RIVER PROCESSES

IGCSE Geography












KEY TERMINOLOGY
Confluence: Where two rivers meet and join to form one larger river.
Delta: A build up of sediment at the point where a river meets a sea or lake, due to the water
velocity slowing and the river having less energy to carry the sediment.
Drainage Basin: The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
Estuary: The point at which a river begins to meet the sea. The river will be tidal, meaning
that it will have both salt water and fresh water in it.
Mouth: The end of the river, where it meets the sea, or a lake.
Source:
River Channel:
Tributaries: rivers running into the main one, that form part of the same drainage basin
system.
Velocity: The speed of the flow of the river.
Watershed: The imaginary dividing line between neighbouring drainage basins.

Photo A
Photo B
Map C
Diagram D
Photo E
Catchment
The area from
which water drains
into a particular
drainage basin.
Tributary
A river which joins a larger river.
Confluence
The point at which two rivers join.
Watershed
The boundary
dividing one
drainage basin
from another- a
ridge of high land.
What is a drainage basin?
Source
The upland area
where the river
begins.
Mouth
Where the river
flows into the sea,
or sometimes a
lake.
Watershed
Tributary
Match the label to the correct letter
Confluence
a
b
c
Source
d
SYLLABUS CONTENT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To understand the work of a river in eroding, transporting and depositing material

To be able to explain the erosional processes of hydraulic action, corrasion, corrosion
(solution) and attrition

To know how a river transports material through the processes of traction, saltation,
suspension and solution

To be able to explain why the river deposits material and where in its course deposition
takes place
HOW DOES THE RIVER ERODE MATERIAL?
Erosion = the wearing away of the land by material carried by
rivers, glaciers, waves and the wind.












Study this photo.
How do you think this river can erode the landscape?
HOW DOES THE RIVER ERODE MATERIAL?
Erosion = the wearing away of the land by material carried by rivers, glaciers, waves
and the wind.

Here we are looking at erosion in the context of rivers. A river will use the material it
transports (its load) to erode its banks and bed.

As the velocity of the water increases, the river can transport more load, and the rate
of erosion will increase.
Processes of river erosion
Hydraulic action
Attrition
Corrosion
Corrasion/
Abrasion
HOW DOES THE RIVER ERODE MATERIAL?
ACTIVITY
In pairs
Come up with an action, which you can do together to represent each of the
types of erosion.
We will then decide on the best ones as a class.
I will shout a form of erosion, you have to act it out with a partner.
The slowest pair to perform will be out, the winners are the last pair standing!
PAST PAPER QUESTION (summer 2012)
PAST PAPER QUESTION (summer 2010)
HOW DOES THE RIVER TRANSPORT MATERIAL?
PAST PAPER QUESTION (summer 2008)
Fluvial deposition occurs where the river losses energy and therefore cannot continue to carry
the material it is transporting.

This could happen in an estuary when the river meets the sea and slows down, depositing its
load, which may eventually lead to the formation of salt marshes or a delta. Material is also
deposited further up the course of the river. For instance the slower moving water on the inside
of a bend of a river will have less energy and therefore drop its load, helping to create a
meander.

A major depositional feature of a river is the flood plain, in its lower reaches. This is made up of
deposited sand and silt, which is known as alluvium. This is often very fertile and is the reason
why many areas near rivers have large amounts of agricultural activity.
HOW DOES THE RIVER DEPOSIT MATERIAL?

Learning Objective
To know the changes in characteristics of a river and
its valley between source and mouth


Rivers always flow
downwards from
highland areas to
lowland areas,
through the upper,
middle, and finally
the lower course.

The journey of river
from source to
mouth is sometimes
called the course of
the river.

The course of a river
can be divided into
three main sections:
upper course
middle course
lower course


THE COURSE OF THE RIVER
Landscape Features Characteristics Video clip (River Tay)
Upper
course
Middle
Course
Lower
Course
From the video
As you watch the video, try and note some of the landscape features and the characteristics of
the upper, middle and lower course of the river. Write your notes in the table on your hand-out
RIVER TAY THE COURSE OF THE RIVER
As a river travels along its course, both the river and the landscape around it changes.

On the one hand, the nature of landscape affects the river's course and flow - with hills, for example, making the river
flow faster. On the other hand, the river will in its turn change the landscape - for example, carving out a deep valley
or creating a flood plain.

Complete the following table using the information from the map and the photographs.


Describing the Features of a Rivers Course
It is often thought that the velocity of a river is greatest near its start. This is not the case,
as large angular boulders create a rough channel shape and therefore, a large amount of
its bed friction.
This creates more resistance to flow than a river with smooth clays & silt forming its banks.
CHANNEL ROUGHNESS
The efficiency of a rivers channel is
measured by finding its Hydraulic
radius. It is the ratio between the
length of wetted perimeter and
cross section of a river channel.

Wetted perimeter: the entire length
of the riverbed bank and sides in
contact with water.

The examples below show the
difference between an efficient
river channel and an inefficient
river channel:
CHANNEL SHAPE
As the river
moves
downstream, the
changes mostly
relate to changes
in the rivers
energy.

When it is in an
upland area any
spare energy he
river has is used
to transport large
boulders along its
bed. This results
in the river cutting
rapidly
downwards, a
process called
vertical erosion.
Vertical erosion
leads to the
development of
steep sided,
narrow V shaped
valleys.
Explaining the Features of a Rivers Upper Course
Explaining the Features of a Rivers Middle Course
As the gradient
(slope) of the valley
decreases, the river
uses its energy to
transport the
material it has
eroded. Due to the
lack of gradient, it
begins to erode
sideways (laterally).
Explaining the Features of a Rivers Lower Course
As the river moves
closer to sea level,
the gradient
decreases further,
although the river is
still eroding sideways,
deposition is the most
important process,
and the river valley
becomes wider and
flatter. The change
from erosion to
deposition helps to
explain the change in
landforms and the
shape of the river
valley as the river
moves towards the
sea.
What does the Bradshaw model tell us?
Bradshaws Model
Changes to the rivers discharge and velocity downstream
Add annotations onto the Bradshaw model to describe and explain why discharge and velocity
change with distance downstream.
KEY TERMS
Velocity the speed of the river. Measured in m/s
Discharge The amount of water passing a specific point at a given time & is measured in cubic meters
per second. The rivers discharge can be calculated by multiplying velocity by volume.
Discharge depends on
the rivers velocity and
the volume of water in
the river. Further
downstream the river is
wider, deeper, volume
and velocity both
increase. This means
that discharge will also
increase further
downstream
Velocity is determined by
the amount of water which
is touching the rivers bed
and banks (wetted
perimeter).
As the river gets deeper
further downstream, there
will be less contact between
the river and its bed and
banks, therefore less friction
will occur and velocity will
increase with distance
downstream.
CLUE!!!
As the river travels downstream,
the river channel becomes wider
and deeper as it is joined by other
smaller rivers (called tributaries).
GCSE Question
Autumn 2008
GCSE Question
Summer 2007
GCSE Question
Summer 2012

Learning Objective

To be able to describe and explain the formation of:
interlocking spurs; waterfalls; meanders; ox-bow
lakes; floodplains; levees and deltas.
ILS Animation
In the upper course of a river,
water flows quickly through a
narrow channel with a steep
gradient; as it does so it cuts
downwards.

This vertical erosion results in a
number of distinctive landforms
including the steep sloping v-
shaped valley through which the
river flows in its upper course.

THE RIVERS UPPER COURSE
Feature 1: V- SHAPED VALLEY
DESCRIPTION:
a valley which resembles a 'v' in
cross section.
steep sloping sides
Steep gradient
Narrow river channel
upper course
EXPLAIN HOW THE FEATURE WAS FORMED:
1. Vertical erosion (abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition) in the river channel
2. Over time, the sides of the valley are weakened by weathering. The river continues to
cut down vertically
3. Mass movement (movement of material down a slope due to gravity) steepens the
valley sides further
4. Soil and rocks from the valley sides are transported downstream by the river when it
has enough energy to do so.
WATERFALLS, PLUNGE POOLS & POT HOLES
Feature 2: INTERLOCKING SPURS
DESCRIPTION:
ridges of more resistant rock around which a
river is forced to wind as it passes downstream
in the upper course
EXPLAIN HOW THE FEATURE WAS FORMED:
In the upper course the river does not have a huge
amount of energy to erode as it does not have a
high discharge and it has to transport large pieces
of sediment.

When the river meets areas of harder rock that
are difficult to erode it winds around them.
A series of hills form on either side of the river
called spurs.
As the river flows around these hills they
become interlocked.
Features 3 & 4: WATERFALLS & GORGES
EXPLAIN HOW THE FEATURE WAS FORMED:

1.Waterfalls are found in the upper course of a river. They
usually occur where a band of hard rock lies next to soft rock.
They may often start as rapids.

2. As the river passes over the hard rock, the soft rock below is
eroded (worn away) more quickly than the hard rock leaving
the hard rock elevated above the stream bed below.

3. The 'step' in the river bed continues to develop as the river
flows over the hard rock step (Cap Rock) as a vertical drop.

4. The drop gets steeper as the river erodes the soft rock
beneath by processes such as abrasion and hydraulic action. A
plunge pool forms at the base of the waterfall.

5. This erosion gradually undercuts the hard rock and the
plunge pool gets bigger due to further hydraulic action and
abrasion.Eventually the hard cap rock is unsupported and
collapses. The rocks that fall into the plunge pool will continue
to enlarge it by abrasion as they are swirled around. A steep
sided valley known as a gorge is left behind and as the process
continues the waterfall gradually retreats upstream.
The highest waterfall in the world is the Angel Falls
in Venezuela which has a drop of 979m.

Other particularly famous examples include:
Niagara Falls (North America)
Victoria Falls (Zambia / Zimbabwe border)
Iguazu Falls (South America).
OHH BEAUTIFUL ANNOTATIONS!
GCSE Question Summer 2012
DESCRIPTION:
round to oval shaped holes in the bedrock of a river bed
Often about 30 cm across

EXPLANATION:
They are created where sediment accumulates within
naturally occurring small depressions on the rock surface
on the river bed
That is a fancy way of saying they are formed
by stones trapped in hollows on the river bed
Turbulent flow (or eddies) swirls the stones around in
the depressions, widening and deepening them through
the prolonged process of abrasion.
As the holes gets bigger even bigger debris can become
trapped in the pothole, and this material is again used as
an abrasive tool.
Feature 5: POTHOLES
http://thebritishge
ographer.weebly.co
m/river-
landforms.html

Feature 6:
RAPIDS
Description:
Upper course
Rough, often white water, where the flow of the river is more turbulent.

Explanation:
Caused by a localised increase in gradient (where the river is steeper) and the water is
shallow, and the river bed rocky and irregular, making the water rough
OR they can be caused where the river flows over alternating bends of harder and
softer rock
1) Meanders

2) Oxbow Lakes

3) Flood plains and Leves

4) Deltas
DEPOSITION created
these landforms
DEPOSITION and
EROSION create
these landforms
THE RIVERS MIDDLE COURSE

river channel is wider and
deeper
Discharge is higher (river has
been fed by many tributaries)
Gentler gradient
Higher velocity

THE RIVERS MIDDLE COURSE
surrounding valley has also become wider and flatter in cross-section
more extensive floodplain
increased sinuosity with many meanders (bends) in the river.

MEANDERS
Youtube: Video of a meander and its features
The River has begun to cut
laterally as it gets closer to base
level

river cliff = created by erosion
on the outside of the bend,
where the water is flowing faster

Slip off slope = the river
deposits its load on the inside
of the bend, where the water is
flowing more slowly

Meanders migrate downstream
as they cut through the valley
sides. This creates a line of
parallel cliffs along the sides of
the valley.

A cross section through a meander
A cross section through a meander
MEANDERS
Youtube: Video of a meander and its features
Explain how a meander is formed

Meanders form due to the greater volume of water carried by the river in
lowland areas which results in lateral (sideways) erosion being more
dominant than vertical erosion, causing the channel to cut into its banks
forming meanders.

1. Water flows fastest on the outer bend of the river where the
channel is deeper and there is less friction. This is due to water being
flung towards the outer bend as it flows around the meander, this
causes greater erosion which deepens the channel, in turn the
reduction in friction and increase in energy results in greater erosion.
This lateral erosion results in undercutting of the river bank and the
formation of a steep sided river cliff.

2. In contrast, on the inner bend water is slow flowing, due to it being
a low energy zone, deposition occurs resulting in a shallower
channel. This increased friction further reduces the velocity (thus further
reducing energy), encouraging further deposition. Over time a small
beach of material builds up on the inner bend; this is called a slip-off
slope.

Remember - a meander is asymmetrical in cross-section (see
diagram). It is deeper on the outer bend (due to greater erosion) and
shallower on the inside bend (an area of deposition).


Meander bend on the River Conwy
A
B
Explain why there is more deposition at A rather than at B.
A cross section through a meander
GCSE Question
Autumn 2011
GCSE Question
Summer 2010
http://www.p
recisiongraphi
cs.com/portfo
lio/animation
/

The Rivers Lower Course
OX-BOW LAKES
Ox-bow Lake
Animation
Ox-Bow Lakes - In the lower course of the river meanders can become so
pronounced that they can form ox-bow lakes.

rapid lateral erosion cuts into the neck of the meander, narrowing it
considerably.
Eventually the force of the river breaks through the neck, and as this is the
easiest way for the water to go, the old meander is left without any
significant amount of water flowing through it.
Quickly the river deposits material along the side of its new course, which
completely block off the old meander, creating an ox-bow lake.
Meander neck
becomes smaller
new course
of the river
oxbow lake
When the river floods it
breaks through the thin
meander neck and the
river takes the easier,
straight course. This
leaves the meander loop
cut off as an oxbow
lake. Over time, the
oxbow lake will become
colonised by vegetation.
Explain the formation of an oxbow lake
Explain the formation of an oxbow lake
FLOOD PLAINS
DESCRIPTION
- Flat land next to a river which is liable to flood (sometimes annually, sometimes very
infrequently)
- Can vary in size (<100m - 100km+)
- Often marshy land which is poorly drained
- Layer of alluvium
FLOOD PLAINS
EXPLAIN
Three types of deposition help to build up the flood plain
1.The deposition of point bars on the insides of meanders. These deposits are
spread across the valley as the meanders migrate both sideways and
downstream
2.The deposition of gravel on the river bed (part of the bed load)
3.the deposition of fine silt and mud (part of the suspension load) on the
floodpain itself, when the river overflows its banks during a flood
- a raised river bank (can be natural
features formed by deposition or
artificial structures built to
increase channel capacity and
reduce flood risk)

Levees are naturally formed banks along the
sides of a river channel in its lower course, as it
flows through the flood plain.

During a flood the river deposits its heaviest,
coarsest material closest to its normal course.

Over years this deposition has built up the
natural embankments, built of coarse material.

Beyond them the flood plain has been built up
of the finer material that was deposited
further away from the normal course of the
river.
http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages
/flooding_flood_risks/levee_simulator.jsp

LEVEES
PAST PAPER QUESTION (summer 2010)
PAST PAPER QUESTION (summer 2010)
Floodplains and leves are formed by deposition in times of
river flood. The rivers load is composed of different sized
particles. When a river floods it deposits the heaviest of these
particles first. The larger particles, often pebble-sized, form
the leves. The sands, silts and clays are similarly sorted with
the sands being deposited next, then the silts and finally the
lightest clays. Every time the river floods deposition builds up
the floodplain.
Floodplain formation
DELTAS
EXPLAIN
Deltas occur where a river that carries a large amount of sediment (mostly mud
and silt) meets a lake or the sea.
This meeting causes the river to lose energy and drop the sediment it is carrying.
The loss of velocity (energy) leads to the deposition of the rivers load, which
builds up gradually to form the delta.
Over time, the delta expands out into the sea or lake
Continued deposition blocks the rivers main channel, which in tern leads to the
formation of distributaries
DESCRIPTION
Area of low lying, flat marshy land where the river meets the sea
There are often lakes or lagoons within the delta
The river channel divides in distributaries, which re-join to form a braided drainage
pattern
The Greek letter D is delta, which describes the shape
The top of the delta is a fairly flat
surface. This is where the coarsest
river load is dropped. The finer
particles are carried into deeper water.
The silt is dropped to form a steep
slope on the edge of the delta while
the clay stays in suspension until it
reaches the deeper water.
Delta formation
DELTAS

Deltas form two types, called arcuate and birds foot.

An arcuate delta is one, which builds out into the sea, extending the coast line, as
the Nile Deltadoes in Egypt.

A bird's foot delta is an extension of this as "fingers"of material form further off
the edge of the delta. The delta of the Mississippi river shows these
characteristics.

GCSE Question Summer 2007
GCSE Question
Summer 2010
CASE STUDY: RIVER DELTA, BANGLADESH
CASE STUDY: RIVER DELTA, BANGLADESH
Bangladesh lies north of the Bay of Bengal, sharing borders with India and
Mayanmar (Burma)
Over 154.2 million people live here
It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world
Most of the country is part of a huge, low lying delta formed by deposition from
some of the longest rivers in the world, The Ganges and its tributary, the
Brahmaputra and the Meghna river.
CASE STUDY: RIVER DELTA, BANGLADESH
Although the delta deposits are continually shifting, large numbers of people prefer
to live here than in crowded city slums
Flooding and irrigation allow all- year cropping of rice and vegetables
Jute is a major crop and fish are plentiful
The price of living here can be high monsoon rains, cyclones and floods regularly
cause natural disasters.
Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan
until 1971) is an LEDC

Over 2/3 of the country is made up
of the Ganges Delta

The Ganges river is over 2500km
long, having its source in snowmelt
and rainfall in the Himalayan
mountains of North India

It flows eastwards and empties into
the Bay of Bengal after being joined
by the Brahmaputra and Meghna
rivers from the east.
CASE STUDY: BANGLADESH
STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3
lower course - the slow moving
Ganges river carries a large quantity
of fine silt as suspension load.
The rivers energy is used in
transporting it.
As it enters the Bay of Bengal the
velocity of the river decreases and
deposition takes place.
The heaviest material is deposited
first and builds up to form island.
Over time, more sediment is
deposited as the waves are to
weak to remove it quickly.
The river channel becomes
blocked by the silt. More flooding
also takes place. The river finds its
way to the sea by winding itself
around the islands. These
channels are distributaries.
Swamps and brackish water are
found here.
The sediment
continues to be
added to the delta.
Islands of dry land
emerge and
vegetation grows.
The delta is
continually moved
by currents and
floods.
Sub tropical monsoon climate
Average temperatures range from 10oC in January to 35oC in August
The monsoon rainfall adds to the water flowing in the rivers
If the monsoon rains fall when the rivers are full and summer high tides up to
6m are present in the Bay of Bengal, disastrous floods occur
The situation can be exacerbated (made worse) by tropical cyclones between
May and November
TASK:
1)Draw a bar graph to show the distribution of rainfall in
Dhaka. Identify the dry and wet seasons on your graph

2) Describe the distribution of rainfall. Refer to data and
months.

3) For Bangladesh to suffer from a disastrous flood, what
factrs need to occur at the same time? Which months
pose the highest risk? Why?
Name the river landform shown in this aerial photograph.
What else can you identify?
How can you tell that this is not the upper course of a river?
Techniques interpreting aerial photographs
Examination question
A
B
C
Study the photograph below:
Name the 3 features labelled A, B and C (3)
Choose one of the features and explain its formation. You may
use diagrams to help you.(6)
THE DRAINAGE BASIN AS A SYSTEM
TASK 1:
Place the following words in the
appropriate places on your
diagram:

River channel
Surface run off/ Overland flow
Soil Moisture
Infiltration
Precipitation
Throughflow
Surface storage
Transpiration
Groundwater
Interception
Groundwater flow
Percolation
Evaporation
THE DRAINAGE BASIN AS A SYSTEM
TASK 2: Looking at the drainage basin system,
explain why people replacing their front lawns
with paved driveways have increased the risk
of flooding in urban areas.
FLOOD HYDROGRAPHS
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
RIVERS HAZARDS & OPPORTUNITIES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Demonstrate an understanding that rivers present hazards
For a named flood outline the:
- Causes
- Impacts
- Solutions

Recognise that rivers offer opportunities for human activities
i.e. why do people continue to live in flood prone areas

CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
USEFUL WEBLINKS
http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/Alevel/AQA/Year%2012/Rivers,%20Floods/Flooding/Ban
gladesh.htm
http://www.ffwc.gov.bd/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6935745.stm
http://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/IGCSE+Rivers+and+GCSE+Rivers


CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
CAUSES OF FLOODING
Past paper question Nov 2008
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
CAUSES OF FLOODING
NATURAL CAUSES
1) Onshore winds and monsoon rains between May and September (up to 1m
rainfall in a day), most places receive between 1800- 2600mm per year (the
average for London is 600mm). Plus most of this rain is concentrated within 5
months
2) The period of heavy rain coincides with the highest temperatures, therefore
when snowmelt from the Himalayas is also being added to the rivers
headwaters, increasing river discharge
3) Bangladesh lies 10oN of the equator, in the path of tropical cyclones
4) Bangladesh is a river basin for 3 rivers, 1.7 million square kilometers (x12 the
size of the country stretching from Pakistan, China and Butan. Bangladesh is
essentially a sand and silt floodplain
5) Flat and low lying, over 50% of the country is below 6m above sea level,
therefore when the rivers do overflow the water can travel over large distances

CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
CAUSES OF FLOODING
HUMAN CAUSES
Overpopulation means people are forced to live on marginal areas of land at
greater risk of flooding (in 1971 75 million people lived in 140 square
kilometres, today the population is 154mn)
The increased population puts more pressure on resources, there is a greater
need for wood for fuel, this leads to deforestation (decreased interception,
increased rates of surface run off) and increasing the risk of flash floods
Irrigation and increased farming (ploughing) in Nepal has lead to silting up of
the rivers, raising the river beds (agridation), adding soil to the river decreases
the discharge capacity and leads to more frequent overtopping of the river
banks
Urbanisation and urban growth = more hard surfaces = greater surface run off.
Plus poor infrastructure and planning means the river water cannot be drained
away efficiently or quickly
Climate change has resulted in glacier melt in the Himalayas (300 m in 20 years)
adding water to the Ganges and increasing sea levels (they are predicted to rise
1m in the next century) making tidal surges more likely
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
IMPACT OF FLOODING
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
IMPACT OF FLOODING
1998 flood
68% of the country was flooded for 70 days
Destruction of crops and basic
infrastructural features such as roads and
bridges
1,000 people died
Destroyed 7 million homes
Left more than 25 million people homeless
Ruining crops = lack of food, income
Food shortages and malnutrition
Floodwater polluted water supplies leading
to disease (cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea)
No safe drinking water
Dhaka airport under 2m water making
delivering overseas aid (food and medical
supplies) almost impossible
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF FLOODING
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF FLOODING
CASE STUDY: FLOODING, BANGLADESH
Why do people continue to live in areas prone to flooding?