Module 11 of 12 · Text
River Landforms
- Waterfall - sudden drop on river course
- Soft rock gets eroded quicker than hard rock creating a step
- Hard rock forms an overhang
- Abrasion and hydraulic action cause a plunge pool
- An increase in size causes the overhang to collapse, leaving a waterfall
- Meanders
- Rivers flow round a bend and the water pushes on the outside
- Lateral erosion on the bend causes a river cliff
- Water on the inside is slower so deposits material
- Causes bends in the river
- Oxbow Lake
- Erosion makes a narrow neck
- During floods, the river takes the shortest course, through the neck
- Creates a new straighter river course
- Leaves a cut off section = oxbow lake
- Levees - in the lower course
- Sediment in the water gets deposited into the flood plains when there's a flood
- Builds up over time