Geography Buckden Beck investigation of buckden beck.

stages.  What visual clues would help you determine the life-cycle of any river you might encounter?     Youthful  rivers or streams are typically found in the highland or mountainous areas.  They are characterized by steep slopes, a relatively small volume of water and rapid flow.  Soil particles carried by youthful streams flow along the ground, wearing down hill slopes as the water flows down.  Youthful streams may extend their source or head into higher elevation by cutting channels backward or upslope.  Because their rapid flow laeds to rapid erosion, youthful rivers tend to have narrow V-shaped valleys that are relatively straight.  Rapids and waterfalls are also commonly associated with youthful rivers.     Later in the river cycle, most of the high relief around the river will have been eroded away, resulting in a gentler slope and a flatter land surface.  At this point, the river system will have reached the mature stage.  Mature rivers tend to have many well-developed branches or tributaries because the drainage pattern has had ample time to develop.  The river is now characterized by a broad, flat river valley with a well-developed floodplain.  The river channel will be relatively broad because the river, having reached a lower elevation and lost it's steep slope, works on eroding the sides of the channel.  In doing so, it deposits material along broad curves in the river and flows a gently meandering course over the floodplain.  At this stage in the river development, the river has reached a stage of equilibrium in which it's erosion and deposition is nearly in balance, and it is moving a maximum amount of water in a fairly efficient manner.     When the relief around the river becomes extremely flat, the river will have almost no slope and consequently very little momentum or speed.  Such old rivers will be characterized by very elaborate and intricately meandering courses.  Often swampy areas appear around old rivers because the lack of slope leads to very poor drainage.  Old rivers are very muddy, a consequence of large amounts of suspended material being carried by a river with low velocity. Through my investigation