The larger the amount of turbulence and velocity the more particles that can be picked up. It is larger than suspended sediment load. The next type of erosion is corrasion1. There are three main processes a river does to shape the landscape: erosion, transportation and deposition. 3. The critical erosion velocity curve shows the minimum velocity needed to for the river to erode (pick up) and transport material of different sizes (e.g. Author: Created by occold25. The intensity of lateral and vertical erosion is dictated by the stage in the river’s course, discussed in more detail here but essentially, in the upper stage of the river’s course (close to the source of the river) there is little horizontal erosion and lots of vertical erosion. Attrition - where stones in transport are thrown into one another. Students complete a range of activities to help them understand how these processes work along a rivers course. Along the main river, there are many other smaller rivers which join it called Tributaries. Have an idea for this article? This happens when a river loses energy. An example would be on the inside of a river bend where the slow moving water has little energy and deposits the load. There are several different ways that a river erodes its bed and banks. River Processes . Please contribute it! •Erosion •Transportation •Deposition 2. Lateral erosion makes a river wider. All three depend on the amount of energy there is in a river. ↩, The acidity is caused by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolving into the water. Home Economics: Food and Nutrition (CCEA). (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Corrosion / Solution. Moving from the upper course to the lower course, the rates of erosion, transportation and deposition change. River Profiles. The video below shows transportation in a river in the form of traction, saltation and suspension. River Basins Rivers - Long Profile Landforms - Upper Course Landforms - Middle Course Landforms - Lower Course Processes - Erosion Processes - Transportation Processes - Deposition Discharge Flooding and management The Great Floods of 2000 Case Study - Ganges/Brahmaputra River Basin. Content: Diagrams and definitions of the key processes of erosion: Hydraulic action, attrition, abrasion, solution. Quick revise. A fully resourced lesson used for an observation lesson on river processes. Sediment in a river comes from a variety of sources. Attrition makes the particles of rock smaller. River Processes. Corrosion is highly effective if the rock type of the channel is chalk or limestone (anything containing calcium carbonate) otherwise, it doesn’t have much of an effect. Water, being ever so slightly acidic2, will react with certain rocks and dissolve them. There are many processes operating in different parts of rivers. ↩. This could happen because of a lack of precipitation or an increase in evaporation. It is a minor process except in areas of limestone. Find out about the characteristics of the drainage basing hydrological cycle. It will transport all but the largest of pebbles and will deposit boulders. This is where particles are dissolved into the water so only rocks that are soluble, such as limestone or chalk, can be transported in solution. Different processes create different river landforms. River processes 1. The boundary of the drainage basin is called the Watershed. Increased human use (abstraction) of a river could also reduce its discharge forcing it deposit its load. Can be either exogenetic or endogenetic, and moves by sliding, saltating, or rolling. Faster-flowing, turbulent rivers carry more suspended material. The sediment carried by a river scours the bed and banks. Rivers are dynamic systems and they have shaped the UK in many ways over thousands of years. Rivers have a lot of energy and because they have energy, they do stuff. River Processes. To transport load a river needs to have energy so when a river loses energy it is forced to deposit its load. A continual process, which is as a result of the chemical composition of the water. the outer bend of meaner, hydraulic action can remove material from the banks which may lead to undercutting and river bank collapse. Rivers begin in upland areas and flow downhill towards the sea. These are: (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Hydraulic action. • Saltation - the bouncing motion of larger particles along the river bed • Suspension - where small particles are held up or suspended in the water The long profile of a river is a cross-section from the source to the mouth. Solution is a special method of transportation. When discussing transportation you need to know the difference between the competence and capacity of a river. Water in a river, contains acids. Where velocity is high e.g. If you have found this site useful please support us keeping A Level Geography free by making a small, secure donation via Paypal towards to the running costs of the site. While you are here, please consider supporting A Level Geography. How important are water and carbon to life on Earth? Erosion is the wearing away of the land by moving forces - in this case the river. This occurs when river velocities slow within the channel, or when velocities slow over floodplains or when the river enters a sea or lake. This is because these particles are so fine that a river would have to be almost perfectly stationary in order for them to fall out of solution. Erosion, deposition and materials rivers carry all contribute to how rivers shape surrounding land. It is intended primarily for undergraduate students interested in fluvial studies as part of physical geography, earth sciences, environmental sciences and ecology courses. These join with the main river at a point called the Confluence. Most of a river’s load is transported by suspension. • Solution - where material is dissolved within the water The energy in a river causes erosion. Traction is when large materials such as boulders are rolled and pushed along the river bed by the force of the river. There are three main processes of transportation: Very small particles of clay and silt are carried in suspension. These are erosion, transportation and deposition. In times of highest discharge, velocity increases, as does erosion. Fine particles like clay and silt are transported in suspension, they are suspended in the water. These can be used to show annual discharge patters of flow in relation to climate. Pure water is neutral (and basically non-existent in nature). You may have heard this called abrasion. Transport is the movement of material, in this case by river water. Vertical erosion makes a river channel deeper. Solution is when dissolved material is carried by a river. The bed and banks can be eroded making it wider, deeper and longer. The area drained by the river and its tributaries is called the Drainage Basis. The water can erode the river’s channel and the river’s load. To do this, click here.*. Last updated on August 2, 2014. Cavitation is an interesting method of erosion. Changes occur in the cross profile, wetted…. Near waterfalls and rapids, the force may be strong enough to work on lines of weakness in joints and bedding planes until they are eroded. In the upper parts of rivers the water tend to erode vertically downwards into the river bed, whereas as we progress downstream this changes to lateral erosion, or a side to side erosion of the river valley. Slightly smaller particles, such as pebbles and gravel, are transported by saltation. River processes Erosion, transportation and deposition all occur in a river. This erosion happens near its source. 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