Unit 5: Sediment Transportation

5.1 Introduction

Streams alter the Earth’s landscape through the movement of water and sediment. Streams
are powerful erosive agents moving material from their bed and banks. In mountainous
regions, stream erosion often produces deep channels and canyons. Streams also deposit vast
amounts of sediment on the terrestrial landscape and within lakes and ocean basins. In this
Unit, you will learn about the way streams are organized in drainage networks, the
mechanics of channel flow and the landforms that result from these fluvial processes.

5.2 Objectives
By the end of this Unit, you should be able to:
(a) Describe the river processes of erosion, transportation and deposition.

(b)Explain different fluvial processes taking place in a river.

(c) Describe the different landforms created by river action

(d)Explain different drainage basin concepts

(e) Describe stream morphology and stream systems

5.3 River erosion, transport and deposition

Rivers erode and transport sediments and finally deposit them. In this section, you will learn
about these three processes.

Erosion

Erosion is an important process by which a river shapes its channel. How does it occur?

Definition of erosion

Erosion is defined as the removal of soil, sediment, regolith, and rock fragments from the
landscape. It is responsible for the creation of hills and valleys. Erosion requires a medium
to move material. Wind, water, and ice are the mediums primarily responsible for erosion.
Finally, the process of erosion stops when the transported particles fall out of the
transporting medium and settle on a surface. This process is called deposition.

Energy for Erosion

The energy for erosion comes from several sources:

• Gravity, which is the result of relief, acts to vertically move materials of higher
relief to lower elevations to produce an equilibrium. Gravity also acts on the mediums
of erosion to cause them to flow to base level.
• Solar radiation is another source of energy for erosion. The kinetic energy in
rainwater and the potential energy in snow can be converted into the energy of motion
to cause the water and snow to move. Likewise, the motion of air because of
differences in atmospheric pressure can erode surface material when velocities are high
enough to cause particle entrainment.

The energy sequence

In order for erosion to occur, three processes must take place: detachment, entrainment and
transport.

Detachment

Erosion begins with the detachment. This is the removal of a particle from surrounding
material. Sometimes detachment requires the breaking of bonds which hold particles
together. The agents of erosion can also exert their own forces of detachment upon the
surface rocks and soil through the following mechanisms:

• Plucking: ice freezes onto the surface, particularly in cracks and crevices, and
pulls fragments out from the surface of the rock.

• Cavitation: intense erosion due to the surface collapse of air bubbles found in
rapid flows of water like in high waterfalls.
 • Raindrop impact: the force of a raindrop falling onto a soil or weathered rock
surface is often sufficient to break weaker particle bonds.

• Abrasion: the excavation of surface particles by material carried by the erosion

agent. The effectiveness of this process is related to the velocity of the moving
particles, their mass, and their concentration at the eroding surface.

Entrainment

Entrainment is the process of particle lifting by the agent of erosion. In order for entrainment
to take place, two forces have to be overcome:

• Frictional resistance This is the most important force to be overcome. It develops

from the interaction between the particle and its surroundings.
• Cohesive bonds resistance This is the resistance that occurs because of particle
cohesive bonds. These bonds have to be weakened by weathering or forces created
by the erosion agent.

Entrainment Forces

The main force responsible for entrainment is fluid drag. The strength of fluid drag varies
with the mass of the eroding medium (water is 9000 times more dense than air) and its
velocity. Fluid drag causes the particle to move because of horizontal force and vertical lift.
Within a medium of erosion, both of these forces are controlled by velocity.

- Horizontal force occurs from the push of the agent against the particle. If this
push is sufficient to overcome friction and the resistance of cohesive bonds, the
particle moves horizontally.
- The vertical lift is produced by turbulence or eddies within the flow that push the
particle upward.
5.4 Transport

Once a particle is entrained, it tends to move as long as the velocity of the medium is high
enough to transport the particle horizontally. Within the medium, transport can occur in four
different ways: suspension, saltation, traction and solution.

Suspension

Suspension is where the particles are carried by the medium without touching the surface of
their origin. This can occur in air, water, and ice.

Saltation

Saltation is where the particle moves from the surface to the medium in quick continuous
repeated cycles. The action of returning to the surface usually has enough force to cause the
entrainment of new particles. This process is only active in air and water.

Traction

Traction is the movement of particles by rolling, sliding, and shuffling along the eroded
surface.
This occurs in all erosional mediums.

Solution

Solution is a transport mechanism that occurs only in aqueous environments. Solution

involves the eroded material being dissolved and carried along in water as individual ions.

Particle weight, size, shape, surface configuration, and medium type are the main factors
that determine which of these processes operate.
5.5 Deposition

A reduction in the velocity of the medium, or an increase in the resistance of the particles
may cause deposition. Reductions in the competence of the medium to carry the particle can
occur in a variety of ways:

Velocity can be reduced locally by the sheltering effect of large rocks, hills, and stands of
vegetation or other obstructions.

Deposition can also be caused by particle precipitation and flocculation. Both of these
processes are active only in water. Precipitation is a process where dissolved ions become
solid because of changes in the temperature or chemistry of the water. Flocculation is a
chemical process where salt causes the aggregation of minute clay particles into larger
masses that are too heavy to remain suspended.

5.6 The Long Profile of a River

The topographic long profile or grade of an average stream is concave-upwards (Figure 5.1).
At their headwaters, the grade of a stream is usually steep. As streams get closer to sea-
level, the angle of the grade becomes more gently sloping. Near the mouth of the stream, the
grade becomes almost flat. The grade of a stream develops over thousands and sometimes
millions of years. It is an equilibrium process that attempts to reduce topographic bumps in
the long profile through erosion and deposition. This process is without end as crustal uplift,
due to plate tectonics, is always modifying the topographic nature of the Earth’s landscape.

Figure 5.1: Long profile of a river

Stages of development of a river

A river passes through three stages from its source to the mouth. These stages are the stage
of youth, the stage of maturity and the stage of old age.

(a)Stage of Youth

This is also called mountain stage, torrent stage or upper course. The river is near its source.
It is passing through mountains over steep slopes (steep gradient). River channels tend to be
narrow or V-shaped (Figure 5.2b).with flow moving at high velocities in the upper courses.
The high flow velocities found in these streams are the result of a steep gradient and gravity.
Within these stream systems, vertical erosion is a very active process as the channel tries to
adjust itself to the topography of the landscape. Deposition occurs primarily during periods
of low flow. As a result, floodplain deposits are very limited, and the stream bed is very
transient (temporary) and shallow. The river bed is characterised by potholes, which are
large irregular depressions in the river bed. Other features upstream include waterfalls (as
the water plunges from one level to another), cataracts and rapids (caused by the presence of
rocks across the river channel). The river is also turning and twisting around mountains
forming interlocking spurs.

(b)Stage of maturity

This stage is also called the valley stage or middle course. The river is leaving the mountains
and is using lateral erosion to push back the interlocking spurs to form bluffs. As the river
leaves the mountains, its gradint slackens, the valley widens and it forms a wide v-shape
(Figure 5.2b). the river begins to meanders as it passes over increasingly more open space.
Transportation of sediments is the major work of the river at this stage.
 Figure 5.2: Cross-section of (a) a youthful valley, (b) mature valley and (c) floodplain
stage

(c) Stage of old age

This stage is also known as the plain stage, lower course or senile stage. The river is now
passing over very gentle gradient and its speed has reduced drastically. As a result, it loses
the energy to carry its load, deposition becomes the major work of the river.

Many features are formed as the river drops it load along its channel. These include:

• Braided channel

Streams with high sediment loads that encounter a sudden reduction in flow velocity
generally have a braided channel type. In a braided stream, the main channel divides into a
number of smaller, interlocking or braided channels. Braided channels tend to be wide and
shallow because bedload materials are often coarse (sands and gravels) and non-cohesive.

• Meandering channels
Meandering channels form where streams are flowing over a relatively flat landscape with a
broad floodplain. The river makes huge sweeping bends called meanders. Channels in these
streams are characteristically U-shaped and actively migrate over the extensive floodplain,

• Floodplains

Alongside stream channels are relatively flat areas known as floodplains (Figure 42).
Floodplains develop when streams over-top their levees spreading discharge and suspended
sediments over the land surface during floods. Levees are ridges found along the sides of the
stream channel composed of sand or gravel. Levees are approximately one half to four times
the channel width in diameter. Upon retreat of the flood waters, stream velocities are
reduced causing the deposition of alluvium. Repeated flood cycles over time can result in
the deposition of many successive layers of alluvial material. Floodplain deposits can raise
the elevation of the stream bed. This process is called aggradation.

Floodplains can also contain sediments deposited from the lateral migration of the river
channel. This process is common in both braided and meandering channels. Braided
channels produce horizontal deposits of sand during times of reduced discharge. In
meandering streams, channel migration leads to the vertical deposition of point bar deposits.
Both braided and meandering channel deposits are coarser than the materials laid down by
flooding.

A number of other geomorphic features can be found on the floodplain. Intersecting the
levees are narrow gaps called crevasses. These features allow for the movement of water to
the floodplain and back during floods. Topographical depressions are found scattered about
the floodplain. Depressions contain the some of the finest deposits on the floodplain because
of their elevation. Ox-bow lakes are the abandoned channels created when meanders are cut
off from the rest of the channel because of lateral stream erosion.
 Figure 5.3: Features found on a floodplain
Source: Oberlander and Muller (1982: 347)

 Deltas

Streams flowing into standing water normally create a delta. A delta is body of sediment that
contains numerous horizontal and vertical layers. Deltas are created when the sediment load
carried by a stream is deposited because of a sudden reduction in stream velocity. The
surface of most deltas is marked by small shifting channels that carry water and sediments
away from the main river channel. These small channels, called distributaries, also act to
distribute the stream's sediment load over the surface of the delta.

Some deltas, like the Nile, have a triangular shape, called arcuate. Streams, like the
Mississippi, that have a high sediment content and empty into relatively calm waters cause
the formation of a bird’s foot shaped delta (called bird’s foot digitate). Figure 5.4 sows some
types of delta. Those which form in a river’s estuary are called estuarine.
 Figure 5.4: Types of delta
Source: Leong (1983:54)

 Alluvial fans

An alluvial fan is a large fan-shaped deposit of sediment on which a braided stream flows
over. Alluvial fans develop when streams carrying a heavy load reduce their velocity as they
emerge from mountainous terrain to a nearly horizontal plain. The fan is created as braided
streams shift across the surface of this feature depositing sediment and adjusting their
course.

Drainage Patterns

Oberlander and Muller (1982) define a drainage pattern as the geometrical arrangement of
streams within a drainage network. The pattern is largely controlled by geological structure.

• Trellised drainage patterns tend to develop where there is strong structural

control upon streams because of geology. In such situations, channels align themselves
parallel to structures in the bedrock with minor tributaries coming in at right angles.
• Rectangularpatterns reflect strong jointing of resistant bedrock with streams
incising (cutting) along the joint planes. The tectonic faults or bedrock joints cause
streams to take on a grid-like pattern.
• Parallel drainage patterns are often found in areas with steep relief. It reflects a
topography of long parallel ridges. The short segments drain the flanks of the ridges
and the long segments drain the trough between.
 • Dendritic patterns are found in areas that lack strong contrasts in bedrock
resistance, such as flat-lying sedimentary rock or massive crystalline rock that is
deeply weathered. They are typical of adjusted systems on erodible sediments and
uniformly dipping bedrock.
• Deranged drainage patterns show no geometrical pattern or constant direction
and usually include numbers of lakes. They are found in areas recently disturbed by
events like glacial activity or volcanic deposition. Over time, the stream will adjust the
topography of such regions by transporting sediment to improve flow and channel
pattern.
• Radial drainage patterns are found in areas where streams flow outwards and
downhill from a dome or volcanic cone (Leong, 1983). The pattern resembles the
spokes of a bicycle wheel.

Figure 5.5: Basic drainage patterns: (a) dendritic, (b) trellis, (c) radial (d) rectangular
(e) Parallel-pinnate and (f) deranged
Source: Oberlander and Muller (1982: 330) and Leong (1983: 48)

5.7 Conclusion

Streams alter the Earth’s landscape through the movement of water and sediment. Streams
are powerful erosive agents moving material from their bed and banks and depositing these
materials elsewhere. These two actions result in the formation of different kinds of
landforms. In this Unit, have learnt about the way streams are organized in drainage
networks, the mechanics of channel flow and the landforms that result from these fluvial
processes.

5.8 Exercise
1. Explain how a river achieves the following processes: erosion, transportation and
deposition.
2. Explain different fluvial processes taking place in a river.

3. Describe the different landforms created by river action in each of the sections
upper, middle and lower.
4. Why is it necessary to understand the morphology of a river system? Explain the
drainage basin concepts of drainage basin, tributary, drainage pattern and stream
order.