river landform
TRANSCRIPT
Rivers: Profiles & Landforms
Pankaj Kumar Singh
River ProfileSourceof river
UpperCourse
MiddleCourse
LowerCourse
Cross sectional Profile – Width of RiverLongitudinal Profile - From Source to mouth
( Length of River )
River system
Headwater
TributariesTrunk stream
Distributaries
Upper Course - Channel features
• River channel is rocky.
• Covered with various shapes and sizes of boulder.
• Discharge is low.
• Under flood conditions rivers energy is expended on vertical erosion with hydraulic action and corrosion processes at work.
• Potholes may form.
Vertical erosion
Pothole formation
Upper Course - Valley features
• Valley sides are steep and form a ‘V’ shaped cross section.
• Interlocking spurs.
V shaped valley
Steep sidesZig-zag bends(interlocking
spurs)
V – shaped valley
Form due to a combination of the following processes:
Vertical erosion by the river itself.
Physical weathering (eg: frost action) which provides debris to move down slope.
Mass movement (inc: soil creep & landslides) to move debris down slope.
Interlockingspurs
River flows aroundinterlocking spurs
Upper Course – Long Profile
• Generally the gradient is steep and the profile is uneven, particularly where waterfalls and rapids form.
Waterfall formation
Hard Rock – LavaSoft Rock – Sandstone or Conglomerates
Soft rock is easy to erode, but the hard rock is resistant.
So over time a ledge develops.
Waterfall formation
The water rushes over the ledge and erodes a plunge pool by abrasion and hydraulic action.
Hard Rock – LavaSoft Rock – Sandstone or Conglomerates
Waterfall formation
The ledge collapses into the plunge pool, where the debris helps to speed up the erosion.
Hard Rock – LavaSoft Rock – Sandstone or Conglomerates
Waterfall formation
The process is repeated and the waterfall gradually retreats upstream, carving out a gorge.
Hard Rock – LavaSoft Rock – Sandstone or Conglomerates
PLUNGE POOLUNDERCUTTING
OF SOFT ROCK
OVERHANG
WATERFALL RETREATS . .UPSTREAM . .
Formation of rapids
Resistant rock Less Resistant Rock
Middle Course - Channel features
Middle Course - Valley features
• River erosional energy is now increasingly expended horizontally rather than vertically.
• Lateral erosion by the river’s meanders broadens the valley floor into a narrow flood plain.
• Meanders gradually shift their course downstream.
Middle Course 2
MeandersA meander starts as a slight bend:
Water flows faster on the outer curve of the bend (more energy), and slowest on the inner curve (less energy).
So the outer bank gets eroded while material is deposited at the inner bank.
Over time the outer bank gets worn away (river cliff) and the inner one builds up (river beach). The bend grows into a meander.
Meanders (refer to previous notes and diagrams)
• Alternating series of irregularities develop• Pools – deeper stretches of slow moving water• Riffles – shallower section of faster flow,
flowing above coarser material• River develops a winding or sinuous course• Faster flow on outer bend results in erosion
and formation of River Cliff• Slower flow on inside of bend results in
deposition and formation of Slip-off Slope
Meanders• Meanders develop and
migrate laterally and downstream
• Turbulance flow further assists meander formation and transports sediment from river cliff to the slip-off slope on the inside of the next bend.
MEANDERS
Flood plain
MeandersMost erosionon the outsideof the bend .. Fastest flow
Possible breakthrough point
Possible ox-bowlake
Meanders
Lower Course - Channel features
• The channel is now at its broadest and deepest.
• Bedload is carried entirely in suspension and is solution.
• Deposition now dominates – particularly during floods.
• Erosion also occurs – in the formation of meanders
Lower Course – Valley features
• Thanks to lateral erosion the valley sides may now be several kilometres away.
• Typically it may also contain the following features:
Floodplain & natural levées
Braided channels
Meanders
Oxbow lakes
Estuaries and deltas
Lower Course
Gentle valley sides
Flat floodplain
Layers of siltDeposited during floods
Coarse materialForms naturallevees
River is actually flowing aboveThe floodplain !!
Levees is oftenartificiallystrengthened
Levees
Oxbow lakes
Braided channels
• Formed by the choking of the main channel by the deposition of a considerable amounts of the river load.
• The channel splits into several smaller channels which flow around fresh ‘islands’ of deposited material before rejoining.
Braided channels
Braided channels
Oxbow lakes
NARROW MEANDER NECK
FUTUREOX-BOW LAKE