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Geomorphology
3 (rivers and coasts)
The geomorphological processes of deposition and erosion create various
landforms.
l Deposition is the dumping of material/load by rivers, waves or glaciers.
l Erosion is the wearing away and removal of material/load by rivers, sea, ice
and wind.

3.1 Types of weathering

There are three main types of weathering: physical, chemical and biological.
There are two sorts of physical weathering: freeze-thaw and exfoliation.

Physical weathering: freeze-thaw

l This process starts when water seeps into cracks in the rock.
l At night, the temperature falls below 0 °C, the water freezes and, as ice,
expands.
l This forces the cracks open.
l The process happens again and again, and breaks up the rock.
l The loose rock is called scree.
Freeze-thaw is common in mountainous areas. Igneous rocks (granite) and
metamorphic rocks (marble) from uplands are prone to this type of weathering.

10°C –5°C 10°C

Water Ice expands Crack widens

Water
Crack

Pressure
Rock
Rock breaks up
Scree

Figure 3.1: Freeze-thaw weathering

Physical weathering: exfoliation

l This process happens when rocks are repeatedly subjected to heat and cold.
l Heat from the Sun makes the outer layer expand.
l The cold at night makes the outer layer contract.
l The outer layer of the rock then peels off.
l The loose rock is called scree.
This type of weathering is common in desert areas, which are hot in the day and
cool at night.

40˚C 0˚C 40˚C

Outside
layers
peel away
(scree)

Expands Contracts Expands

Figure 3.2: Exfoliation

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3 Geomorphology (rivers and coasts)

Biological weathering
l This process is caused by plants and animals.
l Burrowing animals break up the rocks.
l Plant seeds fall into cracks and germinate, breaking up the rocks.
l Tree roots grow into cracks in the rocks and then exert pressure on the
cracks as they grow, causing them to widen.

Chemical weathering
l This process is caused by rain, which contains carbonic acid.
l The acid in the rain attacks the rock, causing it to crumble.

Rainwater
with CH2O3

Acid rain

Sedimentary rock

Turns calcium carbonate

to calcium bicarbonate which
is soluble (joints attacked)

Rock joints enlarged

as rock is weathered
Figure 3.3: Chemical weathering

Sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and chalk, are particularly vulnerable to this
type of weathering. As the carbonic acid falls on limestone, it turns it into calcium
bicarbonate, which is soluble in water.
Limestone gravestones are commonly attacked and limestone pavements are
also vulnerable as the acid water can seep into the grykes (deep cracks) and
attack a large surface area.

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3.2 Features of the river basin

3.2 Features of the river basin

The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries is called the drainage or
river basin.
l The watershed is the edge of the river basin.
l The source is where the river starts.
l Tributaries are small streams or rivers that run into the main river channel.
l The confluence is the point where the tributary meets up with the main
channel.
l A meander is a bend in the river.
l An ox-bow lake is where a meander has been cut off and a small lake has
formed.
l The floodplain is the flat land in the lower course of the river, which is prone
to flooding.
l The estuary is a wide area near the mouth of the river where the sea (salt)
water mixes with fresh water, forming brackish water.
l The mouth is the point where the river reaches the sea.
l At this point, the river drops much of the load it has been carrying, which
sometimes forms a delta.

Source
Watershed

Confluence Tributaries

Meander
Floodplain
Ox-bow
lake

Estuary

Delta
Mouth

Figure 3.4: River basin

Revision tip
You could make flash cards to revise the features of a river basin. On one side write
the name of the feature and on the other side draw a memory picture to represent
the word.

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3 Geomorphology (rivers and coasts)

3.3 River processes

Three processes occur as a river flows from its source to its mouth. These are
erosion, transportation and deposition. There are four types of erosion and four
types of transportation.

Erosion
As the river moves through the river basin, it alters the landscape due to the
wearing away and removal of land caused by the following processes:
l Attrition occurs when particles of load collide and knock pieces off each other.
l Abrasion occurs when smaller material rubs against the bed and banks of the
river.
l Corrosion occurs when acid in the water dissolves particles of rock from the
bed and banks of the river.
l Hydraulic action is the sheer force of the water and air forcing itself into the
soil and moving away parts of the bed and banks of the river.

Transportation
Once the material (known as load) has been eroded, it is then carried along the
river by the following processes:
a Traction is the rolling of stones along the river bed.
b Saltation is the movement of particles ‘leap-frogging’ along the river bed.
c Suspension is the movement of material that is carried within the water flow.
d Solution is the movement of material that is dissolved in the water.
(Sometimes the process of carrying material, such as twigs, on top of the water is
called flotation.)

Flotation

Suspension

Traction
Saltation 4
3
Solution

River bed 2
1

Figure 3.5: Transportation

Deposition
When the river slows down, the load is ‘dumped’. This is known as deposition.
Large boulders are deposited first and fine sediment last.

Revision tip
The types of transportation and erosion can really easily be represented by hand
gestures. You could decide with your friends what gesture should represent each
process. For example, attrition could be your two fists tapping each other (each fist
represents a piece of load); abrasion could be one fist tapping a flat hand (the fist
represents a piece of load and the flat hand represents the bank). Once you have
decided on all the gestures, you could test each other.

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3.4 Features of the upper course

3.4 Features of the upper course

V-shaped valleys and waterfalls are the main features of the upper course of
a river.

V-shaped valley
This is a feature of erosion. It occurs when the river erodes downwards into the
land by abrasion and hydraulic action. This is called vertical erosion. The valley
sides are then shaped by the weather, plants and animals (weathering).

1 2 3
Slope transport
Vertical erosion Valley sides are (weakened material V-shaped valley is formed
weathered washed into the river)

Figure 3.6: V-shaped valley formation

Waterfall
This is a feature of erosion. It occurs when a river flowing over hard rock meets a
band of softer, less resistant rock.
l Hydraulic action and abrasion erode the softer rock, forming a ‘step’ in the
river$bed.
l The softer rock is undercut and the hard rock is left as an overhang. A plunge
pool is formed at the base of the waterfall; this plunge pool is deepened by
hydraulic action, corrosion and abrasion as the pebbles erode its base.
l The overhang eventually collapses and, in this way, the waterfall retreats
towards the source of the river.
l As the erosion continues, a gorge is formed, which is a steep-sided valley.

1 2 3 4 Previous positions of waterfall

Overhang

HARD HARD HARD

SOFT Plunge SOFT SOFT

pool Hard rock
Hard rock collapses;
is undercut position of falls
Hydraulic action moves back Plunge
and abrasion Erosion continues
Abrasion in pool
erode soft rock upstream leaving
the plunge pool from eroded
falling overhang material a gorge deeper

Figure 3.7: Waterfall formation

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3 Geomorphology (rivers and coasts)

3.5 Features of the lower course

Meanders, ox-bow lakes, deltas and floodplains are the main features of the lower
course of a river.

Meanders
This is a feature of erosion and deposition. The river is dynamic – it is constantly
changing its shape and therefore has a lot of meanders (bends) in it. These
meanders are formed by lateral (sideways) erosion.
A Outside of a meander B Inside of a meander
l river cliff l river beach / slip-off slope
l fast velocity (*= fastest flow (thalweg)) l slow velocity
l erosion (hydraulic action and abrasion) l deposition
l deeper water l shallow water

Slow Fast

A River cliff B A B
Slow
Fast
River beach
Faster velocity of water on Slower velocity of water on
outside of meander causes inside of meander means
lateral erosion (abrasion, load is deposited, to form
corrosion and hydraulic action) a slip-off slope Fastest flow (thalweg)
Silt
Figure 3.8: Meander formation

Ox-bow lake
This is a feature of erosion and deposition. It occurs where the horseshoe-shaped
meander becomes tighter, until the ends become very close together and join to
form a separate lake.
a The outsides of two meanders are eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion.
b The river becomes more sinuous (has more curves and turns). This results in
a narrow neck of land remaining between the two river cliffs.
c Eventually, perhaps during a flood, the narrow neck of land is eroded away
and the water takes the more direct straight route downstream.
d Deposition occurs and eventually the old meander loop is separated from the
river and forms an ox-bow lake.
Evaporation will usually cause the lake to become dry eventually.

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3.5 Features of the lower course

1 2

hydraulic
action and
abrasion meander
neck
narrows

3 4

deposition
eventually
cuts the
river breaks meander off
through neck, from the river
perhaps during to form an
a flood ox-bow lake

Key
erosion
deposition
fastest flow (thalweg)

Figure 3.9: Ox-bow lake formation

Deltas
This is a feature of deposition. Examples are the Nile Delta and the Mississippi Delta.
l As large rivers approach the sea, they carry a large amount of load (material)
in suspension.
l The speed (velocity) of the river is reduced as it reaches the more powerful
sea, so it has less energy and deposits its load to form new land.
l The coarser material is deposited first (in topset beds), the medium-sized silt
(in foreset beds) and then the finer material (in bottomset beds).
l With time, more and more sand and silt are deposited.
l The river divides into channels called distributaries which flow round the
deposits of new land.
River Build-up of
Land sand, silt and
clay to form
Coarse silt delta (new land)
Sea (topset beds)
Land
Fast-flowing river
carrying lots of silt

River slows down

and deposits silt
Medium sized silt
(foreset beds)
Fine silt
(bottomset beds) Distributaries

Figure 3.10: River delta formation

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3 Geomorphology (rivers and coasts)

Floodplain
This is a feature of deposition. It occurs when a river floods and deposits
its load.
l As the water spills out of its channel, friction increases, the water velocity
decreases and deposition occurs.
l The larger pieces of load are deposited first, often forming natural levees
near the channel.
l Finer sediment is transported further away from the channel.
l The flat land onto which flood water flows is known as the floodplain.

As the river floods, the water velocity

reduces due to increased friction and Least velocity, therefore
therefore deposition occurs finest silt deposited
Levee Levee
Channel

Key
Alluvium/silt Alluvium/silt Coarse silt
Medium-sized silt
Fine silt
Flood water

Figure 3.11: Floodplain