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River
• Running water is the most important agent of
erosion on the continents and the stream valleys
Geological work of are the most common landforms.
River • Rivers flowing to the oceans drain about 68 % of
the Earth's land surface. The remainder of the
land either is covered by ice or drains to closed
Dr. Saurabh Singh basins.
Department of Geology
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University • River gradually mould the land by eroding away
Ayodhya-224001 the material in some place and depositing it in
India
other
• A river system consists of a main channel (trunk stream) and all of the
tributaries that flow into it or joining the trunk stream.
River system
• A RIVER SYSTEM CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE SUBSYSTEMS:
Tributarie • collecting system (branches) -- consisting of a network of tributaries
Distributaries Trunk stream s in the headwater region, collects and funnels water and sediment to
the main stream
• transporting system (trunk) -- the main trunk stream, which
functions as a channelway through which water and sediment move
from the collecting area toward the ocean. (Erosion and deposition
Headwat
also occur in a river's transporting system)
er
• dispersing system (roots) -- consists of a network of distributaries at
the mouth of a river (delta), where sediment and water are dispersed
into an ocean, a lake, or a dry basin
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Parts of River Drainage Pattern
• tributary : a stream flowing into or joining a larger stream Dendritic • Irregular branching pattern (tree like) in many
direction.
• distributary : numerous stream branches into which a river divides where
it reaches its delta • It is common in massive rocks and in flat lying
strata
• upstream : moves toward headwater (up the regional slope of erosion)
• Due to strong resistance of rocks headward
• downstream : moves toward mouth of river (delta)
development of valley is negligible.
• Delta : a large, roughly triangular body of sediment deposited at the mouth
of a river Parallel • Parallel or sub-parallel drainage formed on sloping
surface.
• Meander : a broad, looping bend in a river
• Common in terrain with homogeneous rocks.
• Braided : river is divided into multiple channels by alluvial islands. Braided
• Development of parallel rills, gullies or narrow
rivers tend to have steeper gradients
channels are commonly seen on gently sloping surface
A Drainage Basin. A drainage divide separates the drainage basin and its watershed
from other basins.
Drainage Pattern Drainage Pattern
• Streams radiates out from the center
of the topographic high
• common in Volcanic terrain
• Channels marked by right-angle
bends
• Commonly due to presence of joints
and fractures in the massive rocks or
foliation in metamorphic rocks
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The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
The erosional work of streams/rivers carves A. Erosion
and shapes the landscape through which •A river may erode in 4 ways
they flow.
[Link]/corrasion
3 functions of rivers
Load carried by a river will grind against its
a. Erosion bed and sides.
b. Transportation This process slowly wears the bed and sides
c. Deposition away.
The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
A. Erosion
3. Hydraulic action
A. Erosion
The work of turbulence in the water.
2. Attrition
Running water causes friction in the joints of
When thrown against the sides and bed of
rocks in a stream channel
rivers, the load gets broken into smaller
pieces. Joints may be enlarged
Loosened fragments of rocks get swept away.
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The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
B. Transportation (4 ways)
A. Erosion
4. Solution
Certain minerals in rocks like limestone can
be dissolved in water.
Rocks are then eroded.
The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
B. Transportation (4 ways) B. Transportation (4 ways)
2. Saltation (saltim: by leaps/jumps)
[Link]
Smaller and lighter rock fragments and sand
Larger and heavier rocks/gravels are dragged or hop and bounce along the river bed.
rolled along the bed.
At times, the distinction between traction and
saltation may be difficult to determine.
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The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
B. Transportation (4 ways) B. Transportation (4 ways)
3. Suspension 4. Solution
Some of the load like silt and clay (fine- Some minerals are transported in dissolved
grained) will float along. form.
They may only be deposited when stream Especially chemical solution derived from
velocity reaches near 0. minerals like limestone or dolomite.
Turbulence in the water is crucial in holding a
load of sediments.
The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
C. Deposition C. Deposition
A river will drop its load when: A river’s volume decreases when
a. Volume decreases • Dry season
b. Speed decreases • Dry region with high evaporation
• Presence of permeable rocks
• Receding flood waters
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The Work of Rivers The Work of Rivers
C. Deposition The work of a river depends on its energy
A river’s speed decreases when Energy a function of
• It enters a lake a. Volume of water
• It enters a calm sea b. Speed of water flow (dependent on gradient)
• It enters a gently sloping plain
Mathematical Expression
• Discharge= Velocity × Channel cross-section area
• Transporting Power ∝ V6
• K=mV2/2
K= Kinetic energy of river
m= mass of water or discharge
V= velocity of river
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Meandering Stream Profile. Aerial view and cross sections of a meandering stream, Longitudinal Profile of River
showing the location of maximum flow velocity, point bar deposits, and areas of
undercut bank erosion.
An ideal longitudinal profile. Idealized cross section of the longitudinal profile of a
stream, showing its gradient. Upstream segments have a steeper gradient;
downstream, the gradient is gentler. The middle and lower portions in the illustration
appear graded, or in dynamic equilibrium.
Erosional Features Pothole
1. Pot-holes
2. Water falls
3. River valleys • pothole is a smooth, bowl-shaped or cylindrical hollow,
generally deeper than wide, found carved into the rocky bed of
a) Valley-deepening a watercourse.
b) Valley-widening
c) Valley-lengthening
4. Escarpments
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A nickpoint is created by resistant
Water falls rock strata, accelerating erosion.
• A waterfall is a river or other body of water's steep fall over a
rocky ledge into a plunge pool below. Waterfalls are also called
cascades.
Rapid: There are water falls of small dimensions.
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River valleys
• The channels carved out by the flow of running water are
commonly known as river-valley.
• Valleys are generally narrow and deep, especially in areas
where they are cut into unfractured rocks with lithologic
properties that resist erosion (most igneous rocks, well-
indurated sedimentary rocks such as quartzites, and high-rank,
silica-rich metamorphic rocks). Shape of valleys
River valleys
Gorges or Canyons
(a). Valley-deepening
A gorge is a narrow valley with
• River-bed undergoes down-cutting: Narrow but
deep valley. steep, rocky walls located
between hills or mountains.
• Gorges or Canyons The term comes from the
French word gorge, which
means throat or neck. A gorge
is often smaller than a canyon,
although both words are used
to describe deep, narrow
valleys with a stream or river
running along their bottom.
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River valleys River valleys
(b). Valley-widening (c). Valley-lengthening
• Gradual reduction in the channel gradient of • Lengthening of river-valley is usually achieved
river erosive power of the river to by the process of headward erosion, where the
cut downwards becomes less. long profile of the river develops from the
• River starts cutting sideways. base-level towards its sources.
• Through increase in the size of their
meanders.
River Piracy or Stream capture
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Escarpments Hogbacks
• These are erosional land forms produced by rivers
in regions composed of alternating beds of hard • These are sharp created
and soft rocks. The differential erosion of rocks often sawtooth ridge
give rise to a steep slope, called escarpments. formed of the upturned
edge of a resistant rock
• There is a number of similar erosional features: layer of sand-stone,
a) Hogbacks limestone or lava.
Escarpment
b) Cuestas Gentle slope • Beds dip at a high
(Scarp Face)
c) Mesa angle, roughly in excess
Inclined bed of 45 degree.
d) Butte (Hard)
Cuestas Mesa and Butte
• These erosional landforms
are developed on resistant
strata having low to
moderate dip. This has the
shape of an asymmetric low
ridge or hill belt with a
steep scarp on one side and
a gentle slope on the other.
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Depositional Features
Depositional Features
(1)Alluvial fans
1. Alluvial fans • Alluvial fans are fan-
shaped deposits of
2. Flood plain deposits water-transported
material (alluvium).
a) Meanders and oxbow lake • They typically form at
b) Natural levees the base of topographic
features where there is a
3. Braided River marked break in slope.
• Consequently, alluvial
4. Delta fans tend to be coarse-
grained, especially at
their mouths. At their
edges, however, they can
be relatively fine-
grained.
Depositional Features A Floodplain. A typical floodplain landscape and related
(1)Alluvial fans landscape features.
Alluvial Fan
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Meandering Pattern Young stream Vegetation on levee
Oxbow lakes Levees
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Braided Channel
• Braided Rivers exhibit numerous channels that split
off and rejoin each other to give a braided
appearance. They typically carry coarse-grained
sediment down a steep gradient.
• In contrast to braided rivers, meandering rivers
typically contain one channel that winds its way
across the floodplain. As it flows, it deposits • Deltas form wherever rivers encounter standing bodies of
sediment on banks that lie on the insides of curves water such as lakes or oceans.
(point bar deposits), and erode the banks on the
outside of curves.