Geography Landforms Unit 1 Rivers

?

Examples to use: Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon

Waterfalls form where, at a height, there are layers of hard rock covering soft rock. An example of a waterfall is the Niagara Falls in Canada. A plunge pool is formed when a waterfall is being created. A plunge pool is created when the less resistant rock is eroded into an inside curve by abrasion and hydraulic action under the hard rock layer. The hard rock becomes an overhang and then collapses due to the pressure on it to stay upright without any support underneath it. The waterfall takes a new shape and forms a gauge.

V shaped valleys are formed when the water in a small river cannot travel side to side easily. This forces it do use vertical erosion to travel. This creates a dip in rock or land so the edges are exposed to weathering and are eroded quickly. After this, a v shape is shown by the rivers shape. This usually takes place in the upper course of a river.

Interlocking Spurs are formed when the river is surrounded by hard rock which it cannot erode. This forces it to travel in curves around the hard rock in order to keep the same amount of water in the channel. This usually takes place in the upper course of a river.

Meanders are formed when more water is added to the channel, enabling it to erode the banks (lateral erosion). However, this means that one side will be eroded more than the other when the river continues to bends. When these bends (meanders) become too big and separate from the main river itself, they turn into ox bow lakes and the water just flows around in one circle. This could possibly go on to forming a meander and so on. These are normally found in the middle course of the river when the tributaries all join the river or in the start of the lower course.

Floodplains are formed when the river channel can't

Comments

No comments have yet been made