PHYSICAL

GEOGRAPHY
1. HYDROLOGY AND
FLUVIAL
GEOMORPHOLOGY
CONTENT
S
WATERSHE SOURC
D E
CONFLUENCE
S

TRIBUTARIES

MOUTH
Drainage patterns
The pattern of streams and rivers within a catchment can vary greatly.
Often there are similar characteristics based on the underlying geology
and structure of the drainage basin. Here are four common types:
• Dendritic – a tree-like pattern where water may converge (meet) from
a variety of directions before joining a main river channel.
• Rectangular – where the streams and channels follow geological
weaknesses and gaps in blocky bedrock.
• Radial – where water drains away from a central high point, hill or
mountain into separate channels.
• Trellised – where streams follow slopes downhill and converge along
areas of eroded rock.
Endorheic drainage basins
Endorheic drainage basins are
inland basins that do not drain
to an ocean. Instead their base
level is an inland lake or sea.

The drainage basin is known as

an open system as water is not
confined to a specific location
and can move from one state to
the next at any given time.
 INPUTS
Drainage basins principally have one main input –
precipitation (ppt), which includes all forms of rainfall,
snow, frost, hail and dew. Water is then stored or
transferred in the system for an indeterminate amount of
time before its eventual output in the form of
evaporation (EVP), evapotranspiration (EVT) and
runoff.
Precipitation refers to the conversion and transfer of
moisture from the atmosphere to the land. Precipitation
can be very variable and several factors may impact the
hydrology of an area: amount and extent of precipitation, This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

intensity, type, duration and geographical distribution.

STORAGE
Storage refers to the parts of the
system that hold or retain water for
periods of time. They can be open
stores on the surface of the land,
within vegetation or hidden deep
within the rock structure. The amount
of time that water is stored for is
dependent on the processes acting on
it. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under
CC BY-SA-NC
1.INTERCEPTION
Refers to water that is caught and stored by vegetation. It is affected largely
by the size and coverage of plants, with large broadleaved trees catching the
most water (in summer). Intercepted water may still transfer through the
system using three main mechanisms:
• interception loss – water retained by plants and later lost as evaporation
• throughfall and leaf drip – water that is slowed by running off and
dropping from leaves, twigs and stems
• stemflow – water that runs down branches and trunk to the ground.
Urban areas and areas that have been cleared for cultivation have much lower
rates of interception.
When vegetation absorbs moisture directly through its root system it becomes stored
within the organism/plant and is called vegetation storage.
2. SURFACE
STORAGE
Name given to any parts of the system where
water lies above the ground on the Earth’s
surface. Within a drainage basin water may
naturally accumulate in lakes, ponds and
puddles or through human intervention
whereby engineering creates structures to
contain water such as reservoirs and swimming
pools. Surface stores have a high potential
evapotranspiration rate as there is a large
amount of moisture available with limited
cover.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Channel storage refers to
water that is contained within a
river channel or stream at any
given time.
Groundwater storage refers to
water that has become stored in
the pores and spaces of
underlying rocks. Despite being
hidden, this water is
fundamentally important to the
hydrological system accounting
for almost 97 per cent of all
freshwater on Earth. Although a
significant part of the
hydrological cycle, water
contained here may be stored
for 20 000 years. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Any large quantities of water are contained in aquifers. An
aquifer is
an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or
unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) that can be
found at any depth. Those nearest the surface are often used
for water supply and irrigation. Areas that suffer from a large
extraction of groundwater through wells and pumps require
good recharge rates (where water stores naturally fill back
up). Those areas with
little recharge consider groundwater to be a non-renewable
resource. Many groundwater reserves are being used at an
unsustainable rate too.
Groundwater recharge occurs as a result of percolation,
infiltration from precipitation, leakage and seepage from the
banks and beds of water bodies as well as artificial recharge
through from reservoirs and irrigation.
In 2013 large freshwater aquifers were discovered under
continental shelves off Australia, China, North America and
South Africa. They contain an estimated half a million cubic
kilometres of low salinity water that could be economically
processed into potable (drinkable) water.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

TRANSFERS
Overland flow is the movement of water over
the land, downslope to a body of water. It has
two main mechanisms. Where precipitation
exceeds the infiltration capacity accumulated
water will flow downslope due to the effects of
gravity. An alternative mechanism occurs when
the soil saturation exceeds its maximum
capacity due to groundwater uplifting, base
flow, and lateral subsurface water discharges,
resulting in the appearance of saturation excess
overland flow.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 CHANNEL FLOW
Channel flow is the movement of water within a defined channel such
as a stream or river. The speed and flow of the water will depend on a
variety
of factors such as gradient and efficiency; these are considered in more
detail in river channel processes and landforms). Base flow is considered
to be the lowest flow within a channel, often occurring due to a lack of
precipitation leaving only the influence of water trapped in rocks and soil.
It is maintained by groundwater seeping into the bed of a river. The
channel
is topped up by precipitation events and the arrival of water through other
mechanisms such as throughflow, overland flow etc. It is relatively
constant but increases following wet conditions.
Throughflow refers to the movement of water through the soil substrata.
As the soil type of an area is closely linked to the underlying bedrock flow
rates through different soil profiles can be varied. Clay-rich soils are
known for their water retention whereas sandy loams are characteristically
free draining. The influence of land use also plays a part as it can
influence soil density and aeration

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 Groundwater flow is subsurface water (lies under the surface of the
ground) that travels downwards from the soil and into the bedrock
through cracks and pores. This process is called percolation.
Differing rock types and structures will affect the flow of water into
underlying layers, with porous sedimentary/carboniferous rocks such
as chalk and limestone being the most effective carriers of water. The

GROUND
layers of rock that become saturated form the phreatic zone (Figure
1.7 (a)) in which the uppermost layer is known as the water table.
Where there is a small area of underlying impermeable substrata
WATERFL (aquiclude), water may be held higher up the basin profile as a
perched water table (Figure 1.7 (b)). Water that cannot pass through
OW the rock layers will emerge as a spring.
 OUTPUTS
Evaporation is the process by which water is converted
to water vapour in the atmosphere. This is most
significant where there are large bodies of water such as
the oceans and seas and on a local scale – riversand lakes.
Rates of evaporation are dependent on climatic variables
such as temperature, humidity and wind speed. Other
factors include the amount of water available, vegetation
cover, and albedo (reflectivity of the surface).
Evaporation rates change throughout the day and with
seasonality.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

TRANSPIRATION
Is the process of evaporation of water from plants
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
through pores (stomata) in their leaves. Broadleaved
trees, such as beech, can hold more water and so
have greater potential for high transpiration rates.
Some species of plant, such as the saguaro cacti, are
specially adapted to retain moisture by reducing their
rates of transpiration.
Evapotranspiration is the combined effect of
evaporation and transpiration and represents the
major output from the drainage basin system. In
humid areas 75 per cent of moisture may be lost in
this way and up to 100 per cent in arid areas.
 RIVER
DISCHARGE
River discharge is a measure of the volume
of water moving in a river. It can also be
used to describe the output of river water
from a drainage basin. At its lowest point a
river will discharge into an ocean. Although
a river cannot change catchments its
drainage basin may be part of a larger
complex system that links a number of
drainage basins.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA