ACTION OF RIVERS

A river is a mass of water flowing over the land in a definite channel.

Work of a River
1. Drain excess water from the land.
2. Sculpturing land through erosion, transportation and transportation.
River Erosion
- Removal by river water of materials from the sides and bed of the river channel.
Factors Influencing River Erosion
1. River volume
- A river with a large volume has a greater kinetic energy to erode than one with
a small volume.
2. Slope of land
- A river flowing on a steep channel has greater velocity and therefore more
energy to erode its channel than one flowing over gentle or flat land.
3. Rivers load
- A river with large, rough and heavy load e.g. tree trunks and boulders erodes
more than one with light, fine and smooth materials e.g. sand.
- A river carrying more load erodes more than one with less load as it has more
abrasive tools.
4. Nature of bed rock
- Erosion is faster where a river flows over soft bed rock and less where it flows
over hard rock.
Processes/Ways of river erosion
1. Solution/Corrosion
- River water dissolving soluble minerals and carrying them away.
2. Hydraulic Action
- Erosion by the force of river water when it thrusts itself into cracks and joints of
rocks on the sides of the channel dislodging lumps.
- Also by pushing air into the cracks, compressing it increasing pressure which
widens the cracks eventually dislodging lumps.
3. Abrasion/Corrasion
- Abrasion is scratching of the bed and banks by materials are carried away by
the river.
- Corrosion is hurling of rock fragments carried by the river against rocks which
weaken and eventually break them.
4. Attrition
- Hitting against one another of rock fragments carried by river water breaking
one another into smaller pieces.
 Types of River Erosion
1. Vertical Erosion

- Erosion in which the river cuts downwards into its channel.

2. Lateral Erosion

- Erosion in which the river erodes the sides of the channel.

3. Headward Erosion

- Erosion in which a river cuts back at its source.

a)Where there is a water fall.
o The river undercuts at the base of a waterfall.
o The rock above the undercut cliff collapses.
o The position of waterfall shifts upstream.
b)Where gulleying or soil creep occurs where there is a spring causing its position
to shift upstream (spring sapping).
Resultant Features of River Erosion
1. Stream Cut Valleys
- Valleys with V, open V or U shaped cross sections along the river channel.
o In the source region a river cuts itself a channel which starts as a gulley.
o The channel is deepened by vertical erosion resulting into a v-shaped valley.
o In the middle stage lateral erosion widens and deepens the valley resulting in a
more open v-cross section.
o In the old stage lateral erosion creates a very wide channel with a U-shaped
cross section.
2. Gorges
- Narrow, deep, steep-sided valley.
Ways/modes of formation
a) Where a river flows along a fault or a section of soft rocks eroding the channel
vertically through the soft rocks or fault.
b) By headward erosion at a water fall when the river’s erosive activity is
increased due to increased gradient causing the river to undercut at the base of
the water fall, then the rock above the undercut base collapses causing the
waterfall to shift upstream resulting in a gorge below the water fall.
c) Where a river flows across a plateau with alternating horizontal layers of hard
and soft rocks eroding them resulting in a gorge with stepped sides called a
canyon e.g. Grand canyon on R. Colorado in USA.
d) Due to river rejuvenation when the river’s erosive activity is renewed causing
the river to vigorously erode deep into its channel.
e) Where a river maintains its course across land which is being uplifted gradually.
Rapids
- A section of the rivers course where the bed is suddenly steepened causing the
water to suddenly flow swiftly.
How they are formed
a) Where a less hard rock lies below a soft rock and the soft rock is eroded more
resulting in a steep slope.
b) Where a water fall has been eroded by headward erosion reducing its height.

c) Where resistant rock dips down stream and is unevenly eroded.

Water Falls
- A place on a rivers course where a river bed is vertical or nearly vertical.
Formation
a) Where a river descends over a sharp edge of a plateau encountering a sharp
drop.
b) Where a river descends a cliff into the sea.
c) Where a river descends a fault scarp.
d) Where a river descends a sharp edge of a plateau.
e) Where a river is blocked by lava flow causing water to accumulate on the
upstream side and a water fall forms at the point of overflow.
f) Where a resistant rock lies across a river with a less resistant one on the
downstream side and the less resistant one is eroded faster causing a rapid to be
first formed, then a waterfall.
 Pot Holes
- Circular depressions on a river bed.
- Form where a river flows over shallow depression and develops strong
circulating currents which cause the load to scratch the bed in circular motion.

Interlocking Spurs

- Highland projections which appear as they fit together.

Formation
- Where In the youthful stage, a river flows around spurs undercutting the outer
bank more than the inner bank causing the bends to be more pronounced
 making the spurs to appear as if to fit together. The outer bank becomes river
cliff/bluff and the inner bank slip off slope.
River Transportation
- River carrying away materials that its water has eroded from the channel.
Factors Influencing River Transportation
a) Rivers Volume
A river with large volume of water has more energy and therefore greater carrying
ability than one with a small volume.
b) Gradient
A river flowing on a steep channel has greater ability to transport than one on a
gentle slope because it flows fast due to gravity.
c) Rivers Load
- Small and light particles are transported over long distances while heavy
materials are transported for a short distance.
- Dissolved load is carried all the way to the rivers mouth.
- Small amount of load is transported for a long distance while large amounts of
load collide reducing the speed and therefore rivers ability to transport causing
some of the load to be dropped along the way.
Processes/ways of River Transportation
a) Suspension
- River transportation of light and insoluble materials in form of a mixture.
b) Saltation/Hydraulic Lift
- River transportation of large particles through a series of jumps and hops.
o Materials are lifted by force of moving water and pushed for a short distance
and land back on the river bed by gravity.
o The process is repeated causing the load to be transported downstream.
c) Traction
- River transportation of heavy materials like boulders by rolling them by the
force of water.
d) Solution
- River transportation of load in solution form.
Load transported by suspension, Saltation and traction is called clastic load while
that by solution is called dissolved load.