River Lemon- features

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Upper Course

  • River rises on Dartmoor, altitude of 400m- source on boggy marshland
  • Average rainfall of 2000mm/year there
  • several tributaries that contribute to the rivers discharge in the upper course- River Sig

Features observed

  • V-shaped valley- formed by weathering (wearing away of rocks due to the action of weather, plants, animals and chemical processes), mass movement and vertical erosion 
  • Gradient of the river channel- steep because of vertical erosion
  • Channel Shape and Size- narrow because of all 4 erosion processes
  • Sediment size- big- mass movement, transportation and deposition
  • Water velocity- quick- erosion and transportation 
  • small waterfalls- all erosional processes, geology and mass movement
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Middle Course

  • Altitude drops to 80m
  • Rivers discharge has increased from 2.68 cumecs to 3.68 cumecs as tributaries have joined
  • Bedload sizes decrease from 12cm to 8cm
  • Velocity is the fastest here as less friction than in the upper course 

Features:

  • Valley with a floodplain- lateral erosion, erosion, deposition and transportation
  • Slightly less steep gradient- erosion and deposition- vertical erosion no longer the dominent force
  • Channel Shape and Size- wider channel and is less deep- lateral more dominent than vertical
  • Sediment size smaller as more attrition 
  • Water velocity is quicker- erosion and deposition 
  • Meanders- erosion and deposition 
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Lower Course

  • River flows through the town of Newton Abbot
  • Channel is very heavily controlled by hard engineering- it flows underground through concrete pipes- this prevents flooding
  • It eventually flows into the Teign estuary- tidal mudflats which are exposed at low tide
  • Key process is deposition as velocity slows so energy lost- sediment is deposited at the mouth before entering the Sea at Lyme Bay
  • The gradient has flattened and velocity slows
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