THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

FULL TIME

RIVER PROCESSES
LSE 3069: Fundamental Topics in Secondary School Geography
Compiled
By
K . Mundende
 The Course of a River

• May be divided into three (3) distinct parts:

 The Upper or Mountain Course (In the stage of youth)
 The Middle or Valley Course (In the stage of Maturity)
 The lower or Plain course (In the stage of old age)
 River Profile
River Profile
 The Upper Course

• Youthful river/valley or Mountain Course/Torrent stage

Characteristic Features:
 Begins at the source of the river near the watershed, probably the crest of a
mountain
 Very energetic
 Deep narrow valley (V – shaped)
 Valley has a steep gradient
 River is a fast flowing
 Pot – holes
 Interlocking spurs
 gorges
 Waterfalls, cataracts and rapids
 River capture/ River piracy/ river beheading
 Predominant action of the river is vertical corrasion
 The Middle Course/Valley stage

• Characteristic Features
 Valley has the shape of an open V in cross section
 The gradient is more gentle than in a young valley
 River bends (Meanders) are pronounced. The concave banks
stand up as river cliffs and also slip – off slopes are formed
 Spurs are removed by lateral erosion
 The valley floor is wide and by the time the valley enters the
stage of old age it is covered with a layer of sediments
 Lateral corrasion tends to predominate
 The work of the river is predominantly transportation
 The Lower Course

• Plain Course
Characteristic Features
 The river carries a heavy load some of which is deposited on its
bed. This may produce mounds which divide the river into several
channels. When this happens the river is said to be braided
 Meanders are pronounced and cut – offs develop and produce ox –
bow lakes
 The river builds up its bed and banks with alluvium – the banks
are called levees.
 The river mouth sometimes becomes blocked with sediments and
a delta forms
 The work of the river is mainly deposition
 River Capture Development

• Also referred to as River piracy or River

Beheading
• Development dependent on the different rate of
back – cutting (head-ward erosion) into a divide
• If S is a more powerful river than C2 then it will
lower its valley more rapidly than with C2
• This in turn will cause its tributary (s) to effect
headward erosion and in time it will cut back
into the valley of C2 and effect river capture
 River Capture Development cont’d

• When this happens, the upper part of C2 will flow into S and hence
into C1 thus making it an even more powerful river
• The lower part of C2 is now deprived of its headwater and its volume
decreases and it becomes too small for its valley. It is called a misfit.
Misfit is the beheaded stream
• The valley below the elbow is called the wind gap
• At the elbow of capture the valley now contains no river and it
becomes a wind gap
• The bend at which the piracy occurred is termed as the elbow of
capture.
• This process can be repeated until several parallel rivers have had
their headwaters captured by which time C1 will be the dominant
river of the region
 River Capture Diagram
River Capture
 River Rejuvenation

• Means being young again

• When base level of a river is lowered, the river’s power to
erode is increased
• Most of the erosion is downwards into the valley floor and
as a result new types of features are produced
• A river which is given extra power, is given new life, that
is, it is rejuvenated
• A river in any stage of development from youth to old age
may be rejuvenated. For example, if a river is crossing a
peneplain is rejuvenated, its valley will have the typical V
– shape of a young valley.
 Some Features produced by Rejuvenated River

• If a river on a flood plain is rejuvenated, the down

cutting effected by the river will produce terraces. It
sometimes happens that the point where the river crosses
from the original flood plain to the new flood plain is
visible and is marked by rapids or a waterfall. This point
is called the knickpoint

• If a river is able to maintain its course over a region of

uplift then the river will rapidly deepen its valley. If the
rocks of the region are resistant and if the climate is dry,
then a very impressive gorge can develop
 OX – Bow Lake Development

• In the lower course of a river, a meander becomes very

much more pronounced
• The outside bend or concave bank is so rapidly eroded that
the river becomes almost a complete circle
• There will come a time when the river cuts through the
narrow neck of the loop, abandoning an ox – bow lake or
mortlake (meaning dead lake)
• The river then flows straight. The ox – bow lake will later
degenerate into a swamp through subsequent floods that
may silt up the lake. It becomes marshy, and eventually
dries up.
 River Actions
• A river’s source is the place at which it begins
to flow. It may be in the
 Melt waters of a glacier: E.g. The Rhone
(France)
 In a lake: E.g. The Nile (Africa)
 In a spring: E.g. The Thames (England)
 In a region of steady rainfall: The Zaire
(Africa)
 River Actions Cont’d
• A river’s mouth is the place where the river ends. This
is usually in the sea. E.g. The Amazon (Atlantic), The
Niger (Gulf of Guinea)
• A river does three types of work:
 It erodes
 It transports, and
 It deposits
o In the process of river erosion, transportation and
deposition, the original surface is turned into an almost
level plain which is called peneplain
 Types of River Erosion

• Abrasion (Corrasion): Wearing away of the bed

and bank by the load carried by a river
• Attrition: The wearing away of the load carried by
a river, which creates smaller, rounder particles
• Hydraulic Action: The force of air and water on
the sides of rivers and in cracks
• Solution (Corrosion): The removal of chemical
ions, especially calcium, which causes rocks to
dissolve
 Samples of River Erosion
Samples of RE
 Factors affecting Erosion

• Load: The heavier and sharper the load, the greater the
potential for erosion
• Velocity and discharge: The greater the velocity and discharge,
the greater the potential for erosion
• Gradient: Increased gradient increases the rate of erosion
• Geology: Soft, unconsolidated rocks, such as sand and gravel,
are easily eroded
• pH: Rates of solution are increased when the water is more
acidic
• Human Impact: Deforestation, dams, and bridges interfere with
the natural flow of a river and frequently end up increasing the
rate of erosion
 Types of River Transportation

• Suspension: small particles are held up by turbulent

flow in the river
• Saltation: heavier particles are bounced or bumped
along the bed of the river
• Solution: the chemical load is carried dissolved in
the water
• Traction: the heaviest material is dragged or rolled
along the bed of the river
• Floatation: leaves and twigs are carried on the
surface of the river
 River’s Deposition
• Occurs when a river slows down and it loses its energy
• This occurs as a river floods across a flood plain, or enters the sea, or
behind a dam.
• The larger, heavy particles are deposited first, the smaller, lighter ones later
• Features of deposition include:
 Deltas
 Levees
 Slip – off slopes
 Ox – bow lakes
 Braided channels, and
 Flood plains
 THE END

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