River Landscapes formations

Waterfalls

• The river flows over bands of softer and harder rocks
• Softer rock is more quickly eroded
• The river undercuts the harder rock leaving an overhang
• The river forms a plunge pool below the waterfall
• Overhanging rock is unsupported and falls into the plunge pool
• The waterfall is moved upstream
• This process continues and a gorge is cut back into the hillside
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Interlocking Spurs

• In the upper course there is more vertical erosion. The river cuts down into the valley. If there are areas of hard rock which are harder to erode, the river will bend around it. This creates interlocking spurs of land which link together like the teeth of a zip
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