Monday, March 26, 2007

Topography


A river's water is generally confined to a particular channel, made up of a stream bed connected between banks. In larger rivers, a wider flood-plain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel can be found. Flood plains are very wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and flood-plain can be blurred particularly in urban areas where the flood-plain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing and industry. The river channel may also contain a single stream of water but many rivers, if left unconstrained by man's activities, will create quite a lot of streams of water surrounded by a channel producing a braided river.

A river flowing in its channel is a source of extensive energy that acts on the river channel for altering its shape and form. In mountainous torrential zones, this can be seen as erosion channels through hard rocks and the creation of sands and gravels from the destruction of larger rocks. Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment may develop conspicuous deltas at their mouths, if conditions permit. Gradient is gradually controlled largely by tectonics, but discharge is controlled largely by climate and sediment load is controlled by various factors including climate, geology in the headwaters, and the stream gradient.


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