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    The Different Stages of A River

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    agyaponga

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    The Different Stages of A River

    Uploaded by

    agyaponga
    3 views16 pages

    Original Title

    The Different Stages of a River

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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    3 views16 pages

    The Different Stages of A River

    Uploaded by

    agyaponga

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 16

    Topic :Rivers

    Aim : To be able to identify the


    characteristics of the different stages of a
    river.
    Keywords
    Erosion: Erosion is the process that wears away
    the river bed, rocks and river banks.

    Deposition: Deposition is the process that occurs


    when the river loses its energy and drops the load
    that it was carrying.
    The long profile
    Rivers can be divided into three sections:
    Upper course
    Middle course
    and
    Lower course
    Together, these three courses form the long profile .
    THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF A RIVER.

    •Upper course – ( where the slope is steepest)


    •The river usually begins in an upland area, like the top of a
    mountain. Snow melts or rain falls on high ground and begins to
    flow downhill.

    •The upper course of a river is usually steep and narrow.


    •The river channel is small. Downwards erosion takes place
    here as the water is pulled down by gravity.
    •The current (the water moving in a river) is fast in the steep
    upper course so the water has more energy and can wear
    away rocks and soil. This is called erosion.
    •Erosion in the upper course helps to create landforms like
    waterfalls, valleys and gorges.
    Waterfall V-shaped valley
    THE UPPER COURSE OF A
    RIVER
    MIDDLE COURSE FEATURES
    2.Middle course – (where the slope is less steep)The middle
    section of the river.
    •The middle course has more energy and more water than the
    river's steep narrow upper course.
    •It is wide and deep. Lots of tributaries flow into the middle
    course, adding extra water to the river channel.
    •A larger river channel means there is less friction , so the water
    flows faster.
    •Water flows fastest on the outer banks of the river and slower on
    the inside.
    •Fast-flowing water erodes the outer banks. Slow-moving
    water deposits materials, like sand and sediments, on the inner
    banks.
    •This process of erosion on the outer banks and deposition on the
    inner banks help to create features like meanders and oxbow
    lakes.
    THE MIDDLE COURSE OF A
    RIVER
    LOWER COURSE FEATURES

    Lower course – ( where the river flattens out) The final stage of
    the river, usually where it meets the sea. The river is wide and deep
    because it is carrying a large volume of water. Lateral , or
    sideways, erosion and deposition will take place here.
    •The landscape around the lower course is flat, which means it has a
    wide floodplain .
    •As a river reaches the end of its journey, energy levels are low and
    the current slows down.
    •In the lower course, the water doesn't have enough energy to
    carry material, like sand and sediment so the river drops it.
    The area where a river ends when it meets another body of water,
    like the sea, is called the river mouth.
    THE LOWER COURSE OF A RIVER
    FORMATION OF A MEANDER AND AN OXBOW
    LAKE
    FORMATION OF AN OXBOW LAKE
    A FLOODPLAIN

    A floodplain is a landform of the middle and lower course of


    a river. It is a flat area of land which is covered in water when
    a river overflows its banks.
    As the river reaches the flat lowland, it flows more slowly and
    is no longer powerful to erode the land.
    After the flood, the flat countryside is covered by alluvium ( a
    fine mud material that is being deposited)
    Floodplains are often agricultural land, as the area is very
    fertile because it’s made up of alluvium (deposited silt from
    a river flood). This makes them good for building on and
    farming.
    A FLOODPLAIN
    THE END

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