Rivers

Learning Objectives
• Explain the main hydrological characteristics and processes which operate
within rivers and drainage basins.
The global water distribution/The distribution of water on Earth

Fig.1
The world’s total water supply amounts to approximately 1386cubic metres. Fig. 1
shows that 97% of water is saline and mostly located in the oceans and only 3% of
this water is fresh water that humans require to sustain life. Over two-thirds of the
fresh water is locked up in glaciers and ice caps and almost all the rest is stored as
groundwater.
Surface fresh water which is the source of water that people all around the world
consume, represents only 1% of the total fresh water available. Almost 90% of the
planet’s fresh water is stored in ice caps and lakes with the remaining 10% being held
in five other main stores. Considering rivers are the main source of water for the
world’s population, its clear that human life depends on 0.0002%of the planet’s total
water.
Drainage basins
A drainage basin is an area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.

channel

Source: The start of the river, normally found in mountainous areas.

Mouth: The end of the river, this is normally where a river enters the sea, but it can
be where it enters a lake.
Tributary: a small river or stream that joins a larger river.
Confluence: the point at which two rivers meet.
Watershed: an imaginary line separating adjacent basins, or a boundary marked by
a ridge of higher land that separates one drainage basin from neighbouring drainage
basins.
Channel: this is where the river flows.
The hydrological cycle (water cycle)
The volume of water on Earth is a fixed amount that neither decreases nor increases.
This is because it moves continuously and very efficiently around the world.
The hydrological cycle is the continuous movement of water on the Earth between
the atmosphere (air), lithosphere (rocks) and biosphere (plants and animals) or it is
defined as the continuous movement of water through the land, oceans, and
atmosphere. It is powered by the Sun. It is called a cycle because water continuously
moves around the system. Rivers are part of this cycle. The hydrological cycle is
known as closed system.

groundwater
Groundwater flow

Closed system: This is a system where water cannot be added or lost. The
hydrological cycle is known as a closed system because it includes all the water on
our planet and no water can be added to it or lost from it.
The drainage basin system
A drainage basin forms part of the hydrological cycle but unlike the hydrological cycle
it is an open system.
Open System: This is a system where water can be added or lost. A drainage basin
is known as open system because water can be added in the form of precipitation and
lost in the form of evaporation and transpiration.

It is an open system because it has:

Inputs where water enters the system through precipitation(rain and snow).
Outputs where water is lost to the system either by rivers carrying it to the sea or
through evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration is the loss of moisture directly from
rivers or lakes (evaporation) or from vegetation through plant leaves(stomata) thus
transpiration.
Within the system are stores and transfers (flow)
Stores are places where water is held e.g., in pools and lakes on the surface,
vegetation or in soil and rocks underground.
Transfers are processes by which water flows, or moves, through the system e.g.,
infiltration, surface runoff, throughflow.
Precipitation
Any moisture that falls from the sky e.g., rain or snow. The main characteristics that
affect local hydrology are the amount of precipitation, the seasonality, intensity, type,
geographical distribution, and variability. For rain to occur, three factors must occur:
• Air is saturated- that is, it has a relative humidity of 100%
• It contains particles of soot, dust, ash, ice etc.
• Its temperature is below dew point- that is the temperature is at level where
relative humidity is 100%, saturation is complete and clouds form.
Evaporation
Evaporation is the process by which a liquid or a solid is changed into gas(water
vapour). Its most important source is from oceans and seas. Evaporation increases
under warm, dry windy conditions.
Factors affecting evaporation include temperature, humidity, and windspeed. Other
factors include water quality, depth of water, size of water body, vegetation cover and
colour of the surface.
Evapotranspiration
Transpiration is the process by which water vapour is lost (transferred) from vegetation
to the atmosphere. The combined effects of evaporation and transpiration are normally
referred to as evapotranspiration (EVT).
Define the following terms in your glossary book.
Actual evapotranspiration-
Potential evapotranspiration-
Interception
Interception refers to water stored by vegetation or when an object (building, tree)
stops precipitation reaching the ground beneath.
• Interception loss- water that is retained by plant surfaces and later evaporated
away or absorbed by the plant.
• Throughfall- water that either falls through gaps in the vegetation or drops from
leaves, twigs, or stems.
• Stemflow- water that trickles along twigs and branches and finally down the
trunk.
Infiltration
Infiltration is the process by which water soaks into the soil. The infiltration capacity is
the maximum rate at which rain can enter the soil/ground.
Factors affecting infiltration include soils (clay and sandy), lack of vegetation cover,
duration of rainfall decreases infiltration, steep slope, raindrop size etc.
Overland flow or surface-runoff
Overland flow refers to water moving over the surface, or it is when water travels
across the surface of the earth. Overland flow occurs in two main ways: when
precipitation exceeds the infiltration rate, and when the soil is saturated. Overland flow
and infiltration are inversely related.
Percolation
When water travels from unsaturated ground into saturated ground. Percolation forms
groundwater, which is water stored at a depth in rocks.
Throughflow
Throughflow refers to water flowing through the soil in natural pipes and between soil
horizons.
Groundwater flow
The movement of water through saturated ground.
Surface storage
Any water that is held on the surface of the earth e.g., lake or pond. Some surface
stores like puddles.
Soil moisture
Soil moisture is the subsurface water in the soil and subsurface layers above the water
table.
Groundwater storage
Water that is stored in saturated ground. Groundwater accounts for 96.5% of all
freshwaters on the Earth. However, while some soil water maybe recycled within a
matter of days or weeks, ground water may not be recycled as long as 20000 years.
Hence, in some places, groundwater is considered a non-renewable resource.
Aquifers (rocks that contain significant quantities of water or water bearing rocks)
provide a great reservoir of water.
River processes
Learning objectives
• Demonstrate an understanding of the work of a river in eroding, transporting,
and depositing.
A river channel is the outline of a river’s path referring to its bed (floor) and banks
(sides).or the route course (between bed and banks) that a river flow.
Bed: the bottom of the river channel.
Bank: The sides of the river channel. A river has two banks.
Rivers have three main roles.
• To erode the river channel
• To transport materials
• To deposit material.
Rivers shape the land through processes of erosion, transportation, and deposition.
The processes are greatest in large rivers or at times of flood.
River erosion
This is when the river wears away and removes material from its banks and bed.
Erosion also involves the breaking down of the rock particles being carried
downstream by the river. Erosion makes the channel deeper and wider.
Ways by which rivers erode their banks and bed.
 1. Corrasion/abrasion
In this case, the river uses the sediment/load it is carrying to wear out the bed
and banks by rubbing the load onto the bed and banks. This is the most
effective method used by rivers especially during floods when the river’s load
increases.
It is the process that forms potholes:- pebbles may become trapped by the
uneven riverbed (hollows). As the water swirls in a typical turbulent flow, the
pebbles are forced to move in a circular motion. This way pebbles drill into the
riverbed, rocks enlarging the potholes.
2. Hydraulic action
This takes place when the force of moving water pushes water into the rock
cracks on the bank. The air in the cracks is compressed to great limits and this
forces the river rocks to collapse.
Hydraulic action can be caused by the shear force of flowing water especially
below the waterfall or a rapid is enough to dislodge consolidated sediments and
weaker rocks.
3. Attrition
This occurs when the material moved along the riverbed collides with other
material and breaks into smaller, rounder, and smoother particles.
4. Corrosion/solution
This is removal of chemical ions, especially calcium which causes rocks to
dissolve. It is a quite effective where water has high erosivity levels (large
concentration of carbonic, sulphuric, nitric and humic acids) and where geology
making up the bed and banks is highly erodible e.g., limestone, chalk,
sandstone etc.
NB- As the river erodes its channel using the above methods it is able to extend its
channel, vertically(vertical erosion), laterally (lateral erosion) and towards its
source (headward erosion)
Vertical erosion is the wearing away of the floor of a river (riverbed) and results in a
river getting deeper. In this case the channel’s erosional processes are concentrated
onto the riverbed. Vertical erosion is common in the upper course of the river due to
steep gradient that allows the fast-moving water to attack the bed of the river and the
fact that streams are underloaded (less energy). Landforms such as deep, narrow, V-
shaped valleys and rapids are formed.
Lateral erosion is the wearing away of the sides of a river (riverbanks) and results in
a river getting wider. The channel’s erosional processes are concentrated onto the
riverbanks. Lateral erosion is common in the middle and lower course of the river
where the increase of water volume provides the river with full load (more energy) of
sediments that allows it to attack its banks.
Lateral erosion may be assisted by weathering and mass wasting operating on the
valley slopes.
Headward erosion is active at the source/ head of the river or at the point where the
river’s long profile is locally steep e.g., at a waterfall.