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River

Rivers begin at a source and flow downhill through a course to eventually empty into an ocean or lake at a mouth. They can range significantly in length from just kilometers to spanning entire continents. A river's ecosystem depends on complex interactions between its water flow, substrate, temperature, and other physical and chemical components. Flooding occurs when a river receives more water than it can handle from rainfall or snowmelt.

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28 views

River

Rivers begin at a source and flow downhill through a course to eventually empty into an ocean or lake at a mouth. They can range significantly in length from just kilometers to spanning entire continents. A river's ecosystem depends on complex interactions between its water flow, substrate, temperature, and other physical and chemical components. Flooding occurs when a river receives more water than it can handle from rainfall or snowmelt.

Uploaded by

blhnbeyz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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River is a large, natural stream of flowing water.

Rivers are found on


every continent and on nearly every kind of land. Some flow all year
round. Others flow seasonally or during wet years. A river may be
only kilometers long, or it may span much of a continent.
A river begins at a
source (or more
often several
sources) and ends
at a mouth,
following a path
called a course.
Alluvial rivers have channels and
Bedrock rivers common in upland
floodplains that are self-formed. They
and mountanious regions form
erode their banks. Based on property of
when the river down cuts through
their banks, based on the flow they
the modern sediments and into the
experience, amount and size the
underlying bedrock.
sediment they carry.
The crenon is the uppermost
The rhithron is the
zone at the source of the
upstream portion of the
river. It is further divided into The potamon is the
river that follows the
the eucrenon (spring or boil remaining downstream
crenon. It is
zone) and the hypocrenon stretch of river. It is
characterized by
(brook or headstream zone). characterized by warmer
relatively cool
These areas are characterized temperatures, lower
temperatures, high
by low temperatures, reduced oxygen levels, slow flow
oxygen levels, and fast,
oxygen content and slow and sandier bottoms.
turbulent, swift flow.
moving water.
An ecosystem is the sum of interactions
between plants, animals and microorganisms
and between them and non-living physical and
chemical components in a particular natural
environment.

Water
Water Flow Subtrate Light Temperature
Chemistry

Bacteria Plan Invertebrates Fish Birds


• It is complex and depends on inputs from the
atmosphere, the geology which it travels and
take the inputs from human activities.
• The chemical composition of the water has a
large impact on the ecology.
• Understanding and characterising river water
chemistry requires a well designed and
managed sampling and analysis.
Water Quality
The quality of natural water in rivers depends on a number of interrelated
factors. Water has the ability to react with the minerals that occur in the soil
and rocks and to dissolve a wide range of materials, so that its natural state
is never pure. It always contains a variety of soluble inorganic, soluble
organic and organic compounds.

Dissolved Oxygen
Dissolved Oxygen is in fact essential for the survival of all aquatic organisms.
Moreover, oxygen affects a vast number of other water indicators, not only
biochemical but aesthetic ones like odor, clarity and taste.
Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycle. River
flooding happens when a river cannot cope with the
amount of water draining into it from the surrounding
land.

Why do Rivers Flood?


Floods are natural events. They mainly happen when
the river receives greater than usual amounts of water
(for example through rainfall or melting snow).
How can people control river flooding?
River engineers may build artificial flood banks, straighten the
river course, or dredge the riverbed to make it deeper. All of
these methods of control can work.

What are the factors that affect flooding ?


• Rainfall Distribution
• Infiltration
• Interception
• Levee/dam Failures
What is the impact on people and places?
• Buildings may prove no obstacle to its power
• Food crops may be ruined leading to food
shortages and even starvation
• Peoples live may be lost through drowning disease
and homelessness.
headw
ater

Flows
downhill

stream/
spring
creeks, brooks,

river rivulets, or
tributaries
Generally, rivers follow a downhill course due to the gravitational
pull of the Earth. The majority of the planet's rivers arise in the
mountains and are bound in a downstream, southerly direction.
• Sediment yield is the total sediment load that
leaves a drainage basin (usually measured in
tons/acre/year).

• Coarse sediment is transported by streams as bed


load,
and fine sediment is transported as suspended
load.
• River management is a continuous activity as rivers tend to 'undo'
the modifications made by people.
• Dams or weirs may be built to control the flow, store water, or
extract
• Energy
• Levees, known as dikes in Europe, may be built to prevent river
water from flowing on floodplains or floodways.
• Canals connect rivers to one another for water transfer or
navigation.

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