Rivers Fluvial Geomorphology I

● Streams, Drainage Basin Morphology, River Evolution, Discharge, River Transport,

Systems
Concept of Run-off
● Precipitation
● Through- flow
● Interception
● Infiltration
● Soil Field Capacity - Permeability/Porosity
● Soil Water - Groundwater
Overland Flow - Run-off
● Run-off or Sheet wash mm in depth
● Rill flow cm in depth
● Channel flow 10 cm in depth
● Gully flow >1m in depth
● Stream Flow> 1m in depth
Drainage Patterns / Networks
● Dendritic or Arborescent
● Radial
● Trellis
● Rectangular
Lecture notes
● Water starts to move across earth's surface due to precipitation
● Precipitation any source of water that arrives at the earth's surface
● Precipitation and types of it are seasonal
● Through flow how quickly does the water flow
● Interception what intercepts the water from reaching the surface
● Infiltration how quickly will it infiltrate usually enters slowly depending on the
surface
● Soil field capacity- you can only get so much water depending on the soil’s
space capacity
● Permeability- its a rate, distance over time, the faster the water can pass
through the surface means there is high permeability
● Sand is very permeable due to the pore spaces being large
● Clay has tiny pore spaces meaning it has less permeability
● Porosity- is a ratio, when surface area increase of an object the porosity
increases, clay has a high porosity and sand has a low porosity
● High permeability means low porosity and vice versa
● Overland flow- the movement across the earth's surface
● Soil water- it is a seasonal thing, soil could be dry in october and in april or
may it could have high moisture
● Slide 6- the sequence/ process does not change ever, sheetwash then rills
then channels then gullies and lastly stream
● Removing water from a surface in the most efficient way
● Superimposed- the river has been superimposed on the surface, surface was
there before river
● antecedent - opposite of superimposed
● Stream dynamics- how do streams flow
● Stream channel- where it connects all the way around the channel- wetted
perimeter
● As channel changes shape so does the velocity
● Water flows across the earth's surface in two flows
● Laminar flow and turbulent flow
● As river discharge changes river competency changes
● High flow of velocity highly competency
● Smaller particles stay in suspension longer and get into it sooner
● Discharge = velocity
● Higher velocity needed for particle movement
● Longitudinal profile- rivers on a curve
● Intend to be on a curve profile
● Sea level is base level
● Sea levels have risen
● Due to sea levels animals have been forced to stay in one area and thus have
not been able to colonize certain areas
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