Visual notes on How rivers are formed

1. Rivers
 The beginning of a river is called its source.
 All rivers have tributaries streams that join the
main river
 River system drains an area called a drainage basin
 The area between two drainage basins is called a
watershed
 Part of a river that is tidal is called an estuary
 Mouth of a river is where it meets the sea or a lake
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2. Rivers stages
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3. Upper / youthful stage
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4. upper
 Vertical erosion
 Interlocking spurs
 Waterfalls
 V-shaped valleys
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5. Middle ( mature stage)
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6. Middle stage
 Lateral erosion erodes its banks
 Meanders
 Widening valley
 Flood plain
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7. Lower (old stage)
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8. Lower
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9. Lower stage
 Deposition
 Flood plain
 Ox-bow lakes
 Delta
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10. Deposition
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11. Floodplain
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12. Ox-Bow lake
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13. Delta
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14. River processes
 Speed and energy of water erodes = hydraulic action.
 Fragments of rock carried by river called the load wear
away the banks and river bed = abrasion.
 Crashing of stones and pebbles carried by the river
wears itself away = attrition.
 Limestone chalk dissolved by carbonic acid = solution
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