BASIN
River badin or drainage basin is the area drained by the river
and it's tributaries or network of streams.
Boundary of a drainage basin is called watershed or water chain
or water divide.. In each basin , there is amain river which is the
consequent stream. The tributaries of the consequent stream
are called subsequent streams. The junction of two rivers is the
CONFLUENCE.
~ the starting point of rivers is called the source . The. river
source can be a springs, from which water issues from the
ground.
~ river source can be water flowing from the lake or swampy
area. Source can be melting ice
~the point where the river ends or discharges it's water is called
the MOUTH 👄 👄 👄 👄
~ The route followed by the river from it's source to the mouth
is the COURSE
TYPES OF RIVER FLOWS
1. Laminar flow is the horizontal smooth flow of water over a
smooth river bed
2. Turbulent flow is both horizontal and vertical flow of water in
a river creating eddies.
3. Helicoidal flow is the corkscrew motion of water in a river
involving lateral rotations.
TYPES OF STREAMS
1. Ephemeral streams flow during and immediately after a
storm and quickly ceases it's flow.
2. Seasonal streams involves the flow of the river during the
rain season. It is geomophologically called intermittent streams
3. Perennial streams or permanent streams flow through out
the year eg Zambezi, Limpopo rivers. The streams are
recharged geomophologically during winter season through
baseflow or groundwater flow
4. Exogenous rivers have their sources from outside the
country e Zambezi river originates in Democratic Republic of
Congo, DRC.
Zambezi river passes through Angola, Zambia, Botswana,
Zimbabwe and through Mozambique and discharges it's
discharge into Indian Ocean
River discharge is the volume of water in river originating as
precipitation. Discharge is calculated by dividing Cross Sectional
Area by velocity. Discharge is measured in m3/s
River velocity is the speed at which discharge flows in a river
and is measured in m/s
River load is the solid, solute material transported by the river
eg clay, silt, sand, gravel, cobbles, pebbles, boulders, logs,
twigs, leaves
River bed is the floor of the river channel. River banks are the
sides of the river channel
River width is the distance between two banks.
RIVER TRANSPORTATION AL PROCESSES
SUSPENSION is the transportation of characteristically light ,
fine and floating material ffreed from the banks and their
excursion is indefinite
SOLUTION is the transportation of dissolvable load eg limestone
dissolves in water to form calcium bicarbonate . The water
turns characteristically milky
SALTATION involves the transportation of pebbles into leaps
and jumps along the bed.
TRACTION involves the dragging or rolling of boulders along the
bed after being hit by saltating load.
Diagrams on transportation
Importance of rivers
~ rivers are tourist attractions bringing itin foreign currency
~ rivers provide fish resource
~ rivers provide irrigation water
~ rivers provide recreational facilities
~ rivers generate hydroelectricity
~ rivers are used as transport mode
~ rivers are boundaries between countries
RIVER EROSION
~ is the wearing away of the river banks and bed through the
following means
1. Vertical erosion is the downcutting of a river channel thereby
deepening the channel
2. Lateral erosion involves the wearing away of the river banks
thereby increasing it's width
3. Headward erosion is the backward wearing of the river
source thereby lengthening the channel
EROSIONAL PROCESSES
~ 1 . CORRASION or ABRASION involves the scrapping off of the
channel banks and bed materials by solid materials that are
swirled around by the water current to form potholes
2. CORROSION or SOLUTION involves the action of carbonic
acids in dissolving limestone banks and bed
3. HYDRAULIC ACTION involves the sheer force of water hitting
the banks entering the cracks and dislodging and scooping the
unconsolidated materials.
4. ATTRITION involves solid materials carried by the river hitting
against each other and break into smaller particles
FEATURES RESULTING FROM RIVER EROSION
1. POTHOLES are characteristically circular holes bored into
solid rock by pebbles and stones carried by the river. The rough
bed encourages turbulent flow where stones are caught up and
used to drill holes in the channel bed.
2. INTERLOCKING SPURS develop since the discharge in the
upper reaches is small, streams avoid obstacles and follow
areas of weakest resistance. River course twist and turn
resulting in interlocking spurs
Conditions required for interlocking spurs development
~ characteristically fast flowing water
~ little discharge
~occurrence of resistant areas
3. GORGE
are river valleys bounded by more or less vertically upstanding
walls due to downcutting. Gorges are due to rejuvenation
which is the vertical downcutting of the river channel.
Conditions required for gorges development
~ vertical erosion in areas of uplift
~ upstream retreat of a waterfall
~ collapse f underground limestone caves
~ downcutting of the predator or victor stream in river capture
4. RAPIDS & WATERFALLS
~ occur where there is a drop in the river course or channel.
Waterfalls represent a higher fall than rapids. Cataracts are
numerous rapids occurring in a given stretch of a river.
~ waterfalls occur when hard rocks lie horizontally over soft
rocks which are eroded by the river causing river to lose contact
with the surface and water falls. At the bottom of waterfalls,
CORRASION occurs causing the development of a depression
called plunge pool
~ water falls occur where hard rock lie vertically or is inclined
5. CLIFFS occur due to a fast flowing water on the outside river bank and
deposition on the inside bank. On the outside bank , velocity is high and friction is
low causing active erosion to form a cliff.
~ the eroded material is deposited on the inside bank where river velocity is low
and friction is high to form a slip off slope.
Diagrams below each feature
DEPOSITION is the dropping off of the river load due to reduced velocity, reduced
energy and reduced gradient
~ deposition occurs when the river receives an oversupply of sediment load from
tributaries , it becomes choked
~ deposition occurs when the river enters the sea. An electric charge is formed
when freshwater from the river meets salt water from the sea causing clay
particles to coagulate in the process of flocculation.
DEPOSITIONAL FEATURES
1. Braiding or braided channel forms when the river is unable to move all it's
sediments . The river is choked after an oversupply of sediment load causing the
channel to subdivide into smaller channels that continuously join and separate.
Diagram
2 LEVEES are raised river banks formed due to water over spilling the channel
banks and deposits large particles.
On the adjacent flat area , a thin layer of alluvial are deposited to form FLOOD
PLAINS [ 3 ]
4 DEFERRED TRIBUTARIES form when rivers are forced to abandon the initial
confluence by the deposited material and find another junction downstream
5. DELTA is a depositional features formed at the river mouth due to river
freshwater meeting salty sea water.
CONDITIONS FOR DELTA DEVELOPMENT
~ river carries a large load and is slow enough to drop the load @ the mouth
~ weak sea currents so that deposited load is not removed
~ Sea tides occur after a lengthy intervals of deposition
~ clay particles thicken or coagulate when they mix and react with seawater and
settle onto the bed in the process flocculation
TYPES OF DELTA
~ 1 Arctuate delta is characteristically triangular shaped with arc- shaped
shoreline. Delta has many and short distributaries eg Nile delta
Diagram
2. Estuarine delta is a single channel with braids eg Zambezi river Delta
Diagram
3. Bird's foot delta has few and long distributaries of fine materials. Form due to
weaker tides eg Mississippi river in the USA. Distributaries project into the sea
protected by LEVEES
Diagram
4. Cuspate delta is characteristically like a pointed tooth and has limited
distributaries in coast with moderate currents
Diagram
Importance of deltas
~ deltas are tourists attractions bringing in foreign currency
~ delta have rich fertile soils for cropping
~ mineral oil discovery
~ delta vegetation reduces flooding of coastal areas
Challenges of living near deltas
~ water borne diseases
~ challenge of drowning
~ habitat for wild animals eg crocodiles, 🦛 🦛 🦛 🦛 hippopotamus, snakes
OXBOW LAKES
are due to erosion and deposition processes occurring on the concave or outside
bend and convex or inside bend respectively.
~ Erosion causes the neck of the meanders to be eroded to form a cliff
~ deposition on the inside bend leads to the development of slip off slope
~ Due to the narrowing of the neck of the meander creating cliffs
~ river bypasses the meander abandoning it to form an ox bow lake
JUNE 2013
1a Draw a cross section of P and Q
Cliff and slip off slope are shown on P and Q respectively
Diagram
ii. Deposition occurs due to
~ reduced volume of water
~ reduced river velocity
~ reduced river channel gradient
~ river getting into the sea
Iii. Changes likely to occur on a meandered river
~ narrowing of the meander necks due to erosion
~ development of an oxbow lake
~ development of cliffs
~ more deposition on the inside bend
~ more deposition in oxbow lake
~ colonization of OXBOW lake by plants
drying up if oxbow lake
~ straightening of cliffs
~ straightening of channel
~ migration of channel
b. Human activities reducing the usefulness of rivers
~ pollution by throwing industrial wastes into rivers
~ damming deprives downstream discharge and sediment
~ eutrophication in rivers due to fertilizers accumulation in rivers
~® deforestation leads to siltation
~ gold panning leads to water pollution
~ industries release gases which lead to acid rain