River Processes

and Landforms

RIVER PROCESSES:
Three river processes:
1. Transportation
2. Deposition
3. Erosion

RIVER TRANSPORTATION
The load is transported by 4 ways:
(i) Saltation: when pebbles, sand and gravel
(bedload) are lifted up by current and
bounced along the bed in a hopping
motion.
(ii)

Traction: when largest boulders and

cobbles (bedload) roll or slide along the
saltation
traction
bed.

(iii)

Suspension: very fine particle such as

clay and silt (suspended load) are
dislodged and carried by turbulence in a
fast flowing river.

(iv) Solution: water flowing within a river

channel contains acids (e.g. carbonic

acid from precipitation) dissolve the load
such as limestone in running water and
removed in solution.
suspension

solution

River erosion.

Erosion: wearing away of river bed and bank.

There are four main process of erosion:
(i) Abrasion: occurs when the river picks up
materials and rubs it along its bed and
banks, wearing them away by abrasion,
effective during flood. Major method by
which river erodes both vertically and
horizontally.
Landforms: potholes. (turbulent eddies in
the current can swirl pebbles around to
form potholes that are hollows in river
bed and pebbles are likely to become
trapped)
potholes

(ii) Attrition: As bedload moved downstream,

boulders collide with other material and the

impact may break the rock into smaller pieces.
In time angular rocks become increasingly
rounded.

(iii) Hydraulic action: The sheer force of the water

as the turbulent current hits banks (outside of
meander) pushes water into cracks. The air in
cracks compressed, pressure increased and in
time bank will collapse.
Cavitation: is a form of hydraulic action
caused by bubbles of air collapsing.
(iv)

Solution/corrosion: This process in

independent of river discharge and velocity. It is
related to chemical composition of water e.g.
concentration of carbonic acid and humid acid.

River deposition

Deposition: when velocity begins to fall, it has less

energy and no
longer had competence and capacity to carry all its
load so largest
particles, materials begins to be deposited.
When occur?
1. Low discharge during period of low precipitation
2. Less velocity when river enter sea or lake.
3. Shallow water occurs on inside of a meander.
4. The load suddenly increase (debris from
landslide)
5. River overflow its bank so velocity outside
channel is reduced. (resulting in floodplain)

Fluvial (River) Processes

Fluvial processes create landforms.
These processes are affected by specific

factors such as velocity, gradient, volume,

load, channel width and depth.

River Structure

Upper Course/Youth
Stage
This section of the rivers course is most likely

to be an upland or mountain area. The main

featurea at this stage are:
Narrow and shallow channel
Low volume of water
Speed of water flow is fast if there are steep
slopes
Small load
Erosion is the most dominant process at this
stage.
10

Upper valley
characteristics
Vshape
valley, vertical
erosion
dominant
Interlocking
spurs
Slumping
and
landslides very active
hillslopes

Terracettes
formed by soil
creep
Narrow,
shallow
channel, low
velocity and
discharge

River Features
Rivers are eroding, transporting and

depositing constantly within the drainage basin

system. The river can be divided into 3
sections Upper Course at the Source, Middle
Course and Lower Course at the Mouth of the
river.
The river displays different characteristics
at each section

Upper Course

Also known as Torrent or Youth stages

Interlocking Spurs
In the Upper Course, the river
is fast flowing, but there is little
water and load. The river is
often called a stream and does
not have the erosive power to
remove the hillsides (spurs),
but erodes downwards instead.
EROSION TYPE: Vertical and Headward

Upper Course:Interlocking Spurs

Interlocking Spurs

River channel

Upper Course: Potholes

Pothole
s
EROSION
TYPE:
Vertical

(by EDDY
CURRENTS)
Boulders broken off by erosion that sit on the river bed create
swirling eddy currents as the water flows past as the river is not
strong enough yet to move the boulders by TRACTION. These
eddies swirl the boulder round and erode a pothole in the river
bed by ABRASION.

Close-up of potholes

Circular potholes
due to eddying
motion when
river energy is
high
Potholes will join
together by
abrasion, and
deepen by
vertical erosion
Load is picked up
and used to scour
or abrade pothole.
Load itself
becomes rounded
by attrition

Upper Course: Waterfalls & Gorges

Waterfall
and Gorge
1
(OBLIQUE AERIAL
VIEW)
EROSION

TYPE: Vertical
and Headward

Upper Course: Waterfalls 2

Waterfall
and Gorge
2
(PROFILE VIEW)

EROSION
TYPE: Vertical
and Headward

2. Water fall:
A waterfall form when a river, after flowing over relatively
hard rock
meets a band of less resistant rock flow over the edge of a
plateau.
Over a period of years, the edges of this shelf will gradually
break away
and the waterfall will steadily retreat upstream, creating a
gorge of
recession

Havasu fall, Arizona.

Middle Course/Mature
Stage
At this stage the river will have flowed from

an upland area into lowland. The main

characteristics are:
Wider river valley
Wider and Deeper Channel
Greater volume of water
Greater velocity; especially in the middle of
the channel
Larger load
Both erosion and deposition will occur at this
stage.
23

Middle course
Valley opens
out, more gentle
slopes, wider
valley bottom
First signs of
meanders
Floodplain
River channel
wider, deeper,
greater
velocity and
discharge

Meanders

Meander
Floodplain
Point bar
deposits on
the inner
meander
bend where
there is low
energy
Riffles:
deposition of
a coarse
material that
create
areas of
shallow water.

Steep bank known as

the river bluff or
cliff, caused by
concentrated erosion

pool
riffle
pool

Pools develop at
meander bends
and riffles in
the stretches
between bends

Middle Course: Meanders

Also known as the Mature stage

Meanders
1
(Aerial
View)
Meanders are
formed
because the current
swings to the outside of a
bend and concentrates
the erosion there.
Deposition occurs on the
inside of the bed where
there is not enough
energy to carry load.
EROSION TYPE: Lateral

Middle Course: Meanders 2

Meanders
2
(Profile View / Cross
Section X - Y)

EROSION
TYPE: Lateral
This cross section clearly shows the eddy current (near X) formed by
the velocity of the river being concentrated on the outside of the bend.
These UNDERCUT the bank causing the formation of a RIVER CLIFF. On
the inside (NEAR Y), a SLIP-OFF-SLOPE is formed where current is too
slow to carry any load.

Middle Course: Ox-bow lake

Ox-Bow Lake
1
(Aerial View)

EROSION TYPE: Lateral

Ox-bow lakes are formed

when
two
meander
RIVER CLIFFS are being
eroded
towards
each
other.
These
will
eventually meet, causing
the river to then flow
across the bottom of the
diagram.

Middle Course: Ox-bow lake 2

Ox-Bow Lake 2

(Aerial View)

Lower Course/Old Age

Stage
The river will be close to the end of its course

i.e. Its mouth, where it flows into the sea. The

main features at this stage are:
The river valley is at its widest.
The river channel is also at its widest and
deepest
The volume of water is high.
The volume of the load is at its largest.
Deposition is the main process at this stage.
34

Effect of fluvial deposition.

Deposition of sediment takes place where there is a
decrease in
energy or an increase in capacity which makes the
river less
competent to transport its load.
It can occur anywhere from upper course, where
boulders may
be left, to the mouth where fine clays may be
deposited.
FLUVIAL LANDFORMS:
Floodplains:
A floodplain is a mostly flat area of land bordering a
river

Lower Course: Levees

Leves and Raised Beds 1

(Front

View)

DEPOSITION
FEATURE: no
erosion in
the Lower
Course
Leves are formed when rivers flood. The river water
overflows the banks of the river and immediately slows
down due to friction with the FLOODPLAIN. This drops the
larger particles first, building up a raised river bank called a
LEVE.

Lower Course: Levees 2

Leves and Raised Beds 2

(Front

View)

DEPOSITION
FEATURE: no
erosion in
the Lower
Course
Raised beds form in the Summer months when the river volume
and energy are low and load is dropped onto the river bed. The
bed raises up and the capacity of the river reduces, causing
flooding in the winter. This in turn builds up the leves and the
whole process raises up the level of the river in the landscape.

(2) Levees
When river overflows its banks, the increase in friction
produced by the
contact with the floodplain causes material to be deposited.
The
coarsest material is dropped first to form a small, natural
embankment
(levee) alongside the channel. During subsequent periods of
low
discharge, further deposition will occur within main channel
causing
bed of the river to rise and the risk of flooding to occur.

Floodplains and levees.

(3) Braiding channels:

For short periods of year, some rivers carry a very high load in
relation
to their velocity e.g. during snow melt periods in Alpine or
Arctic areas.
When a rivers level falls rapidly, competence and capacity are
reduced, and channel become chocked with material, causing
the river
to braid ( divide into a series of diverging and converging
segments)

Braided
channels.

(4) Delta:
It is composed of fine sediment which is deposited when a
river losses
energy and competence as it flows into an area of slow
moving water
such as a lake or sea. The shape resembled that of delta, the
fourth
letter of the Greek alphabet (
)
Deltas provide the worlds fertile land, while shallow and
frequently changing river channels hinder navigation.

Lower Course: Deltas

Delta

(Aerial View)

This deposition feature is one of

the largest. When the flowing
river hits the non-flowing sea,
energy is suddenly lost. This
causes all of the load in the river
to drop in the river MOUTH. This
builds up over time to create a
delta an area of land. The river
divides into DISTRIBUTARIES to
continue to the sea, which is
now some way away from its
original meeting point.

There are three types:

(a) Arcuate (fan-shaped delta) : having rounded, convex
outer margin e.g. Nile.
(b)
Cuspate (tooths delta) : where material brought down
by a river is spread out evenly on either side of its
channel. E.g. Tiber
(c )
Birds foot: where the river has many distributaries
bounded by sediment and which extent out to sea like
the claws of a birds foot.e.g. the Mississippi.

Arcuate delta e.g. River Nile.

Birds foot e.g.Mississippi river.

Cuspate delta e.g. Tiber.

Dendritic

In dendritic drainage systems

there is a tree like system of
rivers and tributaries.
45

Radial

In radial drainage systems the

flow is always away from one
point.
46

Parallel

In parallel drainage systems the flow

of adjacent rivers and tributaries tends
to be parallel to each other.
47

Trellis

In trellis drainage systems the flow of

tributaries tends to be perpendicular to
the river that the tributary flows into.
48