GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES- GRADE 11 REVISION NOTE #1

TOPIC: EROSION, TRANSPORTATION AND DEPOSITION

A. RIVER PROCESSES

Erosion, Transportation and Deposition all occur in a river.

A river’s source is the place at which it begins to flow. It may be in the melt waters of a glacier or in a lake, or in a spring
or in a region of steady rainfall. A river does thus, three types of work: It erodes, it transports and it deposits.

Moving from the upper course to the lower course, the rates of erosion, transportation and deposition change., meaning
turning original surfaces into plains etc …example, range of fold mountains can be removed through denudation into
gentle swellings or youthful river into river menders across peneplain. River’s mouth is the place where the river ends.

The rates of erosion, transportation and deposition change when moving from the upper course to the lower course.

Erosions

Erosion is the process that wears away the river beds and banks. Erosion also breaks up the rocks that are
carried by the river.

The rate of erosion is affected by climate, wind speed, vegetation cover, geomorphology and geology. In some parts of
the world the rates are higher whereas, in other parts slower.

There are four main types of erosion:

 Hydraulic action – This is the sheer power of water as it smashes against the river banks. Air becomes trap in
the cracks of the river bank and bed and causes the rock to break a part.
 Abrasion/Corrasion - When pebbles grind along the river bank and bed, in a sand –papering effect.
 Attrition- When rocks that the river is carrying knock against each other. They break apart to become smaller
and more rounded.
 Solution- When the water dissolves certain types of rocks, e.g. Limestone.

The rate of erosion is greatest where water removes sediments down from the land. Rivers move down from their source
in the mountains, carrying sediments and dissolved minerals towards the seas.

THE FOUR MAIN TYPES OF

Sediments are transported by a
EROSION river until it has sufficient energy
to move them further, then
deposits them.
A river may lose energy where
there is either a decrease in
gradient or a widening or
meandering of its journal. E.g. in
its lower course, or where there
is a decrease in volume. E.g.
after a flood.

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TRANSPORTATION

The river picks up sediment and carries it down stream in different ways:
There are four types of transportation
 Traction- Large heavy pebbles are rolled along the river bed. This is most common near the source of a rive, as
here the load is larger.
 Saltation- pebbles are bounced along the river bed, most commonly near the source.
 Suspension – Lighter sediment is suspended (carried) within the water, most commonly near the mouth of the
river.
 Solution – The transport of dissolved chemicals. This varies along the river depending on the presence of
soluble salts.

De position
When the river loses energy, it drops any of the materials it has been carrying. This is known as deposition.

Factors leading to deposition are:

 Shallow water
 At the end of river’s journey’ at the river’s mouth
 When the volume of eater decreases

Drainage basins

A river’s water can be fluctuate over time. Understanding the hydrological cycle is useful in order to understand how and
why the amount of water fluctuates.

A drainage basin is the area of land around the river that is drained by the river and its tributaries .

Watershed – the area of high land forming the edge of a river basin

Source – where a river begins

Mouth – where a river meets the sea

Confluence – the point at which two rivers meet

Tributary – a small river or stream that joins a large river

Channel – that is where the river flows

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 River profiles

A mature river has three sections: the upper course where most of erosion takes place, the middle course where transport
is the dominant process, and the lower course where the main process is deposition. The amount of erosion that a river
can achieve depends on its, energy. A river’s energy increases with it’s volume and with it’s velocity and with it’s regime,
that is seasonal flow. Energy is needed for transportation of pebbles, silt, and the dissolved minerals in the water.

Long profile

A long profile is a line representing the river fro, its source (where it starts) to its mouth (where it meets the sea ). It
shows how the river changes over its course.

 Upper course – in the upper course, where the river starts, there is often an upland area. The river’s load is large
in the upper course, as it hasn’t been broken down by erosion yet.
 Lower course – in the lower course, the land is a lot flatter. The river’s load is fine sediment, as erosion has
broken down the rocks.

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A cross profile shows a cross-section of a river’s channel and valley at a certain point along the river’s course.

A – as the river flows downhill there is an increase in vertical erosion. The channel is shallow and narrow because there is
not a lot of water in the channel. In this vertical erosion is dominant as it has a young Valley.

B – as the river flows into the middle course, there is some vertical erosion but more lateral erosion. The channel is wider
and deeper as a result. In this lateral erosion is dominant as it has a matured Valley.

C – in the lower course there is a lot less erosion, with only some literal erosion. The channel is at its widest and deepest.
In this deposition is dominant as it has an old Valley.

Glossary

Cross profile------ a cross-section of the valley and channel of a river.

Literal erosion------ the wearing away of the landscape when a river erodes sideways.

Load------ the particles of a rock carried by a river.

Long profile------ a section of the course of a river drawn from source to mouth.

Mouth------ the place where a river meets the sea.

Source------ the place where a starts in its upper course.

Transportation------ to move objects or people from one place to another.

Tributary------ a small river that joins the main river channels.

Valley------ a low area of land between hills or mountains, typically with a river flowing through it.

Vertical erosion------ when the land is eroded or worn away in a downwards direction, e.g. a river that is high up will
erode vertically because gravity pulls the water downwards.

A river valley can be divided into an upper section, middle section and lower section, and by studying each of these we
can see what land scape features are produced in each of the three parts.

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A river’s volume decreases:

1. when it enters an arid region

2. When it crosses a region composed of porous rocks. E.g. sand and lime stone.
3. In the dry season or in a period of drought

A river’s speed decreases when it:

1. Enters a lake 2. Enters the sea 3. Enters a flat or gently sloping plain
such as a valley bottom

River Landform
Erosional landforms include interlocking spurs, waterfalls and gorges. Meanders and oxbow lakes use erosional and
depositional processes in their creation.

Erosional landforms
The process of erosion can create different landforms. The erosional features are often found in the upper course of
the river.
Waterfall and gorges
A waterfall is a sudden drop along the river course. It forms when there are horizontal bands of resistant rock (hard
rock) positioned over exposed, less resistant rock (soft rock).
Interlocking spurs

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In the upper course there is more vertical erosion. The river cuts down into the valley. If there are areas of hard rock
which are harder to erode, the river will bend around it. This creates interlocking spurs of land which link together like the
teeth of a zip.

Erosional and depositional landforms

Meanders
As the river makes its way to the middle course, it gains more water and therefore more energy. Lateral erosion starts to
widen the river. When the river flows over flatter land they develop large bends called meanders.

Oxbow lakes

Due to erosion on the outside of a bend and deposition on the inside, the shape of a meander will change over a period
of time. Erosion narrows the neck of the land within the meander and as the process continues, the meanders move
closer together. When there is a very high discharge (usually during a flood), the river cuts across the ne ck, taking a new,
straighter and shorter route. Deposition will occur to cut off the original meander, leaving a horseshoe-shaped oxbow
lake.

Depositional landforms

Floodplains

A floodplain is an area of land which is covered in water when a river bursts its banks.

Floodplains form due to both erosion and deposition. Erosion removes any interlocking spurs, creating a wide, flat area
on either side of the river. During a flood, material being carried by the river is deposited (as the river loses its speed and
energy to transport material). Over time, the height of the floodplain increases as material is deposited on either side of
the river.

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Floodplains are often agricultural land, as the area is very fertile because it's made up of alluvium (depos ited silt from a
river flood). The floodplain is often a wide, flat area caused by meanders shifting along the valley.

Levees
Levees occur in the lower course of a river when there is an increase in the volume of water flowing downstream and
flooding occurs.
Sediment that has been eroded further upstream is transported downstream.
When the river floods, the sediment spreads out across the floodplain.

When a flood occurs, the river loses energy. The largest material is deposited first on the sides of the river banks and
smaller material further away.

After many floods, the sediment builds up to increase the height of the river banks, meaning that the channel can carry
more water (a greater discharge) and flooding is less likely to occur in the future.

An estuary is where the river meets the sea. The river here is tidal and when the sea retreats the volume of the water in the
estuary is less reduced. When there is less water, the river deposits silt to form mudflats which are an important habitat for
wildlife.

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Deltas

The deposited load sometimes collect in the river mouth is where it builds up into a low lying swampy plain called delta.
As deposition goes on in the river mouth, the river is forced to divide into several channels each of which repeatedly
divides. All this channels are called distributaries. spits and bars develop along the front of the delta.

There are three basic types of Deltas

1. Accurate

This type is very common. It is composed of coarse sediments such as gravel and sand and is triangular in shape. It
always has a greater number of distributaries only.

2. Bird’s foot or Digitate

This type is composed of very fine sediments called silt. The river channel divides into a few distributaries. This type
occurs in seas which have few currents and tides to disturb the sediments.

3. Estuarine

An estuarine delta develops in the mouth of a submerged river. It takes the shape of the estuary.

DRAINAGE PATTERNS

All rivers are joined by smaller rivers or streams which are called tributaries. The area drained by a river and its
tributaries is known as a river basin and its boundary is formed by the crest line of the surrounding highland. This
boundary forms the main water shed of the basin.

A river system usually develops a pattern which is related to the general structure of its basin. Three distinct river patter ns
can be recognized. They are:

i. Dendritic
ii. Trellis
iii. Radial

A dendritic pattern develops in a region which is made of rocks which offers the same resistance to erosion
and which has a uniform structure. The direction of the river and its tributaries are determined by the slope.
The land between main valleys and between these and tributary valleys stands up as ridges and spurs. The
crests of these form the watersheds. The river and its tributaries make a pattern like the vein of a leaf.
A trellis drainage pattern develops in a region which is made up of alternate belts hard and soft rocks which all
dip in the same direction and which lie at right angles to the general slope, down which the principal river flows.
The tributaries of the main river extend their valleys by head ward erosion. Into the weak rocks which are turn
into wide valleys called vales, and the hard rock stands up as escarpments. The principal river which flows
down the slope is called a consequent river (C), and the tributaries which cut out the vales and which do not
flow down the main slope are called subsequent river (S).
A radial drainage pattern develops on a dome or volcanic cone. The rivers flow out words forming a patterns like the
spokes of a wheel.

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REVISION QUESTIONS

1. Define the following words

a. River source
b. River mouth
2. List 4 main types of river erosion
3. Differentiate between attrition and Abrasion
4. What materials do rive carries?
5. Differentiate between tractions and Saltation that describes in river transportation of materials
6. List the three main sections of the river
7. Identify and name the types of drainage below from A-E

C_____
A______ B________
_

D____ E_______
_

8. Describe the formations of A and D

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Notes compiled by Mrs. Piakamaneo grade 12 Geo Coordinator -2025

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