Rivers
Learning Outcomes:
Hydrologic cycle within
rivers and drainage basin
The works of a river in
eroding, transporting and
depositing
Grade 7
Evaporation : The change of water from a liquid to
a gas (water vapour) due to heat from the sun
Condensation : When water cools and changes
from water vapour into a liquid (water droplets),
forming clouds
Transpiration : When plants release water vapour
from their leaves
Evapotranspiration : The combined transfer of
water vapour from the Earth's surface and plants
Precipitation : The transfer of water from the
atmosphere to the Earth's surface in the form of
hail, sleet, snow or rain
interception : is how precipitation is prevented
from reaching the ground, usually by being caught
on leaves or branches
Overland flow : Any water flowing across the
Earth's surface
Infiltration : When water moves down from the
surface into the soil
Percolation : The transfer of water down into
rocks and aquifers
Through flow : The movement of water through
the soil between the groundwater store (water
table) and the surface
Groundwater flow : The flow of water through rock
Aquifers : are permeable rocks such as limestone
and sandstone which can hold water
Drainage basin is a catchment area where
precipitation drains downhill into a river, lake, or
ocean via tributaries, forming an open hydrological
system.
Drainage basin features
Watershed : This is the boundary between
drainage basins
Source : The furthest point from the mouth
where the river starts can be an upland lake,
spring or glacier
Confluence : The place where two or more
streams/rivers meet
Tributary : A stream or river flowing into a larger
stream or river
Mouth : Where the rivers enter the sea/ocean or
sometimes a lake
Erosion is the wearing down of surfaces
There are four erosion processes that
change the shape of the river channel:
Hydraulic action : The force of the
water, which removes material from
the bed and banks of the river
Abrasion : When the materials carried
by the river scrape away the banks
and bed
Attrition : When the material being
carried by the river hits each other,
the pieces become rounder and
smaller
Corrosion (solution) : When rocks are
dissolved in slightly acidic water
When rocks are dissolved in slightly
acidic water
Transportation
There are four processes of
transportation:
Traction : Occurs when larger
rocks and materials are rolled
along the riverbed
Saltation : Smaller material,
which can be lifted by the
water, bounces along the
riverbed
Suspension : Lighter material
carried within the river flow
Solution : When materials are
dissolved in the river water
Deposition
Deposition : When a river does not have enough energy to
carry materials, it drops them
The causes of reduced energy include:
Reduced discharge due to a lack of precipitation or
abstraction upstream
Decreased gradient
Slower flow on the inside of a river bend or where the
river is shallower
When the river enters a sea, ocean or lake
The heaviest material is deposited first; this is known as the
bedload
The lighter materials, gravel, sand and silt, are known as
alluvium and they are carried further downstream
The dissolved materials are carried out to sea
Thank
You