Geography River Landscapes

Rivers

Rivers are naturally made bodies of water that flow from a source to a mouth (a river mouth at the edge of an ocean).

Rivers are formed through various different ways, with the main ones being erosion and hydraulic action.

Rivers can have distinct features about them. These are:

V-shaped valleys -  A valley in the river where it forms a v shape.

Ox box lakes - Lakes which have previously been connected to a river, but have since been eroded off.

Meanders - Essentially an ox bow lake before it has fully eroded. It is a bend in the river.

Waterfalls - Where water erodes a soft rock at the edge of a cliff, before eventually falling as a waterfall.

Levees - Natural embankments of silt deposited on the side of a river.

The Course of a River:

StageMain activityMain features Upper course (steep gradient) Vertical (downward) erosion Source, tributaries, V-shaped valley, interlocking spurs, waterfalls, rapids, gorges Middle course (gentle gradient) Lateral (sideways) erosion starts, transportation River beaches (slip-off slopes), meanders, river cliffs Lower course (very low gradient) Deposition Floodplains, oxbow lakes, levées, delta, estuary

River Processes:

Erosion - The wearing away of the river.

Transport - Transporting rocks and other things found in the river to the source.

Deposition - When a river dumps rocks and other things on its banks.

Types of Erosion:

There are 4 different types of erosion:

Corrasion (The main one) when rocks hit rapidly against the side and…