking spurs is a result of the

winding flow of water in the V-
shaped Valley. Eroding the opposite
sides of the valley creating an
overlapping slope
Waterfall
Composition of a waterfall
Gorge
Middle Course
Meander
Oxbow Lake
Lower course
Floodplain
Levees
Delta
River Hazards and Opportunities
OPPORTUNITIES:

-Rivers brings fertile alluvium (river deposits or silt) which

allows farmers to grow crops.
- it allows water transportation to navigate and helps in trading
-It helps recharge groundwater
 HAZARDS

1. River bank erosion that causes

population displacement of soci-
economic impact.
2. Flood
Natural cause
Human cause
Managing impacts of floods

1. Hard engineering – creating dams and reservoir,

levees, channel straightening and deepening
(dredging) and creating flood relief channels.
2. Event modification –reforestation, reseeding of
sparesly vegetated areas
3. Mechanical land treatment such as contour plowing
or terracing to reduce land slides (run-off)
4. Comprehensive protection of vegetation fro wildfires,
overgrazing, clear cutting of forest
5. Loss sharing and insurance – disaster aids and
insurances such as money, equipment, staff and
technical assistance.
6. Hazard resistant design – flood proofing, blocking
up entrances, shields to seal doors and windows,
moving living spaces above floodplain.
6. Forecasting and Warning
7. Land use planning