The Features and Processes of a River along its Profile.

The Features and Processes of a River along its Profile Introduction Along the path of a river, from source to mouth, the river shows many different features and is affected by several different processes. These processes are going to be described and explained in the course of this essay and diagrams will be used to back-up and justify my ideas. A river can be simply divided into an upland or lowland river environment. Upland features and processes occur at a higher altitude, closer to the source of the river; lowland features and processes occur at lower altitudes near the mouth of a river. A river's course can be better divided into a young, mature and old stage. A simple map of a river showing the different stages is shown below: The main processes acting upon a river are: * Erosion * Transportation * Deposition These three main river processes can be further sub-divided into "sub-processes". Erosion, for example, wears rocks away through 4 sub-processes: * Corrasion or abrasion * Attrition * Corrosion or erosion by solution * Hydraulic action Transportation can be further divided into: * Traction * Saltation * Suspension * Solution A description of these processes and diagrams showing how they affect the river are shown below: Erosive Processes Corrasion or abrasion This is when smaller material which is suspended, rubs against the river banks.

  • Word count: 1831
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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River Rother

INTRODUCTION We are visiting four different locations, on the 18th September 2009, along The River Rother. It is hoped that these locations will demonstrate the three main courses of a river; Upper Course, Middle Course and Lower course. The four locations that we will be visiting and carrying out our tests are: . Marley Lane, for the upper course (the source) 2. Sedlescombe, for the middle course 3. Bodiam, for the lower middle course 4. Rye Harbour, for the lower course (mouth) The purpose of the study is to find out if our hypothesis proven correct or not, 'The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river.' Collecting data from each of the location hopefully will prove our hypothesis correct. The information that we need to collect from the three locations are; the width, depth and speed. To obtain these results we will be using a meter ruler, tape measure, clinometer and a dog biscuit. For some of the results that we are unable to get we will use a secondary source and we will compare our results to the results from text the books. The four locations that have been chosen are ideal for our study because they are close to the school, they show all the three stages of the rivers course and we are able to visit all the locations and get out tests done in one day. The River Rother, is 35 miles long, is a river flowing through the

  • Word count: 4057
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
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River study of the River Bride.

Mouth of the River Bride 1937 - the river finds its way through the shingle on the beach River Survey of the River Bride Introduction On Friday 9th of May we ventured to Osmington Bay in Dorset. We went to Dorset in order to conduct a river study of the River Bride. The undertaking of a river study was for Geography Coursework that would contribute to our final GCSE mark. We spent the first day studying the River Bride, specifically 10 sites from the source to the mouth representing changes in the river. The River Bride was chosen because of its array of river features. These include: River cliffs Meanders Slip Off Slopes Vegetation Springs Tributary Old River Channel It was easy to see why the River Bride was chosen as it embraced all those features listed above situated in the same place. It gave us a chance to test a vast array of hypothesis in the same day. SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND DORSET COASTLINE COASTLINE RIVER BRIDE AREA Background Information The majority of the catchment area for the River Bride is the Bride Valley. The valley runs east-west and as a result the river runs parallel to the coast, generally an unexpected phenomenon. The hills creating the valley reach over 180m in height. They are made of Bridport sandstones and limestones lying over Gault and Wealden Clay, creating a set of springs. The river itself falls 100m over the 12.75km

  • Word count: 2394
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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Describe The Dominant Features That Characterise Different River channel Patterns. Is Channel Pattern Easily Classified or a Continuum?

Describe The Dominant Features That Characterise Different River channel Patterns. Is Channel Pattern Easily Classified or a Continuum? A basic way of defining channel pattern is to say that it is, "a term to describe how a river looks from above." (Leopold 'A view of a river' pp56.) However for this essay I feel that it is more appropriate to use the view of Knighton and Nanson who describe the term as "one of the means whereby a natural river can adjust to its channel form to imposed flow and sediment." Leopold and Wolman (1957) classified channel pattern into three types; straight, meandering and braided. As time has progressed several other patterns have been defined. These include 'wandering channels' (Carson, 1984) and 'Anastomosing channels' (Smith and Putnam,1980.) This essay will describe the characteristics of each of the 5 major types of channel pattern and will further attempt to answer the question of whether river channel patterns are distinctive in that they are easily classified or whether they remain in a continuous transitional state whereby one type progresses into the next. Most of the literature that I have read concerning channel patterns have classified that there are 5 major types; straight, meandering, braided, anastomosing and wandering. There is however some reference to schumm and his 14 types of channel pattern that are catergorised by the

  • Word count: 1316
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Media Studies
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River Processes - What are the physical characteristics of a river?

Jack Chen 11KM Chinese International School IGCSE Geography Coursework River Processes - What are the physical characteristics of a river? Introduction: River Features are elements of the landscape produced by fluvial processes-that is, the action of running water as it flows through the channels forming the drainage network of a river basin, eroding, transporting, and depositing sediment. (Source from Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2001) A useful way to study a river is to look at its long profile and its cross sectional profile. The long profile of a river is a section drawn along the length of a river from its source to its mouth. Usually, a long profile has three parts: ? Upper course or mountain tract ? Middle course or valley tract ? Lower course or plain tract However, in Hong Kong most of the rivers are short and their gradients change abruptly. These rivers have two courses only, the upper and lower courses. Not all rivers have three well-defined stages. Some reach base level direct from stage 1 (Base level is the lowest level down to where a river can erode). Others arise amid lowlands. The diagram below shows typical changes in the river channel: The table on the next page lists out the features produced by river processes in each course. The Long Profile of a River Upper Course Middle Course Lower Course * V shaped valley * Steep gradient *

  • Word count: 2505
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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Describe the main features of a mirror meander. Explain, by referring to river processes, how such features have been formed. You may draw a labelled diagram as part of your answer.

Geography Case Study Question Describe the main features of a mirror meander. Explain, by referring to river processes, how such features have been formed. You may draw a labelled diagram as part of your answer. There are 3 courses in a river upper middle and lower. In the upper course of a river the water flows extremely fast. This is due to the upper course is often on mountainous areas. Therefore the water is very powerful enough to pick up large pebbles and rocks, which collide in a process called attrition. Along the process the bedrocks which the river flows over gets eroded by the broken fragments of rocks. In the upper course of a river vertical erosion cuts downwards through the rocks. This exposes rocks to weather such as freeze thaw action which breaks down the rocks into smaller particles. In the middle course it is a lot different as the river is a lot deeper as there are a lot of tributaries joined. At this point of the course the river has amore energy to erode as there is less water in contact with the bed and banks. In the middle course the river erodes laterally (sideways), this is because the valley is flatter with more gentle slopes. In this part of the river's route to the sea, the main landform is the meander. Meanders constantly change their shape and position. The side of the meanders have the most amount of energy. Sediments are moved from onto the

  • Word count: 380
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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River Investigation

Introduction Aims . To find out how channel characteristics such as width, depth, area, efficiency, gradient and bedload change downstream? 2. To find out how flow characteristics, such as velocity and discharge change downstream? Having studied rivers to a great extent at GCSE and A level I have decided to carry out a study on river processes and characteristics. I have chosen the River Brett as the location for my study due to its large drainage basin and varying stream orders, enabling me to carry out a wide ranging investigation. The River Brett is a tributary off the river Stour in Suffolk. The river Brett's total length is 100 km. Hypotheses In this investigation I am going to prove the following Hypotheses: ) All of the river dimensions will increase downstream e.g. width, depth, area and radius. 2) All of the flow characteristics will increase downstream such as velocity and discharge due to a wider and deeper river. 3) Bedload size and shape will decrease downstream. Background and Theory of river processes . Hydrological Cycle 2. River Processes - Erosion Deposition Transportation 3. Other Factors affecting a river Erosional Processes Erosion is a process whereby material carried by the river wears away the bed and banks. It causes the river dimensions to become wider and deeper, or in the case of river material, smaller and rounder

  • Word count: 915
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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River Survey.

River Survey Introduction On Monday 28th of September we ventured to Dunston Beck. We went to Dunston Beck in order to conduct a river study. The undertaking of a river study was for Geography Coursework that would contribute to our final GCSE mark. Dunston Beck was not chosen on the spur of the moment but for a variety of reasons. The main reason in fact was that Dunston is a relatively local village to Sleaford. Dunston is just over half way between Sleaford and Lincoln. Due to Dunston being local this gave us plenty of time to conduct our river study. Also the source of Dunston Beck is positioned right on the Lincoln Edge. A Simple Map of Lincoln Edge and The Geology of Lincolnshire. Dunston Beck was also chosen because of its array of river features. Observable Features. These include: River cliffs Meanders Slip Off Slopes Slumping Juncas Grass Vegetation Springs Ox Bow Lakes Tributary Old River Channel Braiding It was easy to see why Dunston Beck was chosen as it embraced all those features listed above situated in the same place. It gave us a chance to test a vast array of hypothesis in the same day. To better Dunston Beck would be extremely hard. The location of Dunston Beck can be seen clearly on the following maps. Aims Of Study. The aim of our study was to create and test numerous hypotheses. When we had reached Dunston Beck

  • Word count: 3600
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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Geograpgy glendun river

Contents Page 1 Front cover Page 30 Location - map showing bed load distribution Page 2 Contents Page 31 Evaluation Page 3 Section 1 - Applied understanding Page 32 Evaluation Page 4 Location Page 33 Evaluation Page 5 Location - map Page 34 Evaluation Page 6 Theory - Ideal stream Page 35 conclusion Page 7 Ideal stream table Page 36 Bibliography Page 8 We should expect to find at: Upper course Page 37 Appendix Page 9 Middle course Page 10 Lower course Page 11 Glossary Page 12 Glossary Page 13 Methodology Page 14 Equipment used Page 15 Data table Page 16 A comprehensive range of techniques Page 17 A comprehensive range of techniques Page 18 Originality Page 19 Results and analysis - Hypothesis 1 Page 21 Results and analysis - Hypothesis 1 Page 22 Results and analysis - Hypothesis 1 Page 23 Results and analysis - Hypothesis 1 Page 24 Results and analysis - Hypothesis 1&2 Page 25 Hypothesis 2 Page 26 Hypothesis 3 Page 27 Hypothesis 3 Page 28 Conclusion Page 29 Originality GCSE Geography Coursework Section 1 - Applied understanding Why? We are doing this study to test all the text book theories. It brings all the ideas that we read in a book to real life, we can see exactly what happens for ourselves we get the chance to record the results ourselves also this is a requirement for our geography GCSE and the study is worth 25% of our

  • Word count: 5322
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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River channel processes.

Geography revision. RIVER CHANNEL PROCESSES How are things transported in a river? - SUSPENSION, this is where solid particles are suspended in the river - TRACTION. This is where the bedload is rolled along the bottom of river by the force of the water above it. - SOLUTION. This is when chemicals, e.g. co2 dissolve in the water and are transported while dissolved in the river. - SALTATION. This is when rocks bounce along each other, thus being transported done the river. The amount of sediment shifted depends on these factors, - NATURE OF BED AND BANKS. Is the river cutting loose gravel or solid rock. Is it travelling over chalk or limestone? - FLOW OF THE RIVER. The speed at which river flows through its channel. If its flows are constant or do they fluctuate. - HUMAN INTERVENTION. If a dam has been built or not. What erosional processes do rivers go through. - CORRASION (is abrasion). This is when the particles that are suspended within the river rub against the bed or bank, wearing them down. - SOLUTION. This is when the minerals dissolved in the water reaction with the bed or banks. E.g. co2 dissolved in the water can form a weak acid and therefore eat away at limestone etc. - HYDRAULIC ACTION. This is used when referring to the sheer force of the water hitting the bed and banks. This type of erosion is particularly abundant at waterfalls. What controls

  • Word count: 3594
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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