EARTH’S EXTERNAL PROCESSES AND LANDFORM DEVELOPMENT – ACTION OF RUNNING WATER

CONTENT

1. Action of Running Water
2. Processes of River Erosion
3. Erosional Features of a River
4. Depositional Features of Rivers

Action of Running Water

Water as an Energy System

When rain falls on the earth, it is distributed in various ways. Much of the waters from the rain flow directly off slopes to join streets and rivers, eventually reaching the streams and rivers, oceans and seas. This is a run-off. A great proportion of waters received percolates downward into the soil filling up spaces and joint and pore spaces, and forming what is known as ground water. The source of a river may be spring, lake or marsh, generally rivers flow from uplands to lowlands. The run-off carve out channels as they flow and they transport and deposit materials for very great distances along the course. It becomes great agent of denudation.

The amount of erosion, transportation and deposition a river carries depends on the flow of water through the channel and this flow is determined by several reasons.