PHYSI

CALGEOGRAPHYNOTES
TOPI
CS
1.Hy
drol
ogyandf
luv
ial
processes[
pages1t
o36]
2.Geomor
phol
ogy[
pages37-
64]
3.Ar
idandSemi
-Ar
idEnv
ironment
s[pages65-

ADVANCEDLEVEL
GEOGRAPHYNOTES
 HYDROLOGYANDFLUVI
AL
PROCESSES
Hy
dro-meanswat
er, el
whi
l ogy
-meansst
udyof
.
Hydr
ology-i
st herefor
et hesci
enti
fi
cstudyofwater,it
soccurrence,dist
ribut
ion,
movementandst orageintheai
r,ont
hegroundandundergr
ound.Inshorthydrol
ogy
i
sasciencethatisconcernedwi
ththest
udyofwater
.

THEGLOBALHYDROLOGI
CALCYCLE(
WATERCYCLE)
Referstotheendlessint
erchangeofwat erbet
weent hesea,at
mosphereandland,or
theindefi
nit
ecirculat
ionofwat erbet weentheground,seaandat mosphere.Itis
madeupofanet wor kofstorages,tr
ansfer
saswel lastransf
ormat
ions(change)of
moistur
ebet weenland,seaandai r
.

Pr
eci
pit
ati
on

Evapor
ati
on & Uni
mpededf
all
tr
anspi
rat
ion

I
nter
cept
ionst
orage
Sur
facef
low

Sur
facest
orage
A
Inf
il
trat
ion Thr
oughf
low
Soilmoist
urest
orage

Per
col
ati
on
Basef
low
Gr
oundwat
erst
orage

River
channel

1
DEFI
NITI
ONS
Ev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion-t
he pr
ocessoft
ransf
err
ing moi
stur
ef r
om t he ear tht ot he
atmospher e by
ev aporationofwat erand
transpirationf r
om pl ants
orev apot ranspirat
ion i s
the sum ofev apor at i
on
and t ranspi r
ati
on.ET i s
alsodef inedast her eturn
ofwat erv apourt ot he
atmospher e by
ev aporation f rom l and
and wat ersur faces and
by t he t ranspirati
on of
veget ati
on.
Evaporati
on-isaphy sical
process bywhi ch wat er
tr
ansformsf rom liquidt o
gas (atmospher ic wat er
vapour)andi toccur son
fr
eely exposed sur faces
l
ike al l surface wat er
bodiesandt hesoil.
Transpi
rat
ion-i
sabiologicalpr
ocessbywhichwat
erev
apor
atesf
rom t
hesur
faceof
theleav
esthroughopeningscaledst
l omat
a.
NB-Ev aporationaccountsforthemov ementofwatert
ot heairf
rom sour
cessuch
ast hesoil,canopyinter
cepti
on,andwat er
bodi
es.Transpir
ati
onaccountsfort he
mov ementofwat erwithi
napl antandthesubsequentlossofwat erasv apour
thr
oughst omat ainit
sleaves.
Precipit
ation-ref
erstoallf
ormsofmoist
ure(
li
qui
d,gas,sol
i
d)f
all
ingfr
om theskyto
thegr ounde. g.rai
nfal
l
,snow,hai
l,sl
eet
,fogandmist.Iti
saninputoftheclosed
hydrologicalsyst
em.
I
ntercepti
on-isapr ocessonwhi chpreci
pit
ati
oni sprev
entedfrom direct
lyhi
tt
ingthe
gr
ound byv egetation (t
ree l
eaves and branches,incl
uding grass and shrubs)
.
I
ntercepti
onalsoi nvol
vesasegmentofpr ecipi
tati
onthatispreventedfrom dir
ectl
y
hi
tti
ngt hegroundbyf orestl
it
terly
ingonforestfl
oors.
St
em f
low-i
swheni
nter
cept
edwat
erf
lowsdownt
hebr
anchesandst
emsoft
rees.
Int
ercept
ionl
oss–i swhenint
ercept
edwat
ernev
err
eachest
hegr
oundbecausei
t
evaporat
esbacki
ntotheat
mosphere.

2
Through f
all
-iswhen r ai
nwaterpenetr
atest hrough t
hegapsofthev egetati
on
canopyandfall
sdirect
lytothegroundsurface,orsimpl
ywatert
hatf
all
sdirectl
yto
thegroundundi
stur
bedbyv eget
ati
on.
I
nfil
trat
ion-isthesinki
ngofwat erint
ot hegroundthroughtheporespacesav ail
abl
e
i
nt hesoil,underthepullofgravi
ty.Inf
iltr
ati
onisresponsi
bleforrechargi
ngground
waterstorages.Itisal
sodescr i
bedast heini
ti
alentr
anceofwat erint
ot heground,
i
.e.from thesurfacesubsyst
em t othesoi lmoist
urezone,thr
oughsoi lopeni
ngsor
pores.
Per
colat
ion-i
sthef urt
herdownwardmov ementofi nfi
l
trat
edwat erfr
om thesoil
moist
urezonethrought hezoneofaer
ationandt owardst hewatertabl
e(zoneof
per
manentsatur
ation)undert
hepul
lofgravit
y.I
trechargesgroundwaterst
orages.
Basef
low-isthelat
eralorhorizontalmovementofgroundwaterf
rom oneground
waterstor
aget otheot her,i
ncludingtheeffl
uentofgroundwateri
nto surf
ace
st
reams.Basefl
owisv er
yslowandi sresponsi
blef
orr
echargi
ngper
enni
alst
reams.
Overl
andfloworsur f
acerunoff
-isthehori
zontalmov ementofwat erontheground
underthepul lofgr
avit
y.I
toccurseit
herini
nunconcent ratedfor
ms( over
landfl
ow)
orfol
lowingdef i
nedchannel
s(channelf
low).I
tisresponsiblef
orrechar
gingsurf
ace
waterstorages.
NB-ov
erl
andf
lowoccur
swhenpr
eci
pit
ati
onr
ateexceedsi
nfi
l
trat
ioncapaci
ty.
Through fl
ow-i sthe lat
eralmov ementofwat erj
ustbel ow the surf
ace i
na
downslope di
rect
ion underthe pullofgravi
ty.Itoccurs when infi
l
trat
ed water
encounter
sani mpermeablerocksurf
acethatwouldprohi
bitpercol
ati
onbutinst
ead
for
cewat ertofl
owl at
eral
ly.Onreachi
ngthev al
leysi
desthroughf l
owemer geson
thesurf
acetoform spri
ngs.
Groundwat
er-isthet
erm usedtodescr
ibeal
lthewat
erf
oundbeneat
hthegr
ound
surf
ace(
undergr
oundwaterstor
age)
.
Surfacestorage-referstowatert hatistemporari
lyorpermanentl
ystoredont he
groundsur f
aceaf t
erpreci
pit
ationorsnow mel t
ing.Temporarystor
agesi ncl
ude
waterthataccumul atesi
nsmal ldepressi
ons,smallst
reams,r
iver
sandsmal ldams.
Permanentst oragesont heotherhandi ncl
udelargedams,lakes,per
ennialriv
ers,
seasandoceans.
Permeabi
li
ty-r
eferstotheabili
tyofrockst otr
ansmi
twat er
/al l
owanceofwater
passageorentr
ance.Rocksthatall
owwat ertopasst
hroughe.g.chal
karesai
dt o
bepermeablewhil
ethosethatdoesnotar
esaidtobeimpermeable.
EVAPOTRANSPI
RATI
ON
Refer
stoacombi nedprocessofevaporati
onandt
ranspi
rat
ion.Ev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion
canbedescr
ibedasactualETorpot
entialET
Act
ualev
apotr
anspi
rat
ion-refer
stotheexactamountofwatervapourpresenti
nthe
at
mospheret
hatisl
ostthroughevapor
ati
onandtranspi
rat
ionatanygiv
enconditi
on.
Pot
ent
ialET-i
sthemaxi
mum amountofwat
erv
apourt
hatcanbeaddedt
othe

3
atmosphereundergi
vencondi
ti
ons.Orthemaximum rateofETachi
evabl
eunder
cert
aincl
imati
ccondi
ti
onswhenthesoi
li
satfi
eldcapaci
ty.
Fi
eldcapaci
ty-i
swhenwat
eri
scont
inuousl
yav
ail
abl
ewi
thi
nthesoi
lsy
stem.
NBact ualETisalwaysl
owerthanpotenti
alETrates.Indesert
sther
ear ever
yhigh
ratesofpotent
ialETbecausetheamountofmoi sturethatcoul
dbel osti
salways
greatert
hanavail
abl
emoistur
e,andt
hisleadst
oadef ici
t.
Atmospheri
cfact
orsaff
ect
ingevapotr
anspi
rat
ion
Theamountofwat ert
hatplantstr
anspi
revariesgreat
lygeographi
cal
l
yandov
er
ti
me.Thereareanumberoffactor
sthatdet
ermineevapotr
anspi
rati
onrat
es:
Temperature:Transpi
rati
onratesgo upast hetemperatur
egoesup,especi all
y
duri
ngthegr owingseason,whent heairiswar merduet ostrongersunl
ightand
warmerai rmasses.Hi ghert
emperatur
escauset heplantcell
swhi chcontrolthe
openi
ngs( stoma)wher ewat eri
sreleasedtotheatmospher et oopen,wher eas
col
dertemper at
urescausetheopeni
ngstoclose.
Relat
ivehumidit
y:Astherelat
ivehumidi
tyoft
heai rsur
roundi
ngtheplantri
sest
he
tr
anspirat
ionrat
efal
ls.I
tiseasi
erforwat
ertoevaporat
eintodr
yerai
rthanint
omore
satur
atedair.
Wi ndandai rmov ement :Incr
easedmov ementoft heai
rar oundapl antwil
lresulti
na
highertranspirat
ionrate.Thisissomewhatr elatedtother elati
vehumi di
tyoft heair
,
i
nt hataswat ert r
anspiresfrom al eaf
,thewat ersaturatest heai rsurr
oundingt he
l
eaf .Ift
herei snowi nd,t heai
raroundt heleafmaynotmov ev er
ymuch,r aisi
ngt he
humi dit
yoft heairaroundt heleaf
.Wi ndwi l
lmov et
heairar ound,wi t
htheresul tt
hat
themor esat urat
edai rclosetotheleafisreplacedbydr i
erai r.
Soil
-moi
stur
eav ai
l
abil
i
ty:Whenmoistur
eislacking,plant
scanbegi
nt osenesce
(pr
ematureagei
ng,whi
chcanresul
tinl
eafl
oss)andtranspi
rel
esswat
er.
Typeofplant:Pl
antstr
anspir
ewateratdi
ffer
entrates.Someplant
swhichgrow i
n
ar
idregi
ons,suchascact iandsuccul
ent
s,conserv
epr eci
ouswaterbytr
anspi
ri
ng
l
esswaterthanotherpl
ants.
Dept
hofthewatertable:i
fthewatert
ablei
scl
osertothesur
face,t
her
ateofwat
er
upt
akebypl
ant
si shigherandthi
sincr
easeETr
atesandvicev
ersa
I
NTERCEPTI
ON
I
ntercepti
on-isapr ocessonwhi chpreci
pit
ati
oni sprev
entedfrom direct
lyhi
tt
ingthe
gr
ound byv egetation (t
ree l
eaves and branches,incl
uding grass and shrubs)
.
I
ntercepti
onalsoi nvol
vesasegmentofpr ecipi
tati
onthatispreventedfrom dir
ectl
y
hi
tti
ngt hegroundbyf orestl
it
terly
ingonforestfl
oors.
St
em f
low-i
swheni
nter
cept
edwat
erf
lowsdownt
hebr
anchesandst
emsoft
rees.
Int
ercept
ionl
oss–i swhenint
ercept
edwat
ernev
err
eachest
hegr
oundbecausei
t
evaporat
esbacki
ntotheat
mosphere.
Through f
all
-iswhen rai
nwaterpenetr
atest hrough t
hegapsofthev egetati
on
canopyandfall
sdi
rect
lytothegroundsurface,orsimpl
ywatert
hatf
all
sdirectl
yto

4
t
hegr
oundundi
stur
bedbyv
eget
ati
on.
Ty
pesofI
nter
cept
ion
Pri
maryint
ercept
ion-ref
erst
othef
irstst
ageofint
ercept
ionwherebyrai
ndropsare
bl
ockedbytreecanopiesorgr
assf
orthefir
stt
ime.Thisconst
it
utethebiggestpar
t
ofi
nter
cepti
onstorage.
Secondar yint
ercepti
on-refer
st othesecondphaseofi
nter
cept
ionwher
ebywater
fall
ingfrom pri
mar yint
ercepti
onisrecapt
uredbyfol
i
agebeneat
hthemaincanopy
e.g.grass,smallshr
ubse.t.c.
FACTORSAFFECTINGINTERCEPTION
I
nter
cepti
onvari
esgreatl
yfrom pl
acet
opl
ace(
spat
ialv
ari
ati
on)andf
rom t
imet
o
ti
me(tempor
aryvar
iat
ion).
Typeofv eget
ati
on-thereismoreint
ercept
ioninthetr
opicalr
ainf
orestduetothe
presenceofdenseveget
ati
oncover
.Withadecreaseinveget
ati
vecover,t
heamount
ofinter
cept
ionalsodecr
easese.
g.i
ndesertenvi
ronment
s.
Timeoft hey ear-inSavannacl i
mat es,v ari
ationi nvegetat
ioncov eraccordingto
seasons cause v ar
iat
ion ininterception.I n wi nt
erf orinstance,thereisl ess
i
ntercept
ionbecauset herewi l
lbel essv egetationcover.Wi t
ht hebeginni
ngofa
rai
nyseason,inter
cepti
onst i
llr
emai nslowbecauset r
esswi l
lbeleafl
ess(deciduous
natureofSavannat rees)
.Howev er,thesummerseasonexper i
encehighrat esof
i
ntercept
ionduet oanincreaseinveget ati
oncov er.
Rainfal
ldurati
on-mor eintercepti
on occur
s att he begi
nni
ng ofthe st
orm and
decreases as the st
orm progresses.Thisis because as t
he st
orm conti
nues,
vegetati
onwi l
lbecomesat urated.Inshort
-l
iv
edst orms,muchoft herai
nisl ost
thr
oughi nt
ercepti
on.
Rai
nfal
lfr
equent
-morefr
equentrai
nfal
lhasl
oweri
nter
cepti
onbecausewi
l
lbecome
sat
urat
edsuchthatt
heywil
lnotaccommodat
emorewat er
/rai
n.
Rainf
alli
ntensi
ty-hi
ghint
ensit
ystormshavev
eryl
ow i
nter
cept
ionr
atesy
etl
i
ght
showersl
ikedri
zzlei
ncr
easeint
ercept
ion.
Human i nt
erfer
ence- affor
est
ati
on, deforest
ation, damming, mi
ning and
i
ndust
ri
ali
sat
ion.Theseei
theri
ncr
easeordecreaseinter
cept
ion.

I
NFI
LTRATI
ON
I
nfi
lt
rat
ion i
st hesinking ofwateri
ntotheground undert
hepul lofgr
avi
ty.I
t
pr
oceedspercolat
ionanditoccur
swhenduri
ngandaft
erpreci
pit
ati
on.
I
nfi
l
trati
oncapaci
ty-ref
erst
ot hemaxi
mum rat
eatwhi
chasoi
linagi
vencondi
ti
on
wi
llabsorbwat
er.I
tismeasuredinmm/hour
.
I
nfi
l
trat
ionrat
e-r
efer
stot
hespeedatwhi
chwat
eri
sabsor
bedbyt
hesoi
l
,measur
ed
i
nmm/ hr.
NBf
orf
act
orsaf
fect
ingi
nfi
l
trat
ionseef
act
orsaf
fect
ingsur
facer
unof
f.

5
 OVERLANDFLOW ORSURFACERUNOFF
Surf
acerunof
fcanbedefinedasgrav
itat
ionalf
lowofwateront
hesur
faceei
therin
concent
rat
edforms(r
il
ls,riv
ulet
sorgulli
es)orspreadi
ngonawiderarea(sheet
wash).
Over
landfl
ow occurswheninfi
l
trati
oncapaci
tyi
sexceededbyr
ainf
alli
ntensi
tyor
whenthesoi
lgetssatur
ated(
saturat
ionov
erl
andf
low)
.
Hor
toni
anOv
erl
andf
low:I
nfi
l
trat
ionExcess
AccordingtoHor t
onr unoffoccurswhenr ainfal
li
ntensit
yexceedsinfi
l
trat
ioncapacit
y.
Histheorywast hatrunoffisther esultofoverl
andf l
owproducedwhenpr eci
pit
ati
on
i
si nexcessoft hei nf
il
trati
oncapaci tyoft hesoi l
.Infi
l
trat
ioncapaci t
yisati t
s
great
estatt hestartofther ai
nfal
l butthendecreasesrapi
dlyduet othecompact i
ng
ofthesoi lsurf
acebyt her aindr
ops,andt heinwashingoff i
nemat eri
alsintosoil
openings.
Horton’st heor
yi s mor e appli
cablei n ari
d and semi -
ari
dr egions wher eli
ttl
e
vegetati
oncov erpromot ethei mpactofr ai
ndropsont hegr oundr esulti
nginthe
generati
on of f l
ash f l
oods.I ti s al
so appl i
cabl
e on st eep gradients where
gravi
tati
onalforceexceedsinfil
trati
oncapacity
.Onemaj orweaknessoft hetheor
yis
thatitcannotbeappl iedtot her ai
nforest
sandHor t
onal sofail
edt ot akenoteof
otherfactorsot
herthanr ai
nfal
lintensi
tythatcontr
olsrunoff.
Sat
urat
ionov
erl
andf
low(
Hewl
ettandHi
bber
t:1967)
Thist heorysuggestt hatov er
landfl
ow occurswhen t he soilissat ur
ated.This
sit
uati
on i spossibl
eon gent l
egr adi
entsand in wellvegetated zones( tr
opical
rai
nforests)whereinfi
ltr
ationispr omoted.Thepresenceofani mpermeabl erock
masscl ose t
ot he surface al
so enhance the sat
urati
on ofsoi lleadi
ng tot he
generati
onofsaturati
onov erl
andflow.
Onemaj orweaknessoft hetheoryisthati ti
sinadequateforari
dandsparsely
vegetat
edareas.
TheHewlettmodelisal
sol essappl
icabl
ethantheHort
onianmodel
i
nar easthathav
ehadunusuall
ylongper
iodsbetweenr ai
nfal
lorwher
etransmi
ssi
on
l
ossesar ehigh(
Uni
ver
sit
yof t
heWestIndies2010).
Factorsaffectingov er l
andflowandi nfi
lt
rat
ion
I
nwr it
ing thesef act ors,candi datesmustbal ancetheansweri .
e.wr i
tef act
ors
i
ncreasing i nfil
tr
ation/ overlandflow as wel l as f actor
s t hat r educe
i
nfil
trati
on/overlandflow.Thesef act
orscanei t
herbephysicalorant hropogenic.
Candidates must al so be abl e t o disti
ngui
sh phy si
cal factors f r
om
anthropogenic/humanf act
or s.
Spatialvari
ati
on-Candidatesmustal sonotevari
ati
onsofinfi
lt
rati
on/overl
andfl
ow
from placetoplace(spati
alvar
iat
ion)e.g.f
rom onecli
materegi
ont oanother,f
rom
ruraltourbanarease.t
.c.Here,
factor
sthatcausevari
ati
ononal ocalscal
emustbe
excluded.
Tempor ar
yvari
ati
on-var
iat
ionfr
om timetotimee.
g.inSav anna,thereisseasonal
vari
ati
ons.Otherexamplesincl
udechangesi nl
andusee.g.f rom ruralt
our ban,
changesi nl
andcov erthr
oughr e-
veget
ati
onordev eget
ation,e.t
.c.Herespat i
al

6
v
ari
ati
onmustbeexcl
udede.
g.v
ari
ati
oni
ncl
i
mat
e.

Phy
sical
fact
ors

Rainfalli
ntensi
ty-det
erminestheimpactofrai
ndr
opsont hegroundsur f
ace.Hi gh
i
ntensitystormsclosetheporespacesint
hesoilt
husincr
easi
ngther at
eofsur face
runoff.Li
ghtshower slikedri
zzl
eismost l
yabsorbedthr
oughinfi
lt
rati
onr educing
surfacerunoff.
Rainfal
ldurati
on:short-li
vedstormsar
eusuallyabsorbedbyt hegroundi
norderto
rechargethesoil.Atthebeginningoft
hestorm,i
nfil
tr
ationwil
lbehighbecausethe
soilwil
lbedryort hi
rst.Butift
hestormisprol
onged,thesoilwil
lbecomesatur
ated
andt hi
swilli
ncreaseov erl
andf
low.
Rainfallfr
equent
:morefrequentst
ormsensur esthatt
hesoilisalwayssatur
ated
(antecedentmoist
urei
shigh).Asaresul
t,t
hereismoreover
landf
lowinareaswhich
receiverai
nfal
lmoreof
tenthaninar
easthatexperi
encel
ongdryspel
ls.
Precipit
ationtype:r
ainfal
lismoreabsor
bedbyt hegroundandismoreli
kel
ytofl
ow
ont hegr oundsur f
aceascompar edtoot herf
ormsofpr eci
pit
ati
onl
ikesnow,hai
l
andsl eet
.Dr i
zzlei
ncreaseinf
il
tr
ati
onandlowerssur
facerunof
f.
Soilant ecedentmoi stur
e:refer
st othe moistur
e presentinthe soilbef
ore
precipi
tati
on.Thehi ghertheantecedentmoist
ure,thelow thei
nfi
l
trat
ionandthe
higherthesur facer
unof f
.Thereverseist
ruewhenant ecedentmoi
stur
eislow f
or
exampl einaridenvi
ronments.
Slopeangle:steepslopesencouragehighratesofsurf
aceflowbecausegr avit
ati
onal
forceishigheronsuchsl opes.I
nadditi
on,thinsoi
l
sonst eepslopesquicklybecome
saturatedandt hi
sincreasesurf
acerunoffattheexpenseofinf
ilt
rati
on.Ont heother
hand, i
nfi
lt
rati
ontendtobehi ghongent l
eslopesduetoli
ttl
egravit
ati
onalforce.
Geol ogi
calper
meabili
tyofthesoil(
soil
/rockt
ype):Per
meabi
li
tyr
efer
st otheabi l
i
ty
ofr ockstot r
ansmitwater/all
owanceofwat erpassageorentr
ance.Per meable
rocksorsoils(e.
g.sand)havehi
ghratesofinf
il
tr
ationt
hani
mpermeablerocks/soil
s
e.g.clay
.
Vegetat
ioncov er:adensev egetationcov erhav etheef f
ectofr educi ngsur face
runoffy
etincreasi
ngi nfi
ltr
ati
onr ates.Thisisbecausev egetat
ionint erceptsrainand
reducetheimpactofr aindropsont hegr oundsurfacethusreducingr ainfall
intensity
.
Vegetat
ionalsoopensupt hesoilsincreasingthepassageofwat eri ntothegr ound.
Ont hecontrary,waterf al
li
ngonbar esurfacescompactt hesoi l,thusseal ingt he
porespaces.Thisincreasesur f
acer unoffattheexpenseofi nf
ilt
ration.
Drought
-reduceveget
ati
oncov
erandi
ncr
easet
hechancesofsur
facer
unof
fatt
he
expenseofinf
il
tr
ati
on.

Humani
nter
fer
ence

Humansplaysavi
talr
oleinthemodifi
cat
ionofrunof
fandi
nfi
l
trat
ionr
ates.Humans
ei
theri
ncr
easeorr
educeinfi
l
trat
ionandoverl
andfl
ow.
7
Dev egetati
on:r efer
stot her emovalofapr otecti
vevegetationcov erbyhumans
throughdef orestati
on,
v eldf i
resandov ergrazi
ng.Thepr obl
em ofdev egetat
ionint he
tropicsisbecomi ngworseduet oov errel
ianceonwoodf uel,extracti
onofwoodf or
otherpur posesaswel last hewi despreadexpansi onofagricultur
el andduet orapid
popul at
iongrowt h.Deveget ati
oncreatesbar esurfacesandwhenwat erfall
sonsuch
surfaces,por espaceswi l
lbecl osedbyt hei mpactofr aindrops.Thi si ncr
ease
surfacer unof
fandl ower sinfi
ltr
ati
on.
Re-
vegetati
on:thr
ough af f
orest
ati
on,regrassi
ng and r
efor
estati
on pr
ogr
ammes,
humansi ncr
easevegetat
ioncover.Asalreadynot
edmor evegetat
ionmeansmor
e
i
nfi
lt
rat
ionandlessrunoff
.
Urbani
sati
on:increasesurf
acer unoffbutr
educei nfil
trat
ionthroughthecr eat
ionof
tar
macr oads,concretepavement sandart
ifi
cialdrainagesy st
ems.Thesesur f
aces
zerodowninfi
ltr
ationbuti
ncreasesur f
acer
unof f
.Ev ensur f
acesthatarenotcov er
ed
byconcret
ecanbecomesocompact edsucht hattherewi l
lbemor esurfacerunoff
.
Culti
vat
ion:dir
ectlyincreasei
nfil
trat
ionbylooseningt hesoi
l orincreasi
ngporosi
tyof
thesoil
.Howev er,ifculti
vat
ionisdoneal ongt hesl ope,farrowsl eftopencanbe
pathwaysofwat er,thusincreasingsurf
acer unoff.Thegr owt hofcr opsbearsthe
sameexpl anat
ionasr e-
veget
at i
on.Seealsostri
pf arming,i
ntercroppinge.t
.c.
Terr
aci
ng:reducewat
ermov
ementonsl
opesdi
rect
lybyr
educi
ngt
hest
eepnessof
thesl
opes.
Mining:isassoci
atedwi
thconst
ructi
onofimpermeablesurf
acese.g.t
hroughroad
construct
ionandhousi
ng,al
lofwhichincr
easesur
facerunof
f.Mini
ngalsoincr
ease
devegetati
on.
Industr
iali
sat
ion:haveanindi
recteffecte.g.thefor
mationofacidr
aindest
royi
ng
vegetati
on,cli
matechangeandt heintensi
fi
cati
onofdrought
.Ithast
obeexplai
ned
convincingl
yother
wisemarkswillnotbeobtained.
Damming:reduceov
erl
andf
lowbyholdi
ngwateratonepl
ace.Thi
sincr
ease
i
nfi
l
trat
ionandlower
soverl
andf
lowdownst
ream.

GROUNDWATERANDTHEWATERTABLE
Groundwaterr
eferstoallwat ert
hatoccur
sbeneat
ht hegr
oundsurf
acei .
e.inthe
zoneofper manentsaturati
onandabov ethewat
ertablei
npores,j
oint
s,fissur
es
beddingpl
anesandfractures.
Groundwat eri srechar
ged through i
nfi
lt
rat
ion and per
colati
on wheneverr ai
ni s
recei
vedorwhensnowmel tsduringspri
ngtime.Iti
salsodischar
gedthroughdirect
evaporati
on, humanextract
ionandplantusage.Groundwaterisal
sodischargedinto
perennial
riversthr
oughBaseflowandspr i
ngs.
Factor
saff
ecti
nggr
oundwaterst
orage
Cli
mate-wetcl
imat
esli
ketheequator
ialcl
i
mat
ehav
emor
egr
oundwat
ert
handr
ier

8
cl
i
mat
esl
i
kedeser
ts.
Seasonalvariati
on-gr
oundwateri
nt hesub-
humidseasonalregi
onsvar
iesaccordi
ng
todif
ferentseasons.Forinst
ance,therewil
lbemor egroundwaterduri
ngt hewet
summerseasonwhi l
ethedrywinterseasonhavelessgroundwaterl
eadi
ngt othe
wil
ti
ngofpl ants.
Dr
ought-extendeddryspel
lsmeanst
hatgroundwat
erisnotrechargedandthis
si
gni
fi
cantl
yl owerthewatert
abl
easv eget
ati
onand peopl
econt i
nueto ut
il
ise
gr
oundwater
.
Cl
imate change- t he gener
al incr
ease in global temperat
ures increase
evapot
ranspi
rati
on r
ates r
esul
ti
ng i
nt he si
gni
fi
cantloweri
ng ofgr ound water
.
Humansar eblamedmostwhenitcomestocli
matechange
Rockty
pe-porousr
ocksoraqui
fersall
owgroundwatertoberechargedthusr
aisi
ng
thewatert
abl
ewhil
eimpermeablerocks/
soi
lsdiscour
ageinf
il
trat
ionleadi
ngtothe
l
oweri
ngofgroundwater
.
Veget
ati
on-mor
eveget
ati
onmeansmor
einf
il
tr
ati
onwhenr
ainf
all
shencemor
e
gr
oundwater
.
Humans-af
fectgr
oundwat
eri
nanumberofway
swhi
chi
ncl
ude
Wat
erabstr
act
ion-thr
oughbor
ehol
edr
il
li
ngandwel
l
sfori
rr
igat
ionandot
heruses
l
ower
sgroundwater
.
Ar
ti
fi
cialr
echar
ging-e.
g.t
hroughi
rr
igat
ionr
aisegr
oundwat
erl
evel
s
Dev eget
ati
on-lowers gr
ound wat
er by di
scour
agi
ng i
nfi
l
trat
ion/
soi
lmoi
stur
e
rechargewhil
ere-
veget
ati
onhast
heopposedef
fect
.
Ur
bani
sat
ion-di
scour
agegr
oundwat
err
echar
gehencel
ower
sgr
oundwat
er.
Mining-l
eavesar t
if
icialdrai
nagesy stems,porousmini
ngdumpsal lofwhichall
ow
seepageofwat erthusr ai
singgroundwat er.However
,wheremi ni
ngleadstothe
extr
acti
onofgr oundwat erandthecr eat
ionofimper
meablesur
faces,gr
oundwateris
si
gnifi
cant
lyreduced.
Cul
ti
vat
ion-l
oosenst
hesoi
l
,incr
easi
ngi
nfi
l
trat
ionandgr
oundwat
err
echar
ge.
Dammi ng-rai
segr oundwaterbyfor
cingwaterto st
ayatoneposit
ion.Actual
l
y
dammi ngrai
sethewat ert
ablet
othesurf
ace,
thuscr
eati
ngazonewi
thmor egr
ound
wateraroundthedams.

WATERTABLE
Water t able r efer
s t o t he upper most sur face ofgr oundwaterbel
ow
whichsoi
l i
ssatur
at edwithwat ert hatfi
ll
sal lvoidsandi nterst
ices.I notherwor
ds
thewatertabl
eist hehighestlev elofundergroundwat ert hatsepar atest
hezoneof
permanentsatur
ationfrom thezoneofaer ation( non-
saturatedzone) .

9
 Perchedwat ertables-aper chedwater
table(orperchedaqui f
er)isanaqui f
er
thatoccursabov ethemai nwat ertabl
e,
i
nt hezoneofaer ation.Thisoccurs
whent hereisanimper meabl elayerof
rockorsediment( aquiclude)or
rel
ativel
yimper meablelayerabov ethe
mai nwatertable/aquif
erbutbel owthe
surfaceoftheland.
Inotherwordsaper chedwatert
ableis
an accumul ati
on of gr oundwater
l
ocated abov e a water t
ablein an
unsatur
ated zone.Thegroundwateris
usual
l
ytrappedabov
easoillay
erthati
simpermeableandf ormsalensofsat
urated
mater
ial
intheunsat
urat
edzone.
Fact
orswhi
chaff
ectthefor
m andnat
ureoft
hewat
ert
abl
e
i
) Surf
acetopogr
aphy
Thewatertableisrar
elyhori
zontal
,butasR.JSmallputsit
,thegr
adientofthewat
er
tabl
eisineffectasubduedr epl
i
caofsurfacerel
i
ef,whichmeanst hati
trefl
ect
sthe
surf
ace reli
ef . Thi
s i s because of t he inf
luence of capi l
lar
it
y found
i
nsoils,
sedimentsandot herpor
ousmedi a.
Thewat ertableislow inval
l
eys
andhi ghonr ai
sedland.Thesl
ope
ofthewat ertableisknownasthe
hydrauli
cgradient
.

i
i
) Rockt
ypeandgeol
ogy
Conf
inedwatertabl
e-ifapermeabl
erocklayeroccurbet
weent woimper
meabl
e
l
ayer
s,aconf
inedwatertabl
eisf
ormedasshowninthedi
agram bel
ow:
Int hi
scaset hewaterdoesnotf oll
ow
surfacegr adientbutremainconfi
nedor
sandwi chedbet weentwoimper meable
rockl ayer
s.Wher eanimpermeablerock
l
ay erunder l
ainanaqui f
eranunconfi
ned
wat ertabl
ei sf or
med.
Steppedwat ertabl
e-i
fanareahasgot
i
mper meabler ocks t
hatar
e syncl
inal
andanticl
inalinshapeundergr
ound,a

10
st
eppedwat
ert
abl
eisf
ormedasshownbel
ow:
Ast eppedwatertabl
ealsodev el
opsasar esul
tof
faul
tingandthev er
ti
caldi
splacementofrockstrat
a.
Faulti
ngmayact uall
yexposethewatertabletothe
groundf or
mingaspr i
ngintheprocess.
Fact
orswaqhi
chleadst
ovariat
ioni
nthewat
ertabl
e
(i
)Seasonalf
luct
uati
onsi
nwatert
abl
es
Watert ablesv arieswithseasonsespecial
lyinsub-
humidr egionswher eseasonalv ari
ati
onsinrainfal
l
occurs.Dur i
ngt hedrywi nt
erseason,thewatertable
wil
lbel owduet oabsenceofr ainfal
landabstr
acti
on
ofgroundwaterbyhumansfori
rri
gation.Ont heotherhand,wetsummerseasons
rechar
gesgr
oundwatert
husr
aisi
ngt hewat ertable.
(
ii
) Long-
ter
mfl
uct
uat
ions
I
ncl
udet
heef
fectofcl
i
mat
echangeanddr
ought
sont
hel
evel
oft
hewat
ert
abl
e.
(
ii
i) Spat
ialv
ari
ati
ons
Thewatertablealsovari
esf r
om placetoplacee.g.i
nwetcli
mat es,thewatert
abl
eis
high/
neart hesurfaceduet ocontinuousrechargeyeti
ndr i
erclimatesli
kedeser
ts
thewatertableisv er
ylow duet oabsenceofsoi lmoistur
er echarge.NBseealso
humaninterfer
encedescribedabov eundersecti
onofgroundwat er.

SPRI
NGS

Aspr ingisanynatur
alsi
tuati
onwher ewaterfl
owsf r
om anaqui f
ertotheeart
h's
surface.Itisacomponentoft hehydr
osphere.
A spri
ngisapl acewher ewater
naturall
yfl
owsoutofthegroundorapointwherethewatertabl
einter
sect
swit
hthe
groundsurfacesucht
hatgroundwaterwi
l
lnatur
all
yfl
owout .
Spri
ngsar efor
medf rom Aqui
fer
s.Groundwaterisstoredi
naquifer
s,whi chare
undergr
ound waterreser
voi
rs.There ar
et wo types ofaqui
fer
s:confined and
unconfi
ned.Confined aqui
fer
s are sandwiched bet
ween two layer
s of l ow
permeabil
i
tysoi
l.
General
lyaspringi
sf ormedwhent hepressureinanaquif
ercausessomeoft he
watertoflow outatt hesurf
ace.Thisusuall
yhappensatl ow el
evati
ons,along
hil
l
sidesoratt hebottom ofsl
opes.Somespr ingsarej
usttinytr
ickl
esofwat er
seepingfr
om theground,whil
eothersarelargeenoughthattheycreat
eriver
sor
l
akes.
Typesofspri
ngs
Gravi
tyspri
ng/r
ockoutcropspri
ng-theseformfrom thepullofgravi
ty.Thewat er
getspull
eddownt hroughthegr ounduntili
treachesal ayeritcan'
tpenet r
ate.
Becauseithasnowhereelsetogo,itstar
tsfl
owinghori
zontall
yunti
litreachesan

11
openi
ngandwat
ercomesoutasaspr
ing.Thesear
eusual
l
yf onghi
oundal l
lsi
des
andcl
iff
s.
Art
esianspri
ngs-thesecomef rom pressur
einconfinedaquif
ersforci
ngthewaterto
thesurface.Thepr essureinsidetheconf i
nedaqui f
erislesst hanthepressure
outsi
detheaqui f
er,sothewat ermov esinthatdi
recti
on.Anycracksorholesi
nt he
l
andwi l
leasil
yletthewaterescape.
SeepageSpri
ng/v all
eybott
om spr
ing-
thi
sisgroundwaterseepi
ngoutofthegr
ound
tothesurf
acesy stems.Seepagespri
ngsslowl
yletwat eroutt
hroughl
oosesoilor
rockandareoft
enf oundinl
anddepressi
onsorinval
ley
s.
Tubularspr i
ng-thesespringsoccurinundergroundcavesystems,whi
chr esemble
undergroundhi ghway s.Thesetubes,orchannel s,ar
emadeofl i
mestoner ocks
whichhav eunder gr
oundcav esthatabsorbri
verswhichwi
llre-emer
gedownst r
eam
asaspr ing.Thi
si sthemostcommont ypeofspri
ngs.
Faul
t/fi
ssurespri
ngs-fi
ssurespri
ngsoccural
onglargecracksi
nt heground,li
ke
faul
tli
nes.Theyusuall
ydev el
opduetothehori
zont
aldispl
acementofrocksalong
faul
tli
nes,exposi
ngthewatertabl
etot
hesurf
ace.

THEDRAI
NAGEBASI
NSYSTEM

Drai
nagebasin-Adr ai
nagebasinorcatchmentareaisanar eaoflanddrainedbya
ri
veranditstr
ibut
ari
esoranar eawheresurf
acewaterfr
om r ai
n,melt
ingsnow,orice
convergestoasingl
epoi ntatalowerelev
ati
on,usual
lytheexitofthebasin,where
thewat er
sjoi
nanotherwat erbody
,suchasar i
ver,l
ake,reser
voir
,estuar
y,wetl
and,
sea,orocean.
Drainagebasi nsdr aininto ot
herdrainagebasi nsinahi erar
chi
calpat t
ern,wi t
h
smal l
ersub- drai
nage basins combining intol argerdr ai
nage basins.In closed
drainagebasinst hewat erconver
gestoasi nglepointinsidethebasin,knownasa
sink,whichmaybeaper manentlake,
dr yl
ake, orapoi ntwheresurfacewat eri
slost
under gr
ound.Thedr ai
nagebasinactsasaf unnelbycollecti
ngallthewaterwi thi
n
thear eacoveredbyt hebasinandchannell
ingi ttoasinglepoint.
Eachdr ainagebasi ni ssepar ated
topographicall
yfr om adj acentbasi nsby
anelev atedperimet er,thedr ainagedivi
de
(watershed)maki ngupasuccessi onof
highergeogr aphical features(suchasa
ri
dge,hi l
lormount ains)for mingabar ri
er.
Thedrai
nagebasinsystem consi
stsof
i
nput
s,fl
ows,st
oragesandoutput
s.
I
nputs-include energy from the sun,
pr
ecipi
tat
ionandpr essur
e.Precipi
tat
ion
i
st he majorinputoft he hydr
ologi
cal
dr
ainagebasinsystem.

12
Fl
ows-i ncl
udebothsur
faceandsubsurfacemovement
sofwaterintheform of
overl
andfl
ow,stream fl
ow,t hr
ough f
low,channelfl
ow,Basef
low,inf
il
tr
ati
on,
percol
ati
on,st
em fl
owandleafdr
ip.
Stor
ages/stores-int
ercept
ion st
orage,soi
lmoi st
ure st
orage,sur
face st
orage,
depressi
ons,groundwaterstor
ageandall
waterbodi
es.
Out
put
s-ev
apot
ranspi
rat
ionandr
iverdi
schar
ge(
out
sidet
hedr
ainagebasi
n)

DRAI
NAGEDENSI
TY

Drainagedensi
tyi
sthetotall
engt
hofallt
hestr
eamsandr iv
ersinadrai
nagebasi
n
2
perunitareaofthedrai
nagebasinusual
l
yexpressedperkm .Drai
nagedensi
tyi
s
gi
v enbythefor
mula:

Dr
ainagedensit
yisameasur
eofhowwel
lorhowpoor
lyawat
ershedi
sdr
ainedby
st
ream channel
s.
Factor
saff
ecti
ngdr
ainagedensi
ty
Drai
nagedensit
ydependsuponbothcl
i
mat
eandphy
sicalchar
act
eri
sti
csoft
he
drai
nagebasi
n.
Soi
lpermeabil
i
ty(infi
lt
rat
iondif
ficul
ty)andunder
lyi
ngrockt
ypeaff
ectt
herunoffi
na
water
shed;impermeabl egroundorexposedbedr ockwil
lleadtoanincreasein
sur
facewaterrunoffandtheref
oretomor efr
equentstr
eams.
Rel
iefortopogr
aphy-Ruggedr egi
onsorthosewi thhighrel
ief(
steepgradi
ents)have
ahigherdrai
nagedensit
yt hanotherdrai
nagebasi nsthataregentl
erbecausesteep
sl
opesencouragemor erunoffduetotheeffectofgravit
y.
Rai
nfal
lint
ensi
ty-r
ainf
allwi
thhighintensi
tyoft
enleadtomor esur
facer
unof
fand
hi
ghdrai
nagedensit
ythanrai
nfal
loflowerint
ensi
tyl
ikedr
izzl
e.
Landuse-f
orest
sver
susdef
orest
edar
eas.
Dr
ainagedensit
ycanaffecttheshapeofar iv
er '
shy drogr
aphduri
ngar ai
nstorm.
Ri
versthathaveahighdrainagedensi
tywi
lloftenhav eamor e'f
lashy
'hy dr
ograph
wi
thast eepf
all
ingl
i
mb.Hi ghdensi
ti
escanalsoindicateagreat
erfl
oodrisk.
Charact
eristi
csofhighandlow-densi
tydrai
nagebasins:
Highdensi t
y-impermeablelandsurface,steepslopes,li
mitedveget
ati
oncov
er,
l
imit
edrainfall
,gent
lesl
opes,l
argechannelf
requency(t
ribut
ari
es)
.
Low densi
ty-Permeablerock,forexample,chal
k,muchv
eget
ati
oncov
er,l
i
mit
ed
rai
nfal
l
,gent
leslopes,
lowerchannelf
requency.
NB-Hi
ghdr
ainagedensi
ti
esal ghbi
someanahi fur
cat
ionr
ati
o.

STREAM ORDERI
NG

13
I
sanot herwayofquanti
fyi
ngriv
erdrai
nagebasi
nandisusedtodefi
nestream si
ze
basedonahi er
archyoft
ribut
ari
es.Hor
tonandStr
ahl
erpr
oposedtheideaofstr
eam
order
ing.
Intheappl
i
cationoftheStr
ahl
erstr
eam ordert
ohy
drol
ogy
,eachsegmentofa
str
eam orri
verwithi
nariv
ernet
wor ki
streat
edasanodei
natree,
wit
hthenext
segmentdownstream asit
sparent
.
Whent wof ir
st-orderstreamscomet ogether,
theyform asecond- orderst ream.Whent wo
second-orderstreamscomet ogether,t
heyfor m
athird-
orderst r
eam.St reamsofl oweror der
j
oiningahi gherorderst ream donotchanget he
orderofthehi gherstream.Thus, ifafir
st-or
der
stream j
oinsasecond- orderst r
eam, itr
emai nsa
second-orderstream.I tisnotunt ilasecond-
orderstr
eam combi neswi t
hanot hersecond-
orderstr
eam t hatitbecomesat hird-
order
stream.

BI
FURCATI
ONRATI
O

Refer
stotheratioofthenumberofstream br
anchesofagi v
enor dert
othenumber
ofstr
eam branchesoft henexthi
gherorderf
orexamplether ati
oofthenumberof
st nd
1 orderst
reamst othatof2 orderst
reams.Iti
sgivenbythef or
mula:

Usingthediagram above,
thebifur
cat
ionrat
iowouldbe171storderstreamsdivi
ded
nd
by82 or derstreamsthusgiv
ing2.1asthebif
urcati
onr
ati
o.Thebifurcati
onrati
oof
anov eral
lhier
archymaybet akenbyav er
agi
ngt hebi
fur
cati
onr at
iosatdifferent
order
s.

DRAI
NAGEPATTERNS

Drai
nagepatter
nrefer
st oanar rangementofchannelsthatisdeter
minedbya
numberofv ari
abl
es,i
ncludi
ngsoi l
s,geol
ogy,st
ruct
ure,presentcl
i
mate,tect
oni
c
hi
storyandhumanint
erf
erences.
Gener
ict
ermsusedindrai
nagepat
terns
 Consequentstr
eam-iti
sast r
eam whichhavei
tscoursedeter
minedbyt he
or
igi
nalgr
adi
entofl
andsur
face.Usual
l
yitf
oll
owsthedownslopedi
rect
ion.
 Subsequentst
ream-i
tisast
ream t
hatj
oinst
heconsequentst
ream.I
ts

14
 di
recti
on off l
ow is usual
l
y deter
mined by the str
uct
ure oft
he r
ock.
Subsequentst
reamsfol
lowli
nesofweaknessese.g.f
aul
tli
nes.
 I
nsequentstr
eam-isast
ream whi
chflowsinanydir
ecti
onbutfornoapparent
reason.Suchstr
eamsdemonst r
ateslackofstruct
uralcont
rolhencethey
normall
ydevel
opinar
easofhomogeneousrocksformingadendri
ti
cpatt
ern.
 Resequentstr
eam-i ti
sast r
eam t
hatfl
owsi
nthesamedi
rect
ionwi
tht
he
consequentst
ream butatal
owerl
evel
.
 Obsequentst
ream-ist
hest
ream t
hatf
lowsi
nanopposi
tedi
rect
ionast
hatof
t
heconsequentstr
eam
 Accor
dantst
reams-st
reamst
hatf
oll
owt
hegeol
ogi
calst
ruct
ureandgr
adi
ent
.
 Di
scor
dantstr
eams-st
reamst
hatcutsacr
ossthegeol
ogi
calst
ruct
uree.
g.
t
heycutacr
osscr
yst
all
i
nemount
ainsandf
oldedr
egi
ons.
Fact
orsleadi
ngtothei
nit
iat
ionofdrainagepatt
erns
 Natureoft
hesur
face:usuall
ystreamsfol
lowli
nesofst
eepestgr
adi
enthence
thei
rfor
miscontr
oll
edbyt henatureoft
hegradi
ent
.
 Geologi
calst
ruct
ure:thi
sistheinf
luenceofr ocktype.Str
eamsusuall
yfol
l
ow
regi
ons ofweakerr ocks and av
oidr esistantrocks.Streams t
hatfol
l
ow
geol
ogicalst
ruct
urearefor
m accordantdrainagepatter
ns.
 Faul
ting-onfaul
tedar
eas,steamsf oll
ow faul
tli
neshencet
henat
ureof
drai
nagepatt
ernmaybeinf
luencedbyfaul
ti
ng.
Drai
nagepatt
ernst endt
odev elopalongzoneswhererocktypeandst
ruct
ureare
mosteasi
lyeroded.Thusvar
ioustypesofdrai
nagepatt
ernsdevel
opi
naregionand
t
hesedrai
nagepat t
ernsr
efl
ectthestr
uctur
eoftherock.
ACCORDANTDRAI NAGEPATTERNS
Adrainagesy
stem isdescr
ibedasaccor
danti
fit
spat
ter
ncorr
elat
est
othest
ruct
ure
andreli
efoft
helandscapeoverwhi
chitf
lows.
Dendr it
icdr
ainagepat t
ern
Dendr i
ticdrai
nagepat ter
nsar emostcommon. Thi spat t
ernr esemblethevein
patternsinl
eav es.Itl
ooksli
keat r
eeandit
sbr anches.Theterm dendri
ti
cwasbeen
takenf r
om theGr eekword'dendr
on'meani
ngat ree.Theydevel
oponal andsur
face
wher etheunderlyi
ngrockisofunif
ormresi
stancetoerosion.
Dendrit
icdr ainagepat t
ernischar act
er i
zed
byirregularbr anchi
ngoft r
ibut
arystreams
fl
owingi nmanydi r
ecti
onsandatal mostany
angl
es,al thoughusuallyatlessthanar i
ght
angl
e.Suchapat t
erndev el
opsuponr ocks
of uniform r esist
ance and demonst rates
l
ackofst ructuralcont
rol.
Dendr
it
icdr
ainagepat
ter
nal
sodev
elopson

15
gent
legr
adi
ent
swher
ethev
eloci
tyofwat
eri
slower
.

Trelli
sdr ai
nagepattern
Thet rell
isdrai
nagepatterni
schar acteri
sti
cofadi ppi
ngorfol
dedtopography,
which
existsinnear l
yparall
elmount ains,wheredr ai
nagepatter
nsarecontrol
ledbyrock
structures ofvari
abler esi
stance (rocks with al
ter
nat
e bands ofhard and sof
t
rocks).Thispatter
ni sfoundi nar easwher ehar dandsoftrocksoccurinalmost
parall
el bands.
In t relli
s dr ai
nage pat t
ern subsequent
streams ent er t he mai n r iver at
appr oximately90degr eeangle,causinga
trell
i
s-like appear ance of the dr ai
nage
sy st
em.Tr ell
i
sdr ainagei
schar act
eristi
cof
foldedmount ains,suchast heAppal achi
an
Mount ainsinNorthAmer i
ca.
The mai n st
reams ar e di
rected by t
he
parall
elfol
dedstructures,wher eassmal
ler
str
eams are atwor k on adjacentsl
opes,
j
oiningthemainst
r eam atri
ghtangles.
I
nthis drai
nage patt
ernthe consequent
st
reamsf ol
l
owt hedi
rect
ionofdi
pandt
hesubsequentst
reamsfoll
owthedirect
ion
ofstr
ike.Obsequentstr
eamsarecommonher eandt heyflow i
nacount er-
dip
di
rect
ion.
Radi
aldr
ainagepat
tern:
Radi
aldr
ainagepat
ter
ntakest
wof
ormsi
.e.cent
ri
fugal
andcent
ri
pet
al.
Cent
rif
ugal
Acentri
fugaldrai
nagepat ter
nresul
tsfr
om str
eamsflowingoffacentr
alpeakor
dome,suchasav ol
cani
cmount ai
n,(
wherestreamsradiat
eoutwardsfr
om the
cent
ralhi
ghpoint).
Thispatter
nmayalsobefoundonvari
ousothert
ypesofi
solat
ed
coni
calorsub-conicalhi
ll
s.
Ther adi
aldrainagepat t
ernr esembl
est he
spokes of a bi cy cl
e wheel. The radial
drai
nagepatternf oundinSr iLankawher e
the st r
eams r i
sing ov er t he Central
Highl
andsradiateinalldi
rect
ionsisatypical
example.

Thecent
ri
fugaldrai
nagepatter
nisthemost
commont y
peofr adi
aldrai
nagepattern.
Someti
mesi ti
stri
ggeredbytheint
rusionof
molt
enrocksbelowthesurfacefor
mi ng

16
gr
ani
ter
ocks.
Centr
ipetal
Thisisthedrai
nagepattern,astheter
m'centr
ipet
al'i
mpli
es,inwhichthestr
eams
drai
nradical
lyi
nwards,ei
thertowardsasi
nglemainstream whichdrai
nsthebasi
n,
ortoalakewhichmayormaynothav eanout
let
.
Suchpatt
ernsar efoundonsinkhol
es,cr
atersandot
herbasin-
li
kedepressi
ons.Thi
s
drai
nagepatternisalsocal
l
edendorheicdrai
nagewhichr
eferstoaninwardflowi
ng
patt
ernofdrainageintheworl
d'
ssemi-ari
dzones.
Annulardrainagepat t
ern
Inanannul ardrainagepat ter
nst r
eamsf oll
ow ar oughlycir
cul
arorconcent r i
cpat h
alongabel tofweakr ock,resemblinginpl anar i
ng-l
ikepatter
n.Itisbestdi splayed
bystreamsdr ai
ningamat urelydissectedst r
ucturaldomeorbasi nwher eer osion
hasexposedr i
mmi ngsedi mentaryst r
ataofgr eat
lyv ar
y i
ngdegreesofhar dness,as
i
nt heRedVal l
ey,whichnear lyencircl
est hedomi calstruct
ureoft heBlackHi llsof
South Dakot a.This drainage patterni s an exampl e ofstructuralcontrol.The
subsequentst r
eamsf inditeasiertoerodet heconcent r
ic,l
essresi
stantstr
ata.
Rect
angulardrai
nagepatter
n
Rect
angularpatt
ernsoccurwherestreamsareguidedbyinter
sect
ingj
oint
s,usuall
y
i
nplutoni
cormet amorphi
crocks.Iti
scharact
eri
zedbyri
ght-angl
edbendsandright
-
angl
edjuncti
onsbetweentri
butar
iesandthepri
ncipal
str
eam.
I
tresult
sfrom thest
ruct
uralcontroli
mposedbythejointi
ngorfaultpatt
ernofthe
underl
yi
ngrocks.I
tdi
ffer
sfrom trel
li
spat
ter
ndrai
nage,sincei
tismor eir
regul
arand
i
tstri
butar
ystr
eamsarenotasl ongorasparal
l
elasi
nt r
elli
sdr
ainage.
Derangeddr ainagepat tern
Aderangeddr ainagesy stem i
sadr ai
nagesy stem i
ndr ainagebasi nswherether eis
nocoherentpat terntotheriv
er sandl akes.Itrepresentsadr ainagepatter
nwhi chis
foundinthegl aciatedshiel
dr egionsofCanadaandNor thernEur opewi t
hnocl ear
geometryint hedr ai
nageandnot r
uer iv
erv all
eypat ter
n.Thi spat ter
ndev el
opsdue
tothefactthatnosuf fi
cientti
mewasav ai
l
abl eforthedr ainaget obecomeadj usted
tothestr
uctur esoft heunderlyingglacialdri
ftofther ecentlyv acatedicesheets.
Thepicturepresentedbyt hedrai
nagesy stem i
sveryconf using,si
ncethereare
numerouswat ercour ses,l
akesandswamps,somei nterconnected,andsomei n
l
ocaldrainagebasinsoft heirown.Infact,insuchglaci
atedr egionsthepr
e-gl
aci
al
drai
nagehasbeencompl et
elydestr
oyedandt henewdrainagecoul dnothaveti
me
todevel
opanysi gni
ficantdegreeofint
egration.
Paral
leldrai
nagepatter
n
Aparalleldr
ainagesyst
em isapatt
ernofri
ver
scausedbyst eepslopes.Becauseof
thest
eepsl opes,t
hestreamsareswif
tandstr
aight
,wit
hv er
yf ewtri
butar
ies,andal
l
fl
owint hesamedi r
ecti
on.Thi
ssyst
em for
msonuni f
ormlysl
opi ngsurf
aces.
A paral
l
elpatter
nal sodevel
opsinregionsofparal
l
el,el ongat
edlandf
ormsl i
ke
outcr
oppingresi
stantrockbands.St
reamstendto stretchouti napar al
l
el-l
i
ke
fashi
onfoll
owingtheslopeofthesur
face.Aparal
l
elpat t
er nsometi
mesindicat
es
17
t
hepr
esenceofamaj
orf
aul
tthatcut
sacr
ossanar
eaofst
eepl
yfol
dedbedr
ock.
DISCORDANTDRAI NAGEPATTERNS
Adr ai
nagepat ter
nisdescri
bedasdi scor
dantifi
tdoesnotcor rel
atetothetopology
andgeol ogyoft hearea.Discor
dantdrai
nagepatter
nsar eclassi
fiedint
ot womai n
types:antecedentandsuper i
mposed.Inl
ookingatthelandscape,itisoft
enev i
dent
thatstreams somet imes cutt hr
ough deformed ter
rai
n seemi ngl
yi gnori
ng the
geologicstruct
uresandhardnessoftherock.
Superi
mposeddr ainagepattern
Ifastr
eam i
niti
all
ydev elopsony oungerstratamadeofsof tmat erialandt hencuts
downwardi nt
ot he underlyi
ng def or
med st r
ata whi
le maintaini ng the course
devel
opedinthey oungerstratanot wi
thstandi
ngthenewl yexposedsur face,i
tis
ref
err
edto asasuper imposedst ream.Thisisbecauset hest ream pat t
ernwas
super
imposedont heunder l
yi
ngr ocks.Insuchcases,riv
erdirectionsr elatetothe
for
mercoverofsof trocksthatwasr emovedbydenudation.
Ant ecedentpatt
ern
Iftectoni
cuplif
traisesthegroundbeneathestabl
i
shedstr
eamsandi ferosi
onkeeps
pacewi t
huplif
t,thestream willcutdownwardandmaintai
nitsori
ginalcour
se.In
suchacase,t hest r
eam iscalledanantecedentst
ream,becausethest r
eam was
presentbeforetheuplif
toccurred.
RIVERCAPTUREORSTEAM PI RACY
Str
eam capt
ure,ri
vercapture,orstr
eam pir
acyi sageomorphol
ogi
calphenomenon
occur
ri
ngwhenast r
eam orr iverdr
ainagesystem i
sdiver
tedfr
om it
sowncour se,
andfl
owsinsteaddownt hebedofanei ghbour
ingstr
eam.
Inotherwordsri
vercapturei
saprocesswher
ebytheheadwater
sofanot
herstr
eam
arecapturedbyanear byst
ream vi
aasubsequentstream.Thiscanhappenfor
severalr
easons,
incl
uding:
 Tect
oniceart
hmov ement
s,wheretheslopeoft
hel
andchanges,andt
he
st
ream i
sti
ppedoutofi
tsf
ormercourse
 Nat
ural
dammi
ng,
suchasbyal
andsl
i
deori
cesheet
 Er
osi
on,
eit
her
 Headwar
der
osi
onofonest
ream v
all
eyupwar
dsi
ntoanot
her
,or
 Later
aler
osi
onofameandert
hrought
hehi
ghergr
ounddi
vi
dingt
headj
acent
str
eams.
 Withi
n an area ofkarsttopography,wher
e st
reams may si
nk,orf
low
undergr
ound (asinki
ng orlosi
ng str
eam)and t
henreappeari
nanear by
str
eam val
ley

18
 Ont hediagram, r
iver
Disf l
owingpar al
lelt
o
ri
verCandr i
verDhas
asubst r
eam.The
substream onD
extendstowardsCby
headwar derosi
on
untilt
heheadwat ers
ofstream Car e
capturedbyD.

Diagnost
icf
eat
uresof
ri
verpir
acy

- Exi
stenceofanelbow ofcapt
ure,char
act
eri
sedbyashar
pchangei
nthe
cour
seoftheri
ver
.
- Pr
esenceofami
sfi
torbeheadedst
ream whi
chcanl
aterbeadr
ychannel
- Presenceofawi
nd-
gapwhi
chi
sdr
ygr
oundbet
weent
hedi
ver
tedst
ream and
themisfi
t.
- Themi
grat
ionoft
hewat
ershedofasubsequentst
ream.

19
 THECONCEPTOFTHEWATERBALANCE

Thewat erbalance/
budgetrefer
st ot hebal
anceorequil
i
brium bet ween i
nputs
(i
nflowsorgains)andout puts(out
fl
owsorl osses)i
nadr ainagebasi n.I
nputs
i
ncludepreci
pit
ati
onwhil
eout put
sincl
uderunof
fandevapot
ranspirat
ion.Thewater
balancecanbeshownusingtheformula:

Wher
e:
Pi
spr
eci
pit
ati
on
Qi
srunof
f
Ei
sev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion
Si
sthechangei
nst
orage(
insoi
lort
hebedr
ock)
Thisequationusest hepr inci
plesofconser vationofmassi nacl osedsy st
em,
wherebyanywat erent eri
ngasy stem (vi
aprecipit
ati
on),mustbet r
ansferr
edinto
eit
herevaporat
ion,surf
acer unoff(event
uall
yreachingthechannelandleavi
nginthe
for
m ofriv
erdischarge),orstor
edi ntheground.
Awat erbalancecanbeusedt ohelpmanagewat ersupplyandpredictwher et
here
maybewat ershor
tages.I
tisal
sousedinirr
igat
ion,runof
fassessment ,fl
oodcontr
ol
andpollut
ioncontr
ol.Furt
heri
tisusedinthedesignofsubsurfacedrainagesyst
ems
whichmaybehor i
zontal(
i.
e.usi
ngpipes,ti
l
edrainsorditches)orvertical(
drai
nage
bywells).
Thewat
erbalancecanbeil
lust
ratedusi
ngawat erbal
ancegraphwhi
chpl
otslev
els
ofpr
eci
pit
ati
onandevapot
ranspir
ati
onoftenonamonthlyscal
easshownbel
ow:
Thegener alwat erbalancei nt he
Savanna( e.
g.Zi mbabwe)shows
seasonal pat ter
ns. I n wet
seasons pr ecipi
taton i
i s gr eater
than ET whi ch cr eates a wat er
surplus.Gr ound st ores f i
llwi th
wat erwhichr esultsi nincr eased
surface runoff,higherdi scharge
and hi gher r i
ver l evel
s. aThi s
meanst herei sa posi t
ivewat er
balance. I n dr ier seasons
evapotranspirati
on exceeds
precipi
tati
on.As pl ants absor b
wat ergroundst oresar edepl eted.

20
Ther
eisawat
erdef
ici
ti
nthi
sseasonwhi
chcr esanegat
eat ivewat
erbal
ance.
NB-wat
erbudgetismainl
yaf f
ectedbycli
mate.Humidenvi
ronmentshaveposi
ti
ve
wat
erbal
ancesthr
oughouttheyearwhil
edesert
shavenegat
ivewaterbal
ancemost
oft
heti
meleadi
ngtothewil
t i
ngofplant
s.

THESTORM HYDROGRAPH

Storm hydr
ographsaregraphst hatshow how adr ai
nagebasinrespondstoan
episodeofrai
nfal
l.Oragraphwhichshowsv ari
ati
oninr i
verdi
schar
gefoll
owi
ngan
episodeofr
ainplott
edagainstt
ime(RJSmall)
.Seediagram bel
ow:
THEMAINFEATURESOFTHE
STORM HYDROGRAPH

Approachsegment-ref
ersto
the ri
ver fl
ow beforet he
stor
m( ant
ecedentfl
ow)
Ri
singlimb:Ther isi
ngli
mb
of hydr ogr
aph r efl
ect
s a
pr
olonged i ncr
ease i n
di
schargef rom acatchment
ar
ea,typicall
yinresponseto
arainf
allevent.
Recession (
orf al
li
ng)l i
mb:
Ther ecessi
onlimbext ends
fr
om t he peak flow r ate
onward.Ther ecessionli
mb
repr
esent
sthewit
hdr
awalofwat
erf
rom t
hest
oragebuil
tupi nthebasindur i
ngt he
earl
i
erphasesoft
hehydr
ogr
aph.
Peakr
ainf
all–t
hepoi
ntonaf
loodhy
drogr
aphwhenr
ainf
alli
sati
tsgr
eat
est
.
Lagti
me:t
heti
meinter
valfr
om thepeakrai
nfal
lexcesst
opeakdi
schar
georper
iod
oft
imebet
weenthepeakrai
nfal
landpeakdi
scharge.
Dischar
ge:therateoffl
ow (
vol
umeperuni
tti
me)passi
ngaspeci
fi
clocat
ioni
na
ri
verorotherchannel
Peakdischar
ge– t
hepoi
ntonaf
loodhy
drogr
aphwhenr
iverdi
schar
gei
sati
ts
great
est
.
Bankfulldi
scharge –the maxi
mum di
schar
ge t
hata par
ti
cul
arr
iverchanneli
s
capableofcarr
yingwit
houtfl
oodi
ng.
Fl
ood–whent hecapaci
tyofar
iveri
sexceededandwat
erf
lowsov
eri
tsbanksor
beyondbankf
ulldi
schar
ge.
Basef l
ow –representsthenor maldaytodaydi schar
geoft
her
iverandi
sthe
consequenceofgroundwaterseepi
ngint
other
iverchannel.

21
Physi
calFact
or saf
fect
ingSt
orm Hydrogr
aphs
Therearear angeofphysi
calf
actorsthataf
fectt
heshapeofast
orm hy
drogr
aph.
Theseincl
ude:
Sizeofthedrai
nagebasi
n-Largedrai
nagebasi
nscatchmoreprecipi
tat
ionsohavea
hi
gherpeakdi schar
geandl ongerlagti
mecompar edt osmallerbasins.Small
er
basinsgener
all
yhaveshort
erlagti
mesbecausepreci
pit
ati
ondoesnothav easfarto
tr
avel.
Shapeoft hedrainagebasin-Drai
nagebasinsthatar emorecircul
arinshapeleadto
shorterlagtime,fai
rl
ysteeprisi
ngli
mbandahi ghpeakdi schargebecausewaterhas
ashor t
erdistancet otraveltoreachar iver(allpointsi
nt hedrainagebasinare
equidistantfrom ther i
versoal ltheprecipi
tationreachest heri
veratt hesame
ti
me) .Foracirculardrai
nagebasin,ther
iver’
shy drographcanoftenbedescri
bedas
“f
lashy .
”Elongatedbasinsarehavetheopposi t
e.
Reli
ef/
topography-Drainagebasinswithsteepslopestendt ohav eshort
erlagt
imes
andaf l
ashierhydrographthanbasi nswit
hgent l
egr adients.Thi sisbecausewat
er
fl
owsmor equi ckl
yont hesteepslopesdownt ot heriver.Basinswi t
hsteepsl
opes
wil
lhaveahi ghpeakdischargebecausethewat ercant r
av elfasterdownhil
l.
Drainagedensi
ty-Basi
nst
hathav
emanystr
eams(highdr
ainagedensi
ty)dr
ainmor
e
quicklysohaveashort
erl
agti
meandaf
air
lyst
eepfall
i
ngl
imb.
Antecedentmoist
ure-Ift
hedrainagebasinisal r
eadysatur
atedthensurfacerunof
f
i
ncreasesduet ot hereduct
ionini nf
il
tr
ation.Rainwat
erent erstheri
v erqui
cker,
reduci
nglagti
mes, assur
facerunoffi
sfasterthanBasefl
owort hroughf
low.
Rock/
soilt
ype-iftherockt
ypewit
hinther i
verbasi
nisimpermeabl
esurf
acer unoff
wil
lbehi
gher,throughfl
owandinf
il
trat
ionwillal
sobereducedmeaningareducti
on
i
nlagti
meandani ncr
easei
npeakdischarge.
Vegetationcov er
-Vegetati
oni nter
ceptspreci
pi t
ati
onandslowst hemov ementof
wateri ntor i
verchannels.Thi sincreases l
ag t i
me.Wateri s also l
ostdue t o
evaporationandt r
anspir
ati
onfr om theveget
ation.Thi
sreducesthepeakdi schar
ge
ofar i
ver .
Lossofv eget
ati
onther ef
orereducelagt i
meandincreasepeakdi scharge.
Rainwaterf al
li
ngonbar esurf
acessealt heporespacesthusincreasingtheamount
ofdischar ge.
Amountandt ypeofpreci pit
ati
on-Theamountpr ecipi
tati
oncanhav eanef fecton
thestorm hy dr
ograph.Heav ystormsr esul
tinmor ewat erenter
ingthedrainage
basinwhichresultsinahi gherdischarge.Thetypeofpr ecipi
tati
oncanalsohav ean
i
mpact .Thelagtimeislikelytobegr eaterift
heprecipit
ati
onissnowr at
herthanr ain.
Thisisbecausesnowt akest imet omel tbefor
et hewat erenterst
heriverchannel .
Whent hereisr apidmel t
ingofsnow t hepeakdi schargecoul dbehigh.Seeal so
rai
nfal
lint
ensity.
Humanf actor
saf f
ecti
ngstorm hydrogr
aphs
Urbani
sati
on-Humanswi l
lnormallycoversoi
linimpermeablemater
ial
sli
ketarmac
orconcret
ewhi chwil
lincr
easesur f
acerunoffandreducetheamountofwaterbei
ng
st
ored,i
ncreasi
ngt hepeakdischargeandreduci
ngthelagtime.
22
 Aswat erdoesn’
tinfi
lt
rateeasil
yinurban
areashumansof t
enbui l
dstor m drai
nsthat
rundir
ectlyi
ntoar i
ver,r
educingt hel
agt i
me
andincreasi
ngtheriver’
speakdi scharge.
Arti
fi
cialdr
ainagesystems-Drai
nagesy stems
thathav ebeencreatedbyhumansl eadt oa
shortlag ti
meand hi ghpeakdi schar
geas
watercannotev aporateorinfi
l
trateintothe
soil
.
Ov er
grazi
ng,def
orest
ati
onandv el
dfir
es(devegetat
ion)-t
heseacti
vi
ti
esbyhumans
createbaresurf
aces.Thi
sincr
easer i
verdi
schargeandshortenlagti
meleadi
ngto
theformati
onofaf l
ashi
erhydr
ograph.
See al so culti
vati
on,afforest
ati
on and r eforest ation-these acti
v i
ti
es actually
i
ncr easeinfi
lt
rati
onratesbycreati
ngapor oussoi lenv ironmentandintercepti
ngrain.
Altogether,
theseactivi
ti
esreducedischargeandal sodel aypeakdischarge( l
onglag
ti
me) .Howev ertherecessi
onl i
mbofar easwi thfor ests,cr
opsandcul ti
vatedareas
tendt obegent l
esincewatertakesti
mei nriv
erswhosesur r
oundingsoilissatur
ated.

ASPECTSOFARI
VERSYSTEM

RI
VERDI
SCHARGE
Riverdischargeisdefi
nedasthevolumeofwat erpassi
ngameasur
ingpointor
gaugingstati
oni nari
veri
nagivent
ime.Itismeasur
edincubi
cmet
respersecond
(cumecs).Dischargei
smeasur
edbytheformul
a:

Wher
eQi
sdi
schar
ge,
Aiscr
oss-
sect
ional
areaandVi
svel
oci
ty.
HowAi sdeter
mined-thecr
oss-
secti
onalar
eaofariv
erisobt
ainedbymult
ipl
yi
ng
thewi
dthfrom onebanktotheotherbytheav
eragedepthoftheri
verasshown
bel
ow:
[ nm2]wher
A=WxADi eW i
swi
dthandADi
sav
eragedept
h
Byaddi ngd1, d2,d3, andd4anddi vi
dingby4,
theav eragedept hisobtai
ned.Thi saver
age
depthwi llbemul ti
pli
edbyt hewidthtogetthe
cross-sectionalarea.Thecross-secti
onal
areawi l
l bemultipli
edbyv eloci
tyand
dischargei sobtained.

Humaninterf
erencewi
thriv
erdischar
ge
Waterext
racti
on-theext
racti
onofwat erf
or

23
domesticuseandf ori
rr
igati
onlowersr
iverdi
schar
geespecial
lyr
echargedoesnot
occur
.Irr
igat
ionandindustr
iesuti
l
isesl
argevol
umesofwat erandresul
tant
lyl
ower
di
schargeofriv
ers.
Dam constructi
on-r
educedi schar
gedownstr
eam toanext
endthatsmallstr
eams
could dr
yup downst r
eam.On t he ot
herhand i
tincr
ease di
schar
ge upstr
eam
especi
all
yforlarger
iverswheredamsareconst
ruct
ed.
Urbanisati
on-the cr
eati
on ofconcr et
e pavement
s,tar
mac r oads and ar
tif
ici
al
drainage syst
ems zero down i
nfi
l
trati
on and i
ncr
ease t
he r
iskoff l
ash f
loods.
Howev er,suchimpermeablesurf
acescr eat
edinurbanareasl eav
enor oom f or
returnfl
ow.
Deforest
ati
on-incr
easer
iverdi
schar
geduet
otheabsenceofi
nter
cept
ion and
reducedinf
il
tr
ati
on.
Af
for
est
ati
on-hast
heopposi
teef
fectasdef
orest
ati
on.
Globalwarming-conti
nuousemissi
onsofcarbon-
contai
ningsubst
ancesintothe
atmospher
ehasr esul
tedingl
obalwarmi
ngandclimatechange.Thi
sincr
easedthe
ri
skofdroughtloweri
ngri
verdi
schar
geinthepr
ocess.Rai
nhasbecomeer rat
icand
ri
versar
edryi
ngupasaconsequence.
Farming-i
ncr
easesoi
lporosi
tyandinf
il
trat
ionhencedischar
geisl
owered.However
i
ffarmingisdoneonslopes,over
landflow i
sencouragedespeci
all
yift
erraci
ngis
notdoneandthi
sincr
easetheri
skofsil
tati
on.
Generalmismanagementofl andi
ncommunalar eas-t
hiscauseal otofsoi lerosi
on
l
eadingtothesil
tat
ionofri
vers.Si
lt
ationr
educeriverdepthsthusloweringthewat er-
holdi
ngcapacit
yofr i
versandasar esul
t,di
schargeofriver
swi l
lbel oweredi nthe
l
ongr un.Someperennialr
iversar
ebecomi ngint
ermitt
entasar esultofsil
tatione.g.
theSaveRiveri
nZimbabwe.

RI
VERVELOCI
TY
Vel
ocit
yisthespeedofwateri
nt her
ivermeasur
edi
nmet
respersecond.Vel
oci
tyi
s
det
erminedasfol
lows(f
loatmethod)
- Mar
k2poi
ntsal
ongt
her
iverandmeasur
ethedi
stance
- Placeafl
oati
ngobjectatpoi
ntAandobser
vet
imet
akenbyt
heobj
ectt
o
reacht
hesecondpoi
nt
- Uset
hef
ormul
aV=Di
stance/
timet
ocal
cul
atev
eloci
ty.
- Recor
dvel
oci
tyi
nmet
respersecond
NB-Veloci
tyi
sal
someasur
edusi
ngt
hecur
rentmet
erpl
acedatdi
ff
erentpoi
ntsand
aver
aged.
Vel
oci
tyi
smainl
yinf
luencedbychannelshape,
wettedper
imeter(
tot
alar
eaofbanks
andbedincont
actwithwater)
,channelroughnessorfr
ict
ionaldr
agandchannel
sl
ope.

24
RI
VERLOAD
Ri
verloadist hemater
ialwhi
chisactuall
ytr
anspor
tedanddeposi
tedbyther
iver
.
Thecompet enceofar ivert
otranspor
titsloadisdet
ermi
nedbyl ooki
ngatthe
l
argestpar
ti
clestr
ansport
edbytheri
ver.

Ri
verr
egi
me
Ri
verregimeist
heter
m usedtodescr
ibetheannualv
ari
ati
onsi
ndi
schar
geofr
iver
s.
Ther
ear ethr
eet
ypesofri
verr
egi
mewhi chare
a)Singl
eregi
me-wher eallr
iver
shaveonepeakdischar
gepery
ear,t
ypi
calof
ri
versinseasonal
lyhumidenvir
onment
s.Thi
sregimeshowsonepeakQi n
summerwhenr ainisr
ecei
ved.
b)Doubleregime-occurswhenadr ainagebasinhasw t y
pesofi nputs,i.
e.
rai
nfal
landsnowmelte.g.inEur
opeancount ri
eswhere4di st
inctseasonsar e
experi
enced[summer,spri
ng,wi
nterandaut umn].Thefi
rstpeakdi schargeis
experi
encedduetomel ti
ngofsnowdur i
ngspringti
meandt hesecondpeak
occursduri
ngsummerr ai
ns.SeeRhineRiveri
nGer many
.
c)Compl
exr egi
me-isar egi
mewi thsev
eralpeakse.g.theMissi
ssippiRi
ver
.
Suchr
iver
shav etr
ibut
ari
eslocat
edindif
fer
entcli
maticregi
onsleadingt
oa
compl
exregime.

CHANNELFLOW
Channelfl
ow isthef
orm ofov
erl
andf
low wher
ebywat
erf
oll
owsdef
inedchannel
s
usual
lyri
ver
s,str
eamsandsub-
str
eams.
Ty
pesoff
lows
 Laminarfl
ow-isthe hor
izont
almovementofwaterdownst
ream wi
thout
di
sturbi
ngsedi
ment
s.Laminarfl
owi
srar
elyf
oundi
nriv
ers.
 Turbulentflow-consistsofaseri
esofer r
aticeddi
esformedbywat erei
ther
hori
zont al
lyorv er
ti
call
y.I
tisacommont ypeoffl
owandi tisresponsi
blefor
thedisturbanceandupl i
ft
ingofpar
ti
cles.Turbul
entfl
owoftenincreasewhen
vel
ocityi ncreasebecausewat erwil
lov ercomet hefr
ict
ionaldrag oft he
channel.
 Heli
coidalf
low-i
sacorkscrewmov ementofwaterwhichpr
oducesaser iesof
di
vergi
ngandconv ergi
nglateralr
elat
ions.Whenthewaterconver
ges, er
osion
occursont heouterbankandwheni tdiver
gesitdeposi
tsmat eri
alont he
i
nnerbank.Thisty
peoff l
owi smost l
yseenonmeander i
ngchannels.
Ri
ver
sar
ecl
assi
fi
edaccor
dingt
othenat
ureoft
hei
rdi
schar
geov
ert
imeas
a)Ephemeralri
ver
s/st
reams/channel
s-thoset
hatfl
owforaver
yshor
tperi
odof
ti
mef ol
l
owinganepi sodeofrai
n.Theyaremainl
yfoundi
ndeser
tsfol
l
owing
err
ati
cstormsthatoccurst
here.
b)I
nter
mit
tentr
iver
s/channel
s-maint
ainaseasonalfl
ow ofwater
,hencethey
f
lowonl
yduri
ngthewetseason,becomi
ngdryduri
ngthewint
erseason.

25
 c)Perenni
alri
vers-t
hese fl
ow throughoutthe year.They ar
e constant
ly
rechar
gedbyBasef
lowfrom t
hezoneofper manentsat
urat
ione.
g.Limpopo,
ZambeziandtheNi
l
eriv
er(Nil
eri
veristhel
ongestri
veri
ntheworl
d).

THELONGPROFI
LEOFARI
VER

Thelongpr ofi
l
eshowshowar iver
’sgr
adientchangesasi tfl
owsfrom i
tssourceto
i
tsmouth.Thecour searivertakesisspli
tint
ot hreest heupper
ages,t ,middl
eand
l
owerstages.I ntheuppercourse,theri
verisclosetoitssourceandhighabov ei
ts
baselevel(thelowestpointther i
vercanerodet o).I
nt helowerstagetheri
veris
cl
oset ot hemout h and notf arabovei t
sbasel evel.Inthemi ddl
estage,it
’s
somewher einbetween.
Thet otalener
gythatar i
verpossessesv ar
iesfrom onestagetoanot herbecauseof
changesi ntheri
ver’
sheight,gr
adientandspeed.I ntheuppercourse,thegradientof
theriverissteepandt her i
verishighabov esealevelgivi
ngital argeamountof
gravi
tationalenergy
.I nt he mi ddl
e course,t he ri
ver’
s gravit
ati
onalener gy is
l
ower becausethegradientbeginstolevelout.Bythetimether i
verreachesitslower
stage,i thas ver
yl i
tt
le gravi
tat
ionalener gy.Itisthis gravi
tat
ionalenergyt hat
determines the vel
ocity ofwat erand i t
s erosive power,hence t he result
ant
l
andf orms.
Throughoutthelongprof
ileofar i
ver,deposi
ti
onander osionar ebalancedmeani ng
that,gi
venenought i
me,ther iv
er’
slongpr ofi
lewouldbecomeasmoot h,concave,
gradedprofi
l
eandal lt
hekni ckpoint
swoul dbeeliminatedast heyareei t
hereroded
orfil
ledi
nbydepositi
on.Itwouldtakeal ongti
mef orar iv
er ’
slongpr ofi
letobecome
agradedprofil
ethoughsot heideaofagr adedprofi
l
ei s,essent i
all
y,theoret
icalasit
doesn’tr
eal
lyoccurinnat
ur e.
Thel
ongpr
ofi
l
eoft
her
iveri
sil
l
ust
rat
edi
nthedi
agr
am bel
ow:

The l ong profi

le shows
how,i ntheupperst age
ofa r i
ver’
s cour se,t he
ri
ver’
s gr adi
enti s steep
buti tgr adual
lyf l
attens
outas t he r
iverer odes
towar ds it
s base l evel.
Onet hi
ngt onot ei st he
presence ofkni ckpoints
i
nt hel ongprofile.These
are poi nts wher e t he
gradient of t he r iv
er

26
changessuddenlyandcanbecausedbyl andfor
msl i
kem mwat er
fall
sorl akes,
wheret he li
thol
ogyoft he riv
erchanges and di f
fer
ent
ialerosi
on takes place.
Knickpoi
ntscanal sobetheresultofrej
uvenati
on,wherethebaselev
elofther iver
fal
lsgivi
ngitsomeextragrav
itati
onalpot
ential
energytoer
odeverti
cal
ly.
Processesint heUpperCour se
I
nt heuppercour se,theri
verhasal otoferosi
vepowergi vi
ngr isetogr eatver
ti
cal
i
ncisi
on.Thebedoft her
iveriserodedgreat
lywhilethebanksar enoterodedmuch.
Verti
calerosioni salsocausedbyt hetr
acti
on/draggingoflargepiecesofangul ar
rockwhi chincr easeserosionoft hebedbycor rasion.Vert
icalerosioni sfurt
her
i
ncreasedbyt her oughnatureofthechannelintheuppercoursewhi chincreasesthe
water’
st urbulenceandi tsabi l
it
yt oerode.Verti
calerosi
oni ntheuppercour se
resul
tsinthef ormat i
onof‘V’-
shapedchannel
s.
ProcessesintheMi ddl
eCour se
Inthemi ddlecourse,ther i
verhaslessgr avi
tat
ionalenergysoer osi
onshift
sfrom
verti
caltol at
eralerosion.Sincethest ream compet encei sloweri nt
hemi ddl
e
course,depositi
onofl argemat er
ial
sbegi nsher ewhi chmeanst hatther
ei sa
balancebetweener osi
onanddeposi t
ion.Meander i
ngchannel sarealsof
oundhere
andt hecross-
profi
lestendtobe“ U”
-shapedduet olateraler
osion.
ProcessesintheLowerCourse
Inthelowercourse,t
heriv
erhasnextt onogr avi
tati
onalener
gysoerosi
onisalmost
zero.Ther i
ver
’sloadismainlycomposedofsi lt
sandcl aysanditi
st r
anspor
tedin
suspensionorev ensoluti
on.Li kei
nt hemi ddl
ecour se,whenther i
verfl
oodsit
depositsit
sloadbutdeposit
ionnowal sotakesplaceatthemouthoftheri
verwhere
theri
vermeet stheseaorast at
ionar
ybodyofwat er.

THECONCEPTOF‘
GRADE’

River‘
grading’referst
ot hest ateofdy namicequili
bri
um inariv
erwherebythetotal
energyofar iverissuffi
cientenought omov eit
sloadwithouter
odingit
schannel.I
n
otherwor dst heconceptof‘ grade’isast at
eofbal ancebet weenerosi
onand
deposit
ionsucht hatt
her iv
erisnowi ncapableoferodi
ngbutmer el
ytr
ansport
ingit
s
l
oad.Itisat heoreti
calconceptdi f
ficul
ttofindinmostriver
s.
NB-f
ullygradedpr
ofi
l
esar
eincapabl
eofer
odi
ngt
hei
rbedsv
ert
ical
l
ybutt
heycan
er
odelater
all
y.
AGRADEDRI
VERPROFI
LE

Agr adedr iv
erpr ofi
ledescr
ibesar i
verthathasattainedasmoot hgentl
yslopi
ng
concav eprofil
ef rom sour
cet omout h;withthegradientdecr
easi
ngtowardsthe
mout h.AllLakesal ongthechannelwouldhav ebeenf il
ledwit
hsedimentsandall
waterfall
sandr apids(kni
ckpoints)destroyedtof orm asmoot hgentl
yslopi
ng
concav eprofi
le.

27
 A gr aded pr ofi
le i s
usual lyachar acter i
st i
c
featur eofmat ur er ivers
whose base l ev els
hasn’ t been di sturbed
fora l ongerper i
od of
ti
me. Exampl es of
ri
vers wi th gr aded
profiles i nclude t he
RhineRi verinGer many
andt heThanesRi veri n
UK. NB t he Zambezi
Riveri n Zimbabwe i s
ungr aded because i t
sti
llhasawat er
fall.Asshownont hediagr
am agr adedri
verpr of il
eistheonet hat
hasnodepr essi
ons,Lakes,wat er
fall
sandr api
ds.Itshowsapr of i
leofar iv erini ts
mat uri
tystagealthoughscholarsbeli
evethatiti
sady namicst ateoft her i
v erwhi ch
meansi tissubjectt ochangeanytime.Changesthatareli
kelytooccuri ncludebase
l
ev elchanges( rejuvenat
ion)whichgivesther i
verhigherosiv epower .Basel ev el
changeact uall
yfor msknickpoint
swhi charecharact
eri
sti
cfeat uresofanungr aded
profil
e.

UNGRADEDRI
VERPROFI
LE

Thisisapr ofi
l
ethatisnotyetgraded,whichsti
llhav
esteepgr
adient
sfr
om sour
ce
tomout h;andpunctuatedbyrapidsandwat er
fall
s(kni
ckpoi
nts)aswel
lasLakes
thatst
il
lhav et
obefil
ledwit
hsediment s.
Anungr adedl ongpr ofil
e
i
st hust heonet hatst i
ll
has some i rregularit
ies
fr
om sour cetomout h.A
good exampl e i s t he
ZambeziRi verwhi chst i
ll
haswater f
all
slikeVictor i
a
Fall
s,al otofr apidsand
damse.g.t heKar i
baDam,
and Cabbor a Bassa i n
Mozambi que.Not et hata
gradedprofil
ecanchange
tobecomeungr adeddue
t
ochangesi
nbasel
evel
.
NB-onthewaterf
all,er
osi
onwi l
lexceeddeposi
ti
onunti
lthekni
ckpoi
ntdisappear
s
whi
leonthelake,deposit
ionwil
lexceederosi
onunti
liti
sf i
l
ledinwi
thsediments.
Thi
swil
lcreat
eagr adedprof
il
e.

28
REJUVENATI ON
Thetermr ej
uvenationi susedtodescr ibetheretur
nofanepi sodeofact i
vev er
ti
cal
erosi
onory out
hfulst ageofar i
verf ol
l
owi nganupli
ft.Thebaseleveloftheri
verfal
ls
asgivingitsomeext ragravi
tat
ionalpot enti
alenergytoerodev erti
call
y.I
nshor t
rej
uvenat
ionisther eturnofthey outhfulstageofther i
ver
.Degradingoccursaf t
er
rej
uvenat
ionsucht hatt heri
ver’
spr ofi
l
ewoul dbecomegr adedagain.
BASELEVEL
Baseleveli
sthelowestl
ev elt
owhicher
osionbyrunni
ngwatercantakepl
ace.I
nt he
casesofr i
vers,t
hetheoreti
call
i
mitoferosi
onissealev
elwhi chmeansthatr
ivers
cannoterodebelowtheleveloft
heseaother
wiseseawaterwi
llfl
owbacktori
vers.
Baselevelchangeisaprocesswherebythebaselevelofariv
erchanges.Baselevel
changesoccur sasar esul
toftect
onicupli
ftorasar esul
tofcl
imatechangef rom
wettodr y(baselevelf
all
s)ordrytowet(baselevelri
ses)
.Baselevelchangescan
ei
therbepositi
veornegat i
ve.
Positi
vebasel evelchange-occur
swhenthesealev
elr i
sesi
nr el
ati
ont
ol andorl
and
sinksinrelat
iont othesea.Thisresul
tsi
nthedecreaseingradi
entoftheriv
erand
thecorrespondingdepositi
onofsediment
s.
Negativ
ebasel evelchange-occurswhenseal evelfal
lsinrel
ati
ont oland,orl
and
ri
sesi nr el
ati
ont osea.Thi smov ementcr eat
esst eepgradi
entsal ongtheriver
resul
ti
ngi nactiveriverer
osion.Inf actwhenanegat ivebaselevelchangeoccurs,
knickpointsareformedwhi chincr
easet heri
ver’
serosivepower.
Kni
ckpointsar
epoi
ntsonar i
verwher
ether
eisanabr
upt
/suddenchangei
ngr
adi
ent
onther
iverbed.Awater
fal
li
sav er
ygoodexampl
eofakni
ckpoint
.

THECROSSPROFI
LEOFARI
VER

Theriver
’scrossprofi
l
er ef
erstothecr oss-
sect
ionofariv
erfr
om onebanktothe
other
.Diff
erentfact
orsareresponsibl
efortheformat
ionofdi
ff
erentcr
osspr
ofi
l
es.
Thesearediscussedbelowindetai
ls.
Balancebetweenerosionanddeposit
ion-thi
sfactorisrelat
edtothelongpr
ofil
eof
ri
vers.I
nt heuppercourseoft
heriverthereismor ever
ticali
nci
sionwhichl
eadsto
thecreat
ionofdeepnar r
owval
ley
sthatar e“V”-
shaped.

29
 Int hemi ddlecour se,thereismor e
l
at eralerosi
ont hanv ert
icalerosion
becauset hegrav i
tationalenergyof
the r iver i
sl ower her e. Lower
grav i
ty r esults f rom r educed
gradient . Lateral er osion her e
resultsi nt he f ormat i
on of“ U”-
shapedchannel sasshowni nt he
diagram. I n addi ti
on,si nce t he
gradienti s becomi ng gent l
e,t he
ri
verwi llbegint o deposi tlarger
mat erialsherel eadingt oreduced
ri
verdept handt hef ormat i
onofU-
shapedchannel s.
Onthelowercourse,t
hegr adi
entbecomesv erygentl
eandt heerosi
vepowerofthe
r
iversi
gnifi
cantl
ydecreases,alt
hought heriv
ercanst i
l
lerodel at
eral
ly(buttoa
l
esserextend)
.Depositi
onofsedi mentsisverydomi nanthere.Consequentl
yver
y
wi
deriver
swhi charever
yshall
ow( notdeep)arefoundhere.
Climat e-humi dcl i
mat esusual l
yhav edeepweat heredl ay
ersthatpr omot ebot h
verti
calandl ateralerosion.Asar esulttheyhav ewi dercrossprofi
les.Howev er,such
areas l i
ke t he tr
opicalmi ghthav e deep nar row channels because ofdense
vegetat i
oncov erwhi chpr ohibi
tserosionbyr iv
ers.Ont hecontr
ary,peri
-glacialand
glaci
alr egionsar el i
kelyt ohav eflat-
flooredcr osspr ofi
lesasar esultofgl acial
erosion.Sub- humidcl i
mat espr omotebot hlateralerosionandv erti
calerosionand
asar esulttheyhav eU- shapedcrosspr ofi
l
es.Veget ationissparseandt her egoli
th
i
sf ai
rlydeeppr omotingbot hlat
eralandv er
ticalerosi
on.
Rockt ype-areaswit
hmor eresi
stantr
ocks/soi
lse.
g.cl
aytendt
ohav edeepnarrow
channelswhi charesteep-si
dedbecausev er
ti
cali
nci
sionisgreat
erthanlateral
erosion.Theyactual
lyresi
stlat
eralerosi
on.Inaddi
ti
onareasthathavegotrocks
withalter
natebandsofhardandsof tr
ockscancausetheriv
ert
omeanderaswat er
searchesf oraweakerrock/pat
h.Meander i
ngcreat
esasymmetri
calcr
ossprofil
es
aserosionanddepositi
onoccuronoppositebanks.
Mor eso, areas wi th layer
ed r ocks, e.
g.
sedimentaryrocks,
tendtohav esteppedcross
profil
eswhichar ealsocall
edv all
eysinvall
ey
crossprofi
les.Massmov ementsalsoresul
tin
the f or
mat i
on of t err
aced/stepped cross
profil
es.
Geologicalpr ocesses-ar easthatexper i
ence
tect
oni cuplif
tandnegat i
vebasel evelchanges
experienceact iv
ev ert
icalinci
sionl eadi
ngt o
thef ormationofv erydeepandnar r
ow riv
er
vall
eyssuchasgor ges.Thisoccur sbecause
t
ect
oni
cupl
i
fti
ncr
easet
heer
osi
vepoweroft her i
verpr omot i
ngv erti
calerosi
on.

30
Tect
oni
cupl
i
ftcanal
sor
esul
tint
hef
ormat
ionoft
err
acedcr
osspr
ofi
l
es.
Fault
ing-heavil
yf aul
tedenv ir
onmentsareusuallyassoci
atedwithnearl
yvert
ical
val
leysides.Thesesteepsi dedvall
eysarefl
at-
fl
ooredatfi
rstbutbecomemodifi
ed
byexorgenicprocesseslikeweatheri
ng.Rev
ersefault
ingof
tenleadtothef
ormati
on
ofaterracedcross-pr
ofi
le.

RI
VERPROCESSES
Themai nriv
erpr ocessest obedi scussedher ear eerosi
on,transportat
ionand
deposit
ion.Ofimportancetonot eisthatrivererosi
onanddepositi
onpr ocesseslead
tothef ormation ofv ari
ousl andformsal ong riv
ers’profi
l
es.Erosion landf
orms
i
ncludewat erf
all
s,rapids,gorges&pot holes,toment ionaf ew;whiledepositi
onal
feat
uresincl
udeall f
eaturesofaf l
oodpl ai
n, br
aidedchannel
se.t.
c.

RI
VEREROSI
ON
Erosionisthewear i
ngawayoft heri
verbanksandbedorapr ocesswherebywater
fl
owingi nachanneldetachespart
icl
esform ei
thert
hebanksorbedofther i
verand
carri
est hem away.Ar i
ver
’sl
oadisbitsoferodedmater
ial
,general
l
yrocksthatthe
ri
vertransportsunt
ili
tdeposi
tst
hem downstream.
Ar i
ver’
schanneli ser oded later
all
yand v erti
call
ymaki ngthechannelwi derand
deeper.Theintensityoflateralandv er
ti
caler osioni sdict
atedbyt hestageinthe
ri
ver’
scourse.Ver t
icalerosi
oni smor epronouncedi ntheupperst ageoftheri
ver’
s
course(cl
osetot hesourceoft heriv
er)andi sresponsiblefordeepeningt
hechannel.
In the mi ddl
e and l ower st ages v er
tical er osi
on i s reduced and mor e
hori
zontal
/l
ater
aler osiontakesplace.Later
aler osionisresponsibl
eforwideni
ngthe
channel.
I
naddition,ri
ver’
schannelcanbeer odedbyheadwarderosi
onwhichisr
esponsi
ble
f
orincreasingthelengt
hofthelengthofthechannel
.Headwarder
osioni
swhenthe
r
iverwearsbackwar dsext
endi
ngt helengt
hofthechannel
.
Ther
earefour(4)way
sthroughwhichriverer
osiontakespl
ace.Thesei
ncl
ude
hydr
aul
i
cacti
on,
corr
asi
on,
att
rit
ionandcor
rosi
on/sol
uti
on.
Hy dr
aulicact
ion-t
hisi
swhent hesheerforceofthewat erremovesrockpar t
icles
fr
om t hebedandbanks.Thi
st ypeoferosionisstr
ongestatrapidsandwat er
f all
s
wheret hewaterhasahighv
elocit
y.I
tisalsomor epronouncedwhent heri
verisi n
fl
oodorwhent heri
verbedi
srough.Therear etwotypesofhy dr
auli
cacti
onwhi ch
are:
i
) Evorti
on-thisinvolv
es the di
recti
mpactofmov i
ng wat
er(
weightof
water)r
ubbingagainstthebedr emovi
ngpar
ti
clesandcar
ryt
hem.Itis
responsi
blefordeepeni
ngthechannel
.

31
 i
i
) Cavit
ati
on-isaf orm ofhydrauli
cactionwhichoccur swhenai rbubbles
tr
appedint hewat ergetcompr essedintosmallspacesli
kecracksint he
ri
ver’
sbanksandev entuall
yimpl odecreati
ngasmal lshockwavet hat
weakensther ocks.Theshockwav esar ever
yweakbutov erti
met her ock
wil
lbeweakenedt othepointatwhi chitfal
lsapart.
Iti
sresponsibl
ef or
wideni
ngthechannelandi toccurswhenwat erisunderveryhighvelocit
y
andwhent heriverbedisirr
egular.
CorrasionorAbr asion-iswhent heloadbei
ngcarri
edbyt heri
verstri
kes/rubagainst
thebanksandbedoft hechanneldetachi
ngparti
clesi
nt heprocess.Inotherwor ds
abrasioni swher ether i
v er’
sloadactsalmostli
kesandpaper ,r
emov ingpiecesof
rockast heloadr ubsagai nstthebed&banks.Thi
ssortoferosionisstrongestwhen
theriveri stransporti
ngl argechunksofrockorafterheavyrainf
allwhent heriv
er ’
s
fl
owi st urbulent.
Corrosi
on/soluti
on-
isaspeci alty
peofer osi
ont hatonlyaf fectscert
aintypesof
rocks.I
tinvolveswatercontaini
ngacidsorbei
ngsl i
ght
lyacidic,react
ingwithcer
tai
n
rocksanddi ssol
vethem.Cor rosi
onishighl
yeffect
ivei
fther ockt ypeofthechannel
i
schal korlimestone( any
thingcontaini
ngcal
cium carbonate)ot her
wise,i
tdoesn’t
havemuchofanef fect.
At
tri
ti
on-i
sawayoferodingtheri
ver
’sl
oad,notthebedandbanks.Attr
it
ioniswher
e
pi
ecesofrockinther
iver’
sloadknockagainsteachot
herandf ur
therbreakdown
i
ntosmall
erpi
eces.

RI
VERTRANSPORT
Thisisthedownst ream mov ementofsedimentseit
heralongt hechannelbedor
wit
hinthebodyofwat er.Energythatr
emainsaft
ertheri
verhasov er
comef ri
cti
onis
usedtot r
ansportsediment s.Theamountofsedimentscar r
iedbytheriverandthe
si
zeoft hesesediment s/l
oaddependspr i
mari
lyontheveloci
tyanddischargeofthe
ri
ver.Athighvel
ocit
iesandwhent heri
verdi
schar
geishight heri
veri
ssai dtohave
moreener gyt
ot r
anspor ttheload.Moresedi
mentsaretransport
edwhent heriv
eris
i
nf l
ood.
Therearedif
fer
entwaysthatar
iverwi
l
lt r
anspor
tloaddependi
ngonhow much
energytheri
verhasandhow bi
gt heloadis.Theseincl
udetract
ion,sal
tat
ion,
suspensi
onandsol
uti
on.
Tracti
on-t helargestofparti
clessuchasbouldersaretr
anspor
tedbytr
acti
on.These
parti
clesar erol
ledalongthebedoft heri
ver
,erodi
ngthebedandtheparti
clesi
nthe
process, becausetheriverdoesn’thaveenoughenergytomovethesel
argepart
icl
es
i
nanyot herway .
Salt
ati
on-sli
ght
lysmall
erparti
cles,suchaspebblesandgr avel,ar
et r
ansport
edby
sal
tati
on.Thi
siswheretheloadbouncesal ongthebedoftheriverbecausetheri
ver
hasenoughenergytoli
fttheparti
clesoffthebedbuttheparticl
esaretooheav yto
tr
avelbysuspensi
on.I
not herwor dsri
ver’
sloadistr
ansport
edi naser i
esofjumps

32
downst
ream (
tempor
ari
l
yli
ft
edbywat
erandbounceal
ongt
hebedi
nahoppi
ng
manner
).
Suspensi
on-ver
yfinepart
icl
esli
keclayandsiltar
etranspor
tedi
nsuspension,t
hey
aresuspendedi
nthewater.Mostofari
ver’
sloadistr
ansport
edbysuspensi
on.
Sol
ution-isaspeci
almethodoftr
ansport
ation.Thi
siswher
eparti
clesar
edissol
ved
i
nwat erandt r
anspor
tedinsol
uti
on.Onl
yr ocksthatar
esolubl
e,suchasli
mestone
orchalk,canbetr
anspor
tedinsol
uti
on.
STREAM CAPACITY&COMPETENCE
Ri
verscanonl
ycarr
ysomuchl
oaddependi
ngont
hei
rener
gy.
Str
eam capaci
ty-ref
erst
ot hemaxi mum volumeofl oadthatari
vercancar
ryata
speci
fi
cpointinitscourseORt heabil
it
yofar i
vertot r
anspor
tit
sload.St
ream
capaci
tyi
sinfl
uencebyveloci
ty,
dischar
ge,andgradientoft
hechannel
.
Str
eam competence-r
efer
stothebi
ggestsizedpar
ti
clet
hatari
v ercouldcarr
yata
speci
fi
cpoint
.Stream compet
encei
saf uncti
onofriv
ervel
oci
ty,dischar
ge,ener
gy,
andpart
icl
esi
ze.
NB-t
herel
ati
onshi
pbet
weenpar
ti
cleandwat
erv
eloci
tyi
snor
mal
l
yil
l
ust
rat
edusi
ng
t
heHjul
str
öm cur
ve.

RI
VERDEPOSI
TION
Riverdeposi
ti
onist hesettl
i
ngofl oadcar
ri
edbyar i
ver.Whenariverlosesener gyi
t
i
sf orcedtodepositit
sload.There’
ssever
alreasonswhyar iv
ercouldl oseenergy.I
f
ther i
ver
’sdi
schargeisreducedthentheri
verwilll
oseenergybecausei tisn’
tfl
owing
asqui ckl
yanymor e.Thiscoul dhappenbecauseofal ackofpr ecipitati
onoran
i
ncr easeinevaporati
on.Increasedhumanuse( abstr
acti
on)ofar i
vercoul dalso
reduceitsdi
schargeforci
ngitdepositi
tsl
oad.
Depositi
onal sooccurswhent hev el
ocityofwaterislow duetoreducedgradient
especial
lywhent heri
verapproachesitsmouth(inthelowercour
se).Meanderi
ngof
ariveralsoleadtodeposit
ionont heinnerbank.Deposit
ionr
esul
tsintheformation
ofseverallandf
ormsasshal l
beseenl ater
.
Ift
hegradientoftheri
ver
’scourseflat
tensout,
theri
verwi
l
ldeposi
tit
sloadbecause
i
twillbetr
avell
ingalotsl
ower.Whenar i
vermeetst
heseaari
verwil
ldeposi
tit
sload
becausethegradienti
sgeneral
l
yr educedatsealev
elandt
heseawillabsor
balotof
energy.
TheHj
ulst
röm Cur
ve
AHjul
str
öm curv
ei saspecialt
ypeofgrapht hatshowshowar iv
er’
sveloci
tyaff
ects
i
tcompetenceanditsabil
it
ytoerodeparti
clesofdi f
fer
entsi
zes.Ther
e’salotgoing
onthegraphbutit’sfai
rl
yeasyt oreadoncey ougett hehangofit.There’
stwo
cur
vesontheHjulstr
öm Curve,acri
tcaler
i osionv el
oci
tycur
veandameanset tl
ing
vel
oci
tycur
ve.

33
 Thecr i
ti
caler osi on
cur ve shows t he
mi nimum v el ocity
neededt ot r
anspor t
ander odeapar ti
cle.
The mean set tli
ng
velocity shows t he
mi nimum speed
that par ticl
es of
different sizes wi l
l
bedeposi tedbyt he
ri
ver . The shaded
areas bet ween t he
cur ves show t he
different pr ocess
thatwi llbe t aking
place f or par ticl
es
that l ie in t hose
shadedar eas.
As an exampl e,a
ri
v er flowing at
10cmswi llt
ranspor
tclay
,sil
tandsandparti
clesbutwil
ldepositgrav
el,pebbleand
boul
derpar t
icl
es.Conversel
y,ariverf
lowi
ngat100cmswi l
ler odeandt ranspor
t
l
argeclaypar ti
cl
es,si
ltpart
icl
es,sandpar
ticl
esandmostgr avelpart
icl
es.Itwil
l
tr
ansportall
butthelar
gestofpebbl
esandwilldeposi
tboul
der
s.
Theeasiestwaytoreadthecurveist
odrawahori
zontall
inefr
om thevelocit
yy ou’
re
tr
yingtor eadandseeingwhi chshadedareaitcrossesthepar t
icl
esi zey ou’
re
i
nterest
edi nin.Thi
swi l
ltel
ly ouwhethert
hatpar
ticl
ei seroded,tr
ansportedor
deposit
edatthatvel
oci
ty.
There’saf ewi nteresti
ngthingst onot eabouttheHj ul
ström Cur ve.Thefirstisthat
claysizedpar t
iclesdon’ tappeart ohav eameanset t
li
ngv elocity.Thisi
sbecause
theseparti
clesar esof inethatar i
verwouldhav et obealmostper f
ect l
yst
at i
onar
yi n
orderforthem t ofalloutofsol ut
ion.Inaddit
ion,thesmal lparti
clesseem tohav ean
erosi
vev elocityt hat’sthesameast heveloci
tyforlargerpar t
icl
es.Thi si
sbecause
smallerparticlesar ecohesi ve,theysticktogether,makingt hem har dert
odi sl
odge
ander odewi thouthi ghv el
ociti
es.
St
rengt
hsoft heHj
ulst
röm cur
ve
- Thegr aphmanagest oexpl
ainwhyst
ream capaci
tyi
ncr
easei
nadownst
ream
di
rect
ion.
- Thegraphal
somanagest
oexpl
ainwhydeposi
ti
onoccur
sateachsect
ionof
thest
ream’
slongpr
ofi
l
e
- I
talsoshowsaquant
it
ati
ver
elat
ionshi
pbet
weener
osi
on,t
ranspor
tat
ionand
deposi
ti
on.

34
Weaknessesofthegraph
- Somet i
mespar t
icl
esi
zedoesnotcor
responddi
rect
lyt
othemassoft
hat
part
icul
arpar
ti
cle
- Insomear easdeposit
ionhasoccurr
edwit
hint
hechanneldespi
teahi
gh
str
eam v
eloci
tyespeci
all
ydur
ingf
loodi
ng.

LANDFORMSOFRI
VEREROSI
ON

Questi
on:Wit
htheaidofdiagr
ams,descr
ibeandexpl
aint
hel
andf
ormsr
esul
ti
ngr
iver
er
osionintheuppercour
seofari
ver. [ 12]
WATERFALLS
Waterf
all
sarefoundintheuppercourseofar i
ver.Theyusuall
yoccurwher
eaband
ofhardrockli
esnextt osoftr
ock.Ast her
iverpassesov erthehardr
ock,thesof
t
rockbel
owi seroded(wornaway)mor equi
cklythant hehardrockl
eavi
ngthehard
rockel
evatedabovethestr
eam bedbelow.
The' step'int
her i
verbedcont i
nuestodev el
opast her iverfl
owsov erthehar dr ock
step (Cap Rock)asa v erti
caldr op.The
dropget sst eeperast her iverer odest he
softr ockbeneat hbypr ocessessuchas
abrasion and hy draul
ic action.A pl unge
poolfor msatt hebaseoft hewat erfal
l.This
erosi
ongr adual l
yunder cutst hehar dr ock
unti
lthecapr ockisunsuppor tedsucht hat
itwillev entuallycoll
apses.A st eepsi ded
valeyknownasagor
l gei sleftbehi ndand
as the pr ocess cont i
nues t he wat erfal
l
gradual l
yretr
eatsupstream.Wat erf
all
sarealsof ormedasar esultofupl if
tingt hat
resultsinnegati
vebasel evelchangesforexampl et heVi ct
oriaFallsont heZambezi
RiverinZi mbabwe.
POTHOLES
Potholesarecy li
ndri
calhol
esdri
ll
edintotherockybedofar i
verbyturbul
enthigh-
vel
ocitywat erl
oadedwi thpebbl
es.Thepebblesbecomet rappedi nsl
ighthol
lows
andv ert
icaleddiesinthewaterarest
rongenought oal
l
owt hesedimenttogri
nda
hol
ei ntot her ockbyabr asi
on(corr
asion).Att
ri
ti
onroundsandsmoot henst he
pebblescaughti nthehol
eandhelpstoreducethesi
zeofthebedl oad.
Potholescanv aryinwi dt
hf r
om af ew centi
met r
est oseveralmetres.Theyar e
generall
yfoundintheupperorear
ly-
mi ddl
ecourseofar i
ver.Thi
siswher etheval
ley
l
ieswel labovebaselev
el,gi
vi
ngmor epotenti
alfordowncutti
ng,andwher etheri
ver
bedi smoreli
kelytoberockyinnat
ure.
RAPI
DS
Rapi
dsdev
elopwher
eal
ter
nat
ebandsofhar
d

35
andsoftr
ocksform par
tandparceloftheri
verbed.Thesoftr
ocki
sat
tackedmor
e
qui
ckl
ybyer osi
onandi tisloweredintheprocess.Bandsofhar
drocksarel
eft
el
evat
edabovetheloweredsoftr
ocksandthesewill
formrapi
ds
GORGES
Gorgesoccuronar iv
erf l
owingal
ongaf aultli
neorl i
neofweakness.Ver t
ical
erosiondeepensthesofterrockl
eavi
ngr esi
stantrocksoutstandi
ngthuscreati
nga
narrow deep channelora gor ge.Here mechani calhydrauli
c act
ion i
sl argely
responsi
bleforthefor
mat i
onofthegorge.Gorgesarealsoformedduet otheretreat
ofwat er
fal
lsasal r
eadyhighli
ght
edabov e.Av er
ygoodexampl eofsuchgor gesi s
theNaigaraGorgefoundnearNaigar
aFal l
s.
V-SHAPEDVALLEYS
Thesearedeepnarrowchannel
sf ormedont heuppercourseoftheriverbyver
ti
cal
erosi
on.Theydevel
opherebecausewat erhasmoreerosi
vepotenti
al.Seediagr
ams
above.Rej
uvenat
ional
soresul
tsintheformati
onofV-shapedval
leys.

LANDFORMSOFRI
VERDEPOSI
TION

BRAIDEDCHANNELS
Brai
dingoccurswhentheri
veri
sforcedtospli
tint
osev eralchannel
sseparat
edby
i
slands.I
tisafeat
ureofri
ver
sthataresuppl
iedwit
hlargeloadsofsandandgr avel
.
I
tismostlikel
ytooccurwhenari
verhasvari
abledi
schargesforexampleseasonall
y
humidenvir
onments.
Theyalsodev el
opfrom themiddletolower
coursewherest r
eam compet enceislower
l
eading tot he depositi
on ofsedi ments.
Deposit
edsedi ment
saccumul ateinsi
dethe
channelfor
cingtheriv
ertospliti
ntoseveral
channel
sasshownont hedi
agram.
In summar y br ai
ding occurs in
envi
ronment
sin which ther
e ar
erapi
dly
fl
uct
uati
ngdischar
ges:
1.Semi-
ari
dareasofl owrel
ieft
hatr
ecei
ve
r
iversfrom mount
ainousareaandi
nseasonall
yhumidenv i
ronmentswherer
ainf
all
i
sr ecei
vedinsummer,causi
ngfl
uct
uat
ionsinr
iverdi
schar
ge.
2.Glaci
alstr
eamswi t
hv ari
ableannualdischar
ge.Inspri
ng,meltwat
ercausesriv
er
di
scharge and competence toincrease,ther
eforethe ri
vercan t
ranspor
tmor e
part
icl
es.Asthetemperaturedropsandt heri
verlev
elfal
ls,t
heloadi
sdepositedas
i
slandsofdeposit
ioni
nt hechannel
.
MEANDERS
Meanderi
ngoccur
sinthemi ddl
ecour
seoft
heri
ver.Theyusual
l
ydevel
opongentl
e
gr
adient
swheretheveloci
tyandcompet
enceoftheriveri
slower
.Asaresul
tthe

36
ri
verusuall
yavoi
dobstacl
esandfol
l
owaweakerpaththuscreat
ingameander
.Both
erosionanddeposit
ionareact
iveonameanderleadingtothef or
mat
ionofri
ver
cl
iffsandsli
poffsl
opes.
Waterfl
owsf ast
estont
heout
erbendofther
iverwheret
herei
slessfr
ict
ion.This
causesgreat
ererosi
onwhi
chdeepenst
hechannelcreat
ingapoolneartheouter
bankoftheri
ver.
Lateraler osion i s also act iv
e
here and i tr esults i n t he
under cut ti
ng oft he riverbank
and t hef or mat i
on ofa st eep
sided r i
v ercl iff.Incont rast ,on
thei nnerbend wat erf lowsat
l
ower velociti
es hence
deposi ti
on occur sr esulting i n
ashal lowerchannel .
Ov ert imea
deposi tedsedi ment sbui l
dsup
ont hei nnerbend;r esul ti
ngi n
thefor mat ionofasl ip-offsl ope.
Thewat eri nameanderf lowsi n
acor kscr ewl i
kemov ementasi t
mov es f rom t he inside oft he
bendt owar dst heout sideoft he
bend.Thi si scal led Hel icoi dal
fl
ow.
Remember-ameanderi sasymmet
ricali
ncr oss-sect
ion(
seediagr
am above)
.Iti
s
deeperontheouterbend(duetogr
eatererosion)andshall
owerontheinsi
debend
(anareaofdeposi
ti
on).
OXBOW LAKES
Oxbow l akesaref or
med on meander
ing channel
sasaresul
toferosi
on and
deposi
ti
on. As t he out
er banks of a meander conti
nue to be eroded
thr
oughprocessessuchashy draul
i
cact i
ont heneckoft
hemeanderbecomes
narr
owandnar rower
.
Eventuallyduetothenar r
owingoftheneck,t
hetwoout
erbendsmeetandtheri
ver
cutsthrought heneckoft hemeanderusual
lydur
ingaf
loodeventwhent
heenergy
i
nt heri
v erisati
tshighest
.
The wat er now t akes itsshor
test r
out
e r at
her than fl
owing ar
ound
thebend.Depositi
on gradual
l
y seals of
fthe ol
d meanderbend f
ormi
ng anew
str
aight
err i
verchannel
.
Due to deposit
ion the ol
d meander
bend isleftisolated f
rom themai n
channelasanox- bow l
ake.
Ov erti
me
thi
sfeatur
emayf i
llupwit
hsedi ment
andmaygr aduallydr yup(exceptfor

37
peri
odsofheavyr
ain)
.Oxbow l akescanlat
erbetur
nedint
orichagri
cult
uraluni
ts
usedfort
hegrowt
hofcrops.Theytendtobever
yfert
il
eduetoall
uvi
aldeposi
ti
on.
LEVEES
I
ni tsmi ddleandl owercour ses,
ar i
veri satriskoff l
oodingdur i
ngtimesofhi gh
discharge.Ifitfl
oods,thev el
ocit
yoft hewaterfall
sasi tov erfl
owst hebanks.This
resultsindepositi
on,becauset hecompet enceoft her i
verissuddenl yreduced.I
tis
usualf orthecoar sestmat eri
altobedeposi tedfir
st,formingsmal lraisedbanks
(l
ev ees)al
ongt hesidesofthechannel .Subsequentf l
oodsincr easethesizeofthese
banks.Lev eescanber aisedarti
fi
cial
l
ybypeopl ei nordertopr eventfl
oodingofri
vers.
FLOODPLAI NS
Floodpl
ainsar
ecr
eatedasar esul
tofbot
herosi
onanddeposit
ion,al
thoughthe
accumulati
onofr
iverdeposi
tssuggest
sthatt
heyar
epredominatel
ydeposit
ional
featur
es.
Theyar er elati
v el
yf l
atar easofl and
eithersi deoft her i
verandt heyar e
composed of al luv ium ( r
iver
deposit edsi l
tsandcl ay s) .Ov ert i
me,
af l
oodpl ai
ncanbecomewi derand
the dept h of sedi mentaccr et i
ons
i
ncr eases.Thewi dthoft hef loodpl ain
i
s det ermi ned by t he amount of
meander mi gration and l ateral
erosion t hat has t aken pl ace.
Interl
ocki ngspur sar eal sor emov ed
bylat
eralerosioninthemiddl
ecourse,l
eavingbehi ndr i
verbl uffs.Thedept hoft he
al
luvi
aldepositsdependspart
lyontheamountoff l
oodi ngi nthepast ,sof loodpl ain
cr
eati
oni slinkedtoextremeevent
s.Floodpl ainsbecomest abili
sedbyv eget ati
on
overti
me.Theycanal sobeusedforagricult
ur alpurposesduet ot hepr esenceof
al
luvi
aldeposits.
DELTAS
Adeltaisafeatur
eofdepositi
on,
locatedatthemouthofariverasitenter
saseaor
l
ake.Depositi
onoccursast hevel
ocityandsediment-
carr
yingcapacit
yoft heriv
er
decr
easeonent eri
ngt
hel akeorsea.Floccul
ati
onoccur
sasf r
eshwatermixeswith
seawaterandclaypar
ti
clescoagulat
eduet ochemicalr
eaction.Theclaysett
leson
theri
verbed.
Delt
asf orm onlywhenther ateof
depositi
on exceeds t
he r ate of
sedimentr emoval
.In or
derf ora
delt
a t o f or
m t he f oll
owing
condit
ionsareli
kel
ytobemet :
·Thesedimentl
oadoftheri
veris
ver
ylar
ge,asint
heMissi
ssi
ppiand
Nil
eri
vers

38
·The coast
alar ea i
ntowhich t
he ri
verempt i
es i
tsl oad has weak cur
rents.
Thismeansthatt her
eislimit
edwav eact i
onand,ther
efore,l
it
tl
etranspor
tati
on
ofsedi
mentaf t
erdeposi
ti
onhastakenplace.Thi
sisafeatur
eoftheGulfofMexico
andtheMediter
raneanSea.
Deltascanbedescr ibedaccor dingtot hei
rshape.Themostcommonl yrecognisedis
thechar acteri
stcar
i cuatedel ta,forexampl etheNi l
edel ta,whichhasacur v
ing
shor el
ineandadendr it
icpat ternofdr ainage.Manydi str
ibutari
esbreakawayf r
om
themai nchannelasdeposi tionwi thinthechannelitselfoccurscausingther i
verto
braid.Longshor edr if
tkeepst heseawar dedgeoft hedel t
ar el
ati
vel
ysmoot hin
shape.TheMi ssissi
ppi hasabi rd'
sf ootdelt
a.Finger
sofdeposi ti
onbuildoutintothe
seaal ongt hedistri
butaries'channel s,givi
ngtheappear ancef r
om theairofabi rd'
s
claw.Acuspat edeltai spointedl i
keacuport oothandi sshapedbygent l
e,regular
,
butopposi ng,seacur rentsoral ongshor e.

GEOMORPHOLOGY
Def
init
ion-geomorphologyi
sthestudyoftheeart
ht oget
herwithlandfor
msandthe
pr
ocessest hatl
eadtot hef
ormati
onoftheselandforms.Iti
sasy stemati
cst
udyof
l
andformsandt heprocesst
hatfor
msandshapest hem eit
herinthepastorpr
esent
.
Denudati
on-ist hetotalprocesswhi chexplai
nsthewear i
ngdownoft heearth’
s
surf
ace.Itinvol
vesv ari
ouspr ocessessuchasweat heri
ng,erosi
on,tr
ansport
ati
on
and mass mov ements.Al lthese processes ar
et heref
ore broadl
y known as
denudat
ionalprocesses.

WEATHERI
NG
Weather
ing-i
sthedisi
ntegrati
onanddecomposi
ti
onofrocksinsi
tu.Disi
ntegr
ati
on
i
sthebreakdownofrocksbyphy si
calmeanswhi
ledecomposi
ti
onisthebreakdown
ofr
ocksbychemicalprocesses.
I
not
herwordsweat her
ingisthemechani
calfr
actur
inganddecomposi
ti
onofr
ocks
i
nsi
tubynat
uralagentsoperat
ingont
heearth’
ssurf
ace.
THEDI
FFERENCEBETWEENCHEMI
CALANDPHYSI
CALWEATHERI
NG

PHYSI
CALWEATHERI NG CHEMICALWEATHERING
- Itisthe mechani
caldisi
ntegr
ation of - Itisthe decomposi
ti
on orr
ott
ing of
rockswit
houtanychangesinchemi cal rocks wher e rocks are al t
ered
composit
ionoftherock.Endpr oducts chemical
l
y.
arechemical
l
ysimil
art
oparentmat er
ial

39
- Producecour set extur
edendpr oducts - Producefinemater
ial
ssuchascl
ayand
aswel lasl arger ockdebr i
ssuch as sometimes sol uti
on. These end
screes and blockyst ones with sharp product
sar establ
ewhichmeansthey
edges.Theseendpr oductsareunstable cannotbreakdownanyfurt
her
.
which means t hey can f ur
therbr eak
down

- I
tisdominanti
nareasassociatedwit
ha - Iti s dominant in hot wet /humi d
l
argedi
urnalrangeoftemper atur
ewith cli
matessuchast hetropi
calrai
nforest
l
i
ttl
erai
nfall
amountse.g.deserts areas because chemi cal reactions
requi
reswaterwhil
ehight emperatures
speeduptherateofchemicalr
eactions

- Operatesonlyatthesurfacebeingaided - Chemi cal weathering operates deep

bysuchf actorsasf orce,pressure,or withi
nt herockandundert hegroundas
heat welle.
g.humi fi
cationwhi chl
eadst othe
formation of i nselbergs under t he
ground.
- Produce j oints and cr acks due - Oper atesatcr ystallevelandt heref
ore
mechanicalstressonrocks doesnotpr oducecr acksandjoints

NB-Weatheri
ngmar kst
hei ni
ti
alst
ageofdenudationorweari
ngdownoflandscape.
I
tloosensmateri
alsonslopesthatcansubsequentl
ytr
anspor
tedbysuchagentsas
water
,windorice[
erosi
on].

TYPESOFWEATHERI
NG
Ther
earethreemai
nfor
msofweat
her
ingv
iz.phy
sical
,chemi
calandbi
ologi
cal
weat
her
ing.

PHYSI
CALWEATHERI
NG
Physi
calweatheri
ngr ef
erstot hemechani caldisintegr
ati
onofr ocksbyphy si
cal
means,inwhichcaser ocksretai
nt hechemi calcharact
erist
icsoft heparentrock.
Physi
calweat her
ing,also known as mechani calweat hering,ist he class of
pr
ocessesthatcausesthedisint
egrati
onofrockswi thoutchemi calchange.Physi
cal
weather
ingcanoccurduet otemperature,
pressure,fr
ostetc.
Plantrootssomet i
mesent ercracksinrocksandpr yt hem apar
t,resulti
nginsome
disi
ntegrati
on;Burrowi
nganimal smayhel pdisint
egraterockthr
ought heirphy
sical
acti
on.Howev er,suchinf
luencesareusuall
yofl it
tl
eimpor t
anceinpr oducingparent
mat er
ialwhencompar edtot hedr ast
icphysicaleffectsofwat er,ice,wind,and
temper at
urechange.

Ther
mal
shat
ter
ingori
nsol
ati
onweat
her
ing
Thermal shat
ter
ingoccurswhenr ocksareexposedtocycl
esofheati.
e.ver
yhotand
verycoldtemperatur
es.Asar esultther
malshat t
eri
ngi
sdominantindesert
swhere
temperaturefl
uctuat
ionsar
emor epr onounced.Themai
nform ofther
malshatt
eri
ng
i
sexfoliati
on.
Exf
oli
ati
onoccur
swhent
her
ocki
sexposedt
oheatcy
cles.Becauser
ocksar
epoor

40
heatconduct
ors,theout erlayersexpandandcontractf
asterthant heprotected
i
nnerpart.Exfol
iati
on is an import
antmechanism indesert
s,wher etherei sa
l
argediur
nalt
emper atur
er ange,hoti nt hedayand col
d atnight.Ther epeated
heat
ingandcoolingexer t
sstressont heouterl
ayer
sofrocks,causingtheirouter
l
ayerst
opeeloffinthinsheets,exact
lythewayanoni
ondoes.
Exfol
iat
ionisdescri
bedther
efor
easthe
peeli
ngawayofout err
ocklayer
sandit
resul
tsinthecreat
ionofexf
oli
ati
ondomes.
Ther malshattering al
so occur s on rocks
thatar epolymi ner
alli
ci .e.contai
nsmany
miner al
s.Diff
erentmi ner alshavediff
erent
heatabsor pti
oncapaci tieshenceassome
miner al
sexpandmor et hanothers,t
her ock
willexper i
ence differ
ent ialstr
esses that
ev
entuall
ycausetherockt
ocrackapar
t.Thi sform ofthermalst ressoft
enleadst o
gr
anulardi
sint
egr
ati
onwherebyr
ocksweat herint
osmal l
ergrains.
Thethermalheatfr
om veldf
ir
escanal
socausesigni
fi
cantweather
ingofrocksand
boul
ders,heatcanr
api
dlyexpandaboul
derandt
hermalshockcanoccur.
NB-somegeol ogi
stsar
guethatt
hermalshat
ter
ingismini
mum indeser
tsbecause
oflackofmoi stur
etosuddenl
ycoolheat
edrocks.Thi
sopini
on,i
snothowevernot
widelyaccept
ed.

Fr
ostweat
her
ing

Frostshat t
eri
ngisaphy sicalweatheri
ngpr ocesswhi chinvol
vest heact i
onofi ce
only.Frostshatt
eri
ngiscommoni nmount ainareasorinperigl
acialareaswher ethe
temper at
uresoscil
lat
esar oundf r
eezi
ngpoi ntofwater.Watercoll
ectseitherinpores
orcr acksand f r
eezei nsidet herock.Fr ozen wateroccupy10% mor ev olume,
causingst r
essanddi si
ntegrati
onofr ocks.Frostshatter
ingoccur sintwoway si.e.
i
cewedgi ngandicecrystalgrowth.

Icewedging-Whenwat ert hathasent er

edt hej oi
ntsorcr acksfreezes,thei ce
formedstrainsthewal lsoft hejoi
ntsandcausest hejoi
ntstodeepenandwi den.
Whent hei cethaws,wat ercanf l
ow furt
herintot herock.Repeatedf r
eeze-
thaw
cyclesweakent her ockswhi ch,overti
me,br eakupal ongthej oi
ntsi ntoangular
piecesorblocks.Theangul arrockfr
agment sgatheratthefootoftheslopet oform
at al
ussl
ope( orscreeslope).

41
Thespl
it
ti
ngofrocksalongthejoi
ntsi
ntoblocksi
scall
edblockdi
sint
egrat
ion.The
bl
ocksofrockst
hatar
edetachedareofvar
iousshapesdependi
ngonrockstruct
ure.
Icecryst
algrowt h-Thi
ssamephenomenonoccurswithinporespacesofrocks.The
i
ceaccumul ati
onsgr ow l
argerastheyat
tractl
i
quidwat erfrom thesurrounding
pores.Theicecry st
algr
owthweakensther
ockswhich,i
ntime,breakup.I
tiscaused
byt heappr oxi
mat el
y10% expansi
onoficewhenwat erfr
eezes,whichcanpl ace
consider
ablestressontherock.
Frostshatt
eri
ngoccursmai nl
yinenvi
ronment swherether
eisal otofmoi st
ure,and
temperatur
es fr
equentl
yf luct
uate above and below freezing point,especiall
y
i
nal pi
neandperi
glaci
alareas.An exampl e ofrocks susceptiblet ofrostact i
on
i
schalk,whichhasmanypor espacesf orthegrowthoficecr yst
als.Thisprocess
canbeseeni nDart
moorwher eitr
esultsint
hef or
mationoftors.

Pr
essur
erel
easeorunl
oadi
ngordi
l
atat
ion

I
npressurereleaseoverl
yi
ngmaterial
s(theoverburden)ar
er emov
edbyer
osi
on,or
ot
herprocesses,exposi
ngbur
iedrocks.I
ncludediagramshere.
Int
rusi
vei gneousrocks(e.g.grani
te)areformeddeepbeneat ht heEar t
h'ssurface.
Theyareundert r
emendouspr essurebecauseoft heov er
lyi
ngr ockmat er
ial
.When
erosi
onr emov estheoverl
yingrockmat eri
al,theseintrusi
ver ocksar eexposedand
thepressureont hem i
sreleased.Theout erpar t
soft herockst hent endt oexpand.
Theexpansi onsetsupstresseswhi chcausef r
acturesparall
eltot her ocksurfaceto
form.Thesef ract
uresarecalledpseudobeddi ngplanes.Ov ertime,sheet sofr ock
break away f rom the exposed r ocks al
ong t he f r
actur
es,a pr ocess known
asexfoli
ation.Exf
oli
ati
onduet opressurereleaseisalsoknownas" sheeting".
NB-pressur
erelease i
s al
so common i
n deser
ts due t
ot he remov
aloft
he
over
bur
denbywinderosi
on,butmost
lyi
nsub-
humidenvi
ronments.

Sal
t-
cry
stal
growt
h

Saltcr y
stall
i
zation causes disi
ntegr
ation ofr ocks whensal i
nesol
utions (f
rom
dissol
vedsalts)seepintocracksandjointsintherocksandsubsequentlyevaporat
e,
l
eav i
ng saltcry
st al
sbehind.These saltcry st
als expand as t
heyare heated up,
exerti
ngtremendouspr essureontheconf i
ningrockandl eadi
ngtoit
sbreakdown.

42
Saltcryst
all
izat
ion may al
so take place when solut
ionsdecomposer ocks (f
or
example,l
imestoneandchalk)t
of orm sal
tsoluti
onsofsodium sulphateorsodi
um
carbonat
e,ofwhichthemoistur
eev apor
atest
of ormthei
rrespect
ivesaltcr
ystal
s.
Thispr
ocessisnormal l
yassociatedwitharidcl
i
mat eswherehi ghdaytemper atures
causes st
rong evaporat
ion [dehydrat
ion]and theref
ore saltcryst
all
izat
ion.Sal t
cry
stal
li
sati
onoftenleadt othef or
mat i
onofmi cro-
grani
ti
cf eatur
essuchast afoni
andhoneycombedr ocksalongcoastalareas.
Di
ff
erencesbetweengranulardisi
ntegr
ati
onandbl ockdi
sintegr
ati
on
- Blockdisint
egr
ationrefer
st ot hebreakingdownofr ocksintol
argeangul
ar
blocksorparti
all
ybrokenblockswher easgranul
ardisi
ntegr
ationi
sthebraki
ng
downofr ocksi
ntosmallerfr
agmentsori ndi
vi
dualgr
ains.
- Blockdi
sint
egr
ati
on i
swhollyaphysicalweather
ing pr
ocessyetgranul
aris
physi
cal
butsometi
mesassoci
atedwi
thchemicalweat
heri
ng(phy
sio-
chemical
)
- Bl
ockdisi
ntegrat
ionismostl
yacti
veincry
stall
i
ner ocksli
kegrani
tewhil
egranul
ar
i
scommoni npor ousr
ocksli
kesandstone.NB-phy si
calweatheri
ngprocessof
i
cewedging,rootwedgingandexfol
i
ati
onar elar
gelyresponsi
blefort
heprocess
ofexf
oli
ati
on.

CHEMI
CALWEATHERI
NG
Chemicalweat heri
ngi sthedecomposit
ionordecayingofrocksthatr emov
est he
natur
alcement shol dingtherocktoget
her.Itchangesthecomposi t
ionofr ocks,
oft
en transfor
mi ng them when waterint
eracts wi
th mi
neral
st o cr
eat evari
ous
chemicalreacti
ons.Chemi calweat
heri
ngisenhancedbyt hepresenceofmoi sture
[hi
ghr ai
nfall
]aswel lashightemperatur
es[ t
emperat
ureisneededt ospeedup
chemicalreacti
ons].

Car
bonat
ionandsol
uti
on
Soluti
onweat her
ing-thisisthedissol vi
ngofmi neral
sinrockswhent heycombi ne
withwat er.Therateofsol uti
onweat heri
ngisdet er
minedbyt hepH v al
ueoft he
wat er
.Ifacidsar epresentinr ai
nwat er(Acidr ain)
,thenmor emineralsbecome
solublethusincr
easingsol ut
ionweat hering.Acidr ai
noccurswhengasessuchas
sulphurdioxide and nit
rogen oxides f r
om f ossilfuelburni
ng and indust
ri
esare
presentint heat mosphere.Theyr eactwi t
hr ainwaterwat
ertopr oducestronger
acidswhichcancausesol uti
onweat heringtother ocks.
Car
bonati
on-i
sat y
picalexample ofsolut
ion weat
heri
ng.Carbonat
ion occur
s
whenr
aincombi
neswithcarbondioxi
deoranorgani
cacidtofor
m aweakcar boni
c
aci
dasshowninthef
oll
owingreacti
on:
CO2 +H2O→ H2CO3 [
Car
bondi
oxi
de+wat
er→ car
boni
caci
d]
Carbonat
ion is common i nr ocks which cont
aincal
cium car
bonate,such as
l
imestoneandchal k.I
nthi
scaset hecarbonicaci
dsreactswit
hcalci
um carbonat
e
(t
helimestone)andformscal
cium bi
carbonat
easshowni nthefol
l
owingreacti
on:
Car
boni
caci
d+cal
cium car
bonat
e→ cal
cium bi
car
bonat
e

43
This pr ocess speeds up wi t
h a decr ease int emperatur
e,notbecause l ow
temper aturesgener all
ydriv
er eacti
onsf ast
er,butbecausecol derwaterhol
dsmor e
dissolvedcar bondi oxi
degas.Car bonati
oni sthereforecommoni ncoldcl
imatesli
ke
peri-
glacialand t emper at
er egions,wher ewat eri sav ai
l
able.
Car
bonation on t
he
surfaceofwel l-
jointedlimestonepr oducesadi ssectedli
mestonepavement .Thi
s
processi smostef fect
iveal
ongt hejoint
s,wideninganddeepeni ngthem.

Hy
drat
ion
Hy drati
onisachemi calweather
ingpr
ocesswhi choccurswhenr ocksabsorbwater
andexpandori ncreasei nvol
ume.Thisexpansi onsetupphysicalstresswithi
nthe
rockl eadi
ngtoitsbreakdown.Whendehy drati
onoccurs,t
her ockloseswat erand
shrinks.Thisprocessi smor eofamechani calwett
inganddr yi
ngpr ocessbut
becomeschemi calbecauset her
eisar i
gidat t
achmentofhydrogeni onsofwaterto
theat omsandmol eculesofarockmineral(bonding)
.
Forexampleoxidesareconvert
edtoir
onhydr
oxi
desandgypsum becomesahy dr
ate
whenwet .I
nconcl usi
on,itiswidel
yaccept
edthathy
drat
ionisaphy si
c-chemi
cal
weather
ingprocess.

Hy
drol
ysi
s
Hydr
olysisi
sachemi calweatheri
ngpr ocesswhi chinvol
veswat erstri
ctl
y.Itisa
r
eacti
oni nwhichwat erreactswithrockmi neralsthatcontai
ncat ions.Insuch
r
eacti
onshy dr
ogenionsr epl
acecat i
onspr esenti nrockmi ner
alsandchemi cal
l
y
r
educet hem [
aprocesscal l
edcationexchange] .Forexampl efeldsparingranit
e
r
ocksreactwithwatert oproduceclaymi nerals.Thi
shy dr
olysi
sr eacti
onismuch
morecommon.

Oxi
dat
ion
Oxi
dat
iont
akest
wopr
ocesses,
i.
e.addi
ti
onpr
ocessandr
educt
ionpr
ocess.
Addit
ionprocess-occurswhenoxy genint heatmospher eorinwat eroxi
disesr
ock
mineral
sf orexampl etheoxidati
onf er
rousiron(whi chisbl ue-
greyincolour
)to
becomef erri
ciron.Thi
sgivestheaffectedrocksareddish-browncolorat
iononthe
surf
acewhi chcr umbl
eseasilyandweakenst herock.Thisprocessi sbet
terknown
as'r
usti
ng',thoughiti
sdist
inctfr
om t
her usti
ngofmet all
i
ciron.
Reducti
onprocess-inr
educti
onprocessrockslooseoxygenwhichmeansr eddish
col
ouredrockstur
nsbacktoblue–greycol
our.NBoxidat
ionisef
fect
iveinattacki
ng
i
roncompoundswhi chf
requentl
yactascementi
ngagentsinsedi
mentaryrocks.

Bi
ologi
cal
weat
her
ing
Plant
sandani
mal
smayl
eadt
obot
hchemi
calandphy
sicalweat
her
ingi
nanumber
ofways.
LichensandMosses-Lichensandmossesgrow onessent
ial
l
ybarerocksurfaces
andcr eateamorehumi dchemicalmicr
oenvi
ronment
.Theat t
achmentoft hese
organismstot
herocksurf
aceenhancesphysi
calaswel
laschemicalbr
eakdownof
thesur f
acemi
cro-
lay
eroft
herock.

44
Rootwedgi ng–Occur swhenpl antroot
sgr ow i
nsidethejoint
sandr ockcrev i
ces,
exerti
ngmechani calpressureint heprocess.Heret r
eerootsforceapartthejoint
s
andcr acksalthought hi
spr ocesscannotbeequi v al
enttothermalshatteri
ngand
frostacti
on.Thisprocessalsoprov i
desapat hwayforwaterandchemicalinfi
l
trati
on,
thusincreasi
ngther at
eofchemi cal weat
hering.
Chelat
ion–isthemostcommonf or
m ofbi ologicalweatheri
ngwhichi nvol
vesthe
rel
easeofchelat
ingcompounds(
i.
e.organicacids)byplants.Chel
ati
onoccurswhen
humicacidsformedbyt her
eact
ionbetweenwat erandhumus( decayedremainsof
deadplants)i
ncreaset
hesol
ubil
i
tyofmi ner
alsthuscausingchemicalweatheri
ng.
Chelat
ionpromotesdeepweather
ingandi
sther
efor
eresponsi
blef
ort
hef
ormat
ion
ofsub-aer
ialweat
her
ingpr
oductsl
ikei
nsel
ber
gs.
Bar
rowinganimals–smallcreat
uresli
keworm,r
abbit
s,e.t
.cal
soplay
sarolei
nthe
weather
ingofrocks.However,t
heiri
mpactonweatheri
ngislesscompar
edtothe
act
ionofplant
s.
Di
ff
erencesbet
weenexf ol
iat
ionandspheroi
dalweather
ing.
- Exfol
iat
ioni
stypical
l
yaphy si
calweat
heri
ngprocessyetspher
oidali
sachemi
cal
weatheri
ngprocess.
- Exf
oli
ati
onoccursatthesur
face[
sur
facepr
ocess]whi
l
espher
oidalweat
her
ingi
s
asub-
surfacepr
ocess.
- Exf
oli
ati
oniscommonindr
ycl
imat
esl
i
kedeser
tsy
etspher
oidalweat
her
ingi
s
commoni nhothumi
dcl
i
mat
es.
- Exfol
iat
iontypi
call
yoccursinintr
usi
veigneousr ocksli
kegrani
tewhent heyar e
exposedtorepeatedheati
ngandcoolingfr
om thesunbutspher oidalweat hering
occurswhenwat erenterscr
acksandj ointsjustbelow thesur face,causi ng
weatheri
ngwhi chwil
ltendtor oundtheblocksof f-hencespher oidal(corners
havemor esurfacear
eat hanf
latsurf
aces,sotheyweat heroutfast er,l
eavi
nga
roundededge.)
Spheroi
dal weat heri
ngis a f orm of chemi cal weat heri
ng t hat
aff
ectsjoi
ntedbedrockandresul
tsinthef or
mat ionofconcentr
icorspheri
call
ayers
ofhighl
ydecay edrockwi t
hinweatheredbedr ockthatisknownassapr ol
it
e.When
saprol
it
eisexposedbyer osi
on,t
heseconcent riclay
erspeeloffasconcent
ricshel
ls
much l i
ke exfol
iati
onhence spheroi
dalweat heri
ng is also call
edonion skin
weatheri
ng.

FACTORSAFFECTI
NGTHERATEANDTYPEOFWEATHERI
NG

Fact
orsaff
ecti
ngther
ateandtypeofweatheri
ngaregroupedi
ntot
hreei
.e.cl
i
mat
e,
l
it
hologi
calf
actor
sandsi
tefact
ors.Thesear
ediscussedf
ull
ybel
ow:

45
CLIMATICCONDI TIONS
Cli
matedictat
est herat
eandt ypeofweatheringprocessest hatoperat
e,lar gelyby
deter
miningtheamountofwat eravail
abl
e,vegetat
ioncov erandthet emper atureat
whichtheprocessesoccur
.Insummar y,t
hereismor echemi calweather
ingandl ess
physi
calweatheri
nginhothumidenv i
ronmentswhilethereismor ephysicalandl ess
chemicalinari
dandsemi -
ari
denv i
ronments.Theeffectofclimateonweat heringis
descri
bedinPelti
er’
smodel.
PELTIER’SMODEL
Themodelwasf orwardedbyL.CPel ti
erin1950.Pel ti
erarguedthatt
hereishigh
possi
bil
i
tytoaccuratel
ypredi
ctthetypeandt heintensi
tyofweatheri
ngpr
edominant
i
nanypar tofthewor l
dgiventhepr evai
li
ngclimat econditi
ons.Hebeli
evedthat
physi
calandchemi calweather
ingpr ocessesar econtrol
ledbyt hemainclimate
var
iabl
esoftemperatureandrai
nfal
l
.Seedi agram below:
Accor di
ngt oPel tieri
nt ense
chemi calweat her i
ngoccur s
mainlyinhothumi dclimat es
wherer ainfallandt emper ature
arehight hroughoutt hey ear .
Physicalweat her i
ng,mai nlyi n
thefor m offrostshat teringi s
commoni nper i
-glaci
al regi ons
wheret emper atur esosci ll
at es
aroundf reezingpoi nt.Phy sical
weather i
ngi salsodomi nanti n
ari
dandsemi -aridenv i
ronment s
wherel
it
tlerai
nfal
ll
imitschemi cal
weather
ing.
Last
ly,Pelt
ierar guedt hatther eis
l
imit
edinsol
ationweatheringinhothumidenvi
ronmentsbecauset hereskyi sal ways
over
casthencelimi
ti
ngi nsolat
ionweat
heri
ng.
Appli
cabi
li
tyofPel
tier
’smodel
Theclimateori
entedzonesf orwardedbyPelt
iercanbesupportedbyobserv
ing
dominantweather
ing processes i
n dif
fer
entcli
mate zones.Hi
s ar
gument
s are
rel
evanti
nmostcli
mat ezones.
Li
mit
ati
onsofthemodel
- Themodeldoesn’trecogniseotherfact
orsexceptcli
matewhichinfl
uencethe
ty
peandi nt
ensi
tyofweat her
ingonal ocalorsmallscal
e.Suchfact
orsincl
ude
al
tit
ude,
aspect,
androckcharacteri
sti
cs.
- Thel i
mitedoccurrenceofexf oli
ationinhothumi denv i
ronment sasar guedby
Pelt
ierishighl
yquest i
onable.Accor dingtoPel ti
er’
smodelt hemoi stthear ea
becomes,t hedensertheveget at
ionbecomest husl i
mi t
ingtheef fectiv
enessof
i
nsolati
on weathering.Howev er,l ooking atthe Sav ana r
egi ons,t he sparse
di
stri
butionofvegetati
onall
owef fecti
veinsolat
ionleadingtoi ntenseexf ol
iat
ion
onlandformssuchasi nsel
bergsanddwal a[ r
uwares].
- Themodeldoesnotconsidertherel
ati
onshipbet
weenchemicalandphysi
cal
weat
her
ing.I
nmostcases,physi
calweather
ingr
esult
sint
heformati
onofsmall
46
 rockf
ragmentsknownasscreesortal
us.Thesefragmentsar efurt
herdownsi
zed
i
ntosmal l
ersoilpar
ti
clesbychemicalweather
ing.Thi stherefor
eimpliesthat
chemicalandphysi
calweat
heri
ngcompl ementeachot her.Thisisevi
dencedby
thepr
esenceofdecomposedrockpart
icl
esatthef ootofexfol
iati
ondomes.
- Peltier’
sargumentsseem tobebasedonobser v
ationsmadei nt heper
i-gl
acial
regionsandhencehav eli
tt
leappli
cabi l
i
tyinot herclimat
icregions.Fori
nstance
hedi dnotconsiderseasonalvar
iationsint emper at
ureandr ai
nfalli
nsub-humid
environment swhereintensechemi calweather i
ng occursi nthewetseason
foll
owed byi nt
ense physi
calduring the wi nter
,dr yseason [inthe form of
exfoliat
ion,pr
essur
ereleaseandfrostact i
on].
- Chemi calweatheringisalsot houghttobeoccurri
ngataf ast
errat
ei nhot
desert
sasar esul
tofinfrequent,err
ati
corspasmodicst
ormswhichprovi
des
moistureincont r
asttoearli
erbelief
swhichshowedthatt
her
eisli
tt
lechemical
weatheringoccurri
ngindeserts.
- Lastl
y,i
tisgeneral
l
yaccept
edt
hatthemodell
acksf
iel
dmeasur
ementandhence
cannotbeconsider
edasacomprehensi
vemodel
.
WAUGH’ SMODEL
D.Waugh( 1985)dev
elopedamodelsi mil
artothatofPelt
ier.Hismodelt
ri
est
o
cor
rectsomeoftheprobl
emsassoci
atedwithPel
ti
er.Seedi
agram bel
ow:
Waughnot edt hat
thereismaxi mum
phy si
calweather i
ngi n
twocl i
mat i
czones, i
.e.
(i
)t hecoldand
rel
at i
vel
ydr yregions
associatedwi thhigh
ratesoff r
ostact i
on
and( ii
)thehot ,dry
regions(deserts)
associatedwi thhigh
ratesofinsolation
weat heri
ng.
He also obser
ved thatchemi calweat her
ing i s moreintense in hothumi d
envi
ronmentssi
nceacombi nat
ionofhighr ai
nfallandhi
ghtemper at
ureiscruci
alf
or
chemicalr
eacti
onstooccur.Inaddit
iont hepr esenceofdensev eget
ationinsuch
cl
imatezonespromot
er api
ddecomposi t
ionofr ocksbyhumifi
cati
onpr ocess.
Questi
on:Showhowcl imateinf
luencet herateandtypeofweat her
ing.[12]
Cli
matedictat
est her
ateandt ypeofweat heri
ngprocessest hatoperate,largel
yby
deter
miningtheamountofwat erav ai
lable,veget
ati
oncov erandthet emper atur
eat
whichtheprocessesoccur.I
nsummar y ,
thereismorechemi calweatheringandl ess
physi
calweatheri
nginhothumidenv i
ronment swhil
ethereismor ephysicalandl ess
chemicalinar
idandsemi-ari
denv i
ronment s.

47
Equator i
alcli
mat eorhumi dtropicalregi
ons:
Equator i
alclimates are char acter
ised by high temperat
ures and hi
gh rainf
all
throughoutt he year[ hothumi d condi
ti
ons]and as such chemi calweatheri
ng
processesar edomi nanthere.Moi st
ureisessenti
alforchemical
react
ionswhi
lehigh
temper atur
esspeedupt her ateofchemi calreacti
ons.Thehumi dcondi
ti
onsi n
tropi
calr ai
nforestareast huspr ovideoptimum condi t
ionsfortheoccurr
enceof
chemi calweatheringatamuchf asterrat
e.
I
naddi t
ion,equator
ialcl
i
mat esarecharacter
isedbydenseveget
ati
oncov erbecause
ofhighr ai
nfal
l.Asar esultthereismorel i
tterwhi
chtendtobedecomposedand
producehumi cacidswhi chpr omotetheprocessofchelati
on.Sub-
arealchemi cal
weatheri
ngi sthusdomi nantint heseareasleadi
ngtotheformati
onofv er
ydeep
regol
it
h( 30to60m deep) .
I
ncont r
ast
,physi
calweatheri
ngi ssl
ow inequator
ialcli
matebecausetheskyis
overcastmostoftheti
me.Mor eso,t
hepresenceofdensev eget
ati
oncovermask
rocksandreducet
heeffect
ivenessofinsol
ati
onweat
hering.
Sub-humi dtr
opi calr
egions/Savanna{ t
ropicalconti
nent
al}
:
Thesear eashav etwodi st
inctseasons,i
.e.thehotwetsummerandt hecol
ddry
wint
er.Asar esulttheyexperiencebothphy sicalandchemi
calweat
heri
ngbutat
moder at
el ev
els.
Duri
ngt hesummerseason,hi ght emperaturesandhighrainf
allpr
ovi
deopti
mum
condit
ionforchemicalweather
ing.Vegetati
onwillal
sobedensedur i
ngthi
speri
od
l
eadingtomor ehumifi
cat
ionbutlessinsolat
ionweather
ing.
Incontrast,thewinterseasonexperi
encemax i
mum phy si
calweatheri
ngbecause
l
ow v egetati
oncov erexposerockstot heeff
ectofi nsol
ati
onweat heri
ng.Frost
shatt
eringisalsodomi nantduetolow temper
atur
esdur i
ngthisperi
od.Erosi
oni s
verymor epronouncedinthi
scli
mateduet ol
imi
tedregol
it
hcover.
Erosi
onact i
vel
yremovesweathereddebr
isthusexposi
ngnewweat her
ingsurf
aces
andincreasi
ngt herat
eofphy si
calweather
ing.Lackofmoist
ureinwi nt
erslows
chemicalweatheri
ng.Howev
er,regol
i
thisshall
owercomparedtothatofequator
ial
cl
imate.
Aridandsemi -ar
idregions:
Theseenv ir
onmentsar echar acterisedbyv eryl
owr ainfal
lt ot
alsandal ar gediurnal
temper aturerange[highdayt emper atur
esandl owni ghtt emperat
ures].Asar esult
deser t
s exper i
ence rapid phy sicalweat heri
ng int he f orm ofexf oliati
on,sal t
crystal
lisati
onandpr essur
er el
ease.Hi ght emperaturespr omotedehy dr ati
onand
saltcr ystal
li
sati
on whi le heatcy cles l
ead to exf oli
ati
on.Pr essurer el
ease is
promot edbyr apidremov aloft heov erburdenbybothwat erandwi nder osion.Lack
ofv egetati
oncov eralsopromot einsol ati
onweat her
ingsi ncerocksarenotmasked
orcov ered.
Onthecont
rar
y,chemicalweatheri
ngissl
ow indesertsduet olackofmoist
ure.
Chemi
calweat
heringonlyoccursslowl
yasar esul
tofer r
ati
cst or
mswhichare
somet
imesr
eceiv
ed.Consequentl
ydeser
tsoi
lshaveveryshal
lowregoli
th.

48
Temper ater egions:
Arechar acteri
sedbymoder at
etemper
aturewithi
narangeof10- 200Candmoder at
e
annualrainfallbetween500and1000mm.Dur i
ngwintersnowiscommonl eadi
ngto
fr
eeze-thaw act ion.Chemicalweat
heri
ngi salsoactivepart
icularl
yoxi
dationand
carbonation.Car bonat
ionbecomesmoreintenseatl
owt emperatures.
GlacialandPeri-
Glacialr
egions:
Theyar echaracter
isedbyt hepresenceoficesheets,
icecapsandgl aci
erswhichto
al argerextentmaskr ocksand pr ev ent
/sl
owsweat her
ing.Frostweat her
ing i
s
commoni nrockspr otr
udingabov et heseicesheets.Sli
ghtincreaseinsur f
ace
temper at
uresleadtot hethawingofi ceincracksandfurt
herincr
easetheef f
ectof
frostshatt
eri
ng.
Whi l
echemicalweat
her i
ngi
smini
mum her
eduetol
ow temperatur
es,car
bonati
on
canoccursi ncewaterderi
vedfr
om t
hawi
ngsnow cont
ainshighproport
ionsof
dissol
vedcarbondi
oxide.
LI
THOLOGI
CALFACTORS
ROCKTYPE:
Deter
minest heresi
stanceofther ocktotheweat heri
ngprocessesthatoperat
ein
thatparti
cul
arenv i
ronment.Eachr ockt y
pei scomposedofapar ti
cularsetof
miner
als,whi ch arej oi
ned together by cry
stall
isati
on,chemicalbonding or
cementing.Theef f
ectofr ockt ypeon thet ypeand i nt
ensi
tyofweat her
ing i
s
obser
vedbyl ooki
ngathardness,age,mineral
composi ti
onandjoi
nti
ng.
(
i) Rockhar dnessorstrengt
h-graniter
ocksareveryhardandt her
eforeresi
st
weat her
ingascompar edtootherr ocksli
keli
mest one.Thehar dnessin
graniterocksiscausedbythef actthati
tisanigneousrockcomposedof
numer ouscr y
stals(e.
g.fel
dsparandquar t
z)whichar eboundt oget
her
duringformation.Theseindi
vidualcryst
alsareveryhar dmakinggr ani
te
rocksmor eresist
anttoweathering.

Anotherf actorthatinfl
uencerockhardnessisage.Generall
yolderrocks
become v ery hard and mor eresi
stantto weather
ing.Howev er,rock
hardnessdoesnotent ir
elyprev
entweatheri
ngofrockssincethepresence
off ractures can force the r
ock t
o break down depending on other
prevail
ingcondi t
ions.

(
ii
) Mineralcomposi tion-Mi neralsaresol i
dsubst ancesf oundwi thi
nr ocks
thathavetheirowndi st
inctchemi calcomposi t
ion.Thechemi calnat ureof
rocksdetermi nest hei ntensityofweat heri
ng ofr ockssi ncedi f ferent
mineral
shav edi f
ferentv ulnerabi
li
tyt ochemi calchange.Fori nst ance,
l
imestoner ockswhi chcont aincalci
um car bonateareeasilyat tackedby
carbonati
on.Gr aniter ocks,on t heot herhand,cont ai
nt hreemi ner als
whichv ar
yi nt er msofv ulnerabil
it
yt oweat heri
ng.Quar t
zandmi caar e
mor eresi
stantt hanf eldsparhencef el
dsparwoul dbeweat heredf aster

49
 underhumi
dcondi
ti
onst
opr
oducecl
ay.

Mineralsthatgi
verocksdar
kcol
our
se.
g.gabbr
o,basal
t;havemoreheat
tr
appingcapabili
ti
eshencearemorev
ulner
abl
etophy sicalweat
her
ing
processes.

(
ii
i) Rockjointsandbeddi
ngplanes-Ajoi
ntisafractur
eofnaturalor
iginfound
i
nar ock.Rock joi
nts ar
e caused by various geol
ogi
calpr ocesses
occur
ringonorundertheearth’
ssurf
ace.Thesearelist
edbelow:

 Exfol
iati
on–ar ejoi
ntsthatdevelopwhenr ocksar eexposed
toheatcy cl
es.Rocksar epoorconduct orsofheathence
whenheat ed,theouterlayerexpandf astercr eati
ngsheet
j
ointsinaprocesscall
edsheet i
ng.Verticaljointsarecreated
whent emperat
uresdropr api
dlyforci
ngt her ockt ocontract
.
Repeated heati
ng and cool i
ng of r ocks r esul
tsint he
for
mat i
onofmassi v
esheetj oi
ntsinrocks.
 Pr essur
erel
ease/unloading–arejoi
ntsfor
medwhenbur ied
rocksareexposedtot hesur f
acebydenudat
ionalprocesses
ofer osi
onandweat hering.Underthegroundr ocksareat
tremendouspressurehencewhenexposed, theyexpandand
producecurvi
li
nearsheetjoint
sorpseudobeddingplanes.
 Cooli
ngjoints–ar ejoi
ntsf
ormeddur i
ngt hesoli
dif
icat
ionof
magmaundert heground(i
ngranit
er ocks)oratthesur f
ace
when lav
a solidi
fi
es.These joi
nts develop due to str
ess
dur
ingcoolingofrocks.
Beddi
ng planes arel i
nes or junct
ions separ
ati
ng indi
vi
duall
ayer
s of
sedi
mentar
yr ocks.Beddi
ngplanesarecommoni nrockssuchasl
i
mestone
andchal
k.
Thepresenceofrockjointsandbeddingplanesincreasethesur f
acear eafor
weatheri
ngsucht hatwell
-j
oi nt
edandwell-
beddedr ocksareassoci atedwi th
i
ntensephysicalandchemi calweat
heri
ng.Jointsalsoincreaset her at
eof
chemicalweather
ingbyal lowingweatheri
ngagent stoentert her ock.Thi s
expl
ainswhylimestonerocksar emorevul
nerabl
et ochemicalweat hering.
Inaddi
ti
on,rockjoi
ntsareuti
li
sedbythepr
ocessoff r
ostshat
teri
ngandsal
t
cry
stal
li
sat
ion.Thisfaci
l
itat
esphysi
calweather
ing.Rootwedgingal
sotake
advant
ageofrockjoi
nts.
Di
ff
erencebetweengrani
terocksandlimestoner
ocks
- Grani
terocks[aclassofigneousrocks]aref
ormedduetothesoli
dif
icat
ionof
magmasl owlyunderthegroundyetli
mestonerocks[
acl
assundersedimentar
y

50
 rocks]ar
eformedwhenfr
agment
sar
edeposi
tedi
nlay
ersandcement
edi
na
processcal
l
edsedi
ment
ati
on.
- Gr
ani
terocksarever
yhar d compared t
ol i
mestonerocks.Thi
smeanst hat
gr
ani
ter
ocksar
eimpermeabl
ewhi l
ethesoftsedi
mentar
yrocksarepor
ous.
- Grani
terocksarecry
stal
l
inewhichmeanst heycanbeweat heredi
ntoblocksby
bl
ock disi
ntegr
ati
on yetlimest
one rocks are non-
cry
stal
li
ne hence can be
weather
edintosmall
ergr
ains(gr
anul
ardisi
ntegrat
ion)
.
- Li
mestoner
ockshav
emor
ejoi
ntswhi
l
egr
ani
ter
ocksonl
yhav
epseudo/
fake
j
oint
s.
- Grani
terocks have3impor
tantmi ner
alsi.e.f
eldspar
,mi
ca and quar
tzy
et
l
imestonerockshav
e80%cal
cium car
bonate.
- Grani
ter
ocksaremainl
yweather
edphysi
cal
l
ybutl
i
mest
onei
smor
evul
ner
abl
e
t
ochemicaldecomposi
ti
onorr
ott
ing.
SI
TEFACTORS
Slopeangl eandal ti
tude-physicalweather i
ngpr ocessessuchasexf oli
ati
onl argely
dependsont herateofremov alofweat her
eddebr isbymassmov ementandot her
tr
anspor t
ati
onpr ocesses.Thequi ckremov alofweat hereddebr ispart
icularl
yon
steep gr adi
ents expose fr
esh l ayers ofr ocks thus increasi
ng weathering rate.
Consequent ly,exfol
iat
ionisgr eatestonst eepescar pment swher erockf all
sand
l
andsl idesar ecommon. Fr ostact i
oni sgr eat
estonhi gheralti
tudestypicallyon
mount ai
nt ops due t olow t emper atures there.On t he otherhand chemi cal
weat heringtendtobegr eat
estatt hebasement sofhi l
lsduet otheaccumul ationof
moi sturethere.
Vegetati
ont ypeanddensi ty-vegetati
oncov erisaf uncti
onofcl i
mate.Areaswith
densev eget
at i
oncov erareassociatedwi thintensechemi calweatheri
ngduet othe
avai
labi
lit
yofhumus[ humicacids].Veget ati
onal soopensupt heporespacesinthe
soil
,thusallowingmoi st
uretoent err ocksunder ground.Lastl
ydensev egetati
on
promotet he pr ocess ofrootwedgi ng.Howev er,vegetat
ion cover
sr ocks and
ther
eforelowersr adi
ati
onintensi
tyandi nsolati
onweat heri
ng.
On the contr
ary,areas wit
hless vegetat
ion cov
erar e associ
ated wi
thi ntense
phy
sicalweat heri
ngasr ocksareleftbareandpr onet otheeffectofinsolati
on.
However,thi
sef f
ectdependonotherprev
ail
ingcondit
ions.

DEEPWEATHERI
NG
Defi
nit
ion:deepweat her
ingisapr ocesswhi chdescr ibestheformati
onofdeeply
weatheredl ayer
sorsapr ol
i
tebysub- aer i
alchemi calweather
ingprocess.These
deepsapr oli
tesareformedwhenchemi calweatheringexceedstherateofstr
ippi
ng
ofweather eddebri
s.Wher echemicalweat her
ingexceedst her
ateofremovaldueto
densev egetati
oncov erandfavourabl
esl opegradientdeepweat her
edlayer
sofup
to60m arecr eat
ed.
Wher
echemi
calweat
her
ingi
sequi
val
entt
other
ateofst
ri
ppi
ngof
fofsapr
oli
te,t
he

51
depthofregol
ithisconst
ant
.Dist
urbancesofsurf
acecondi
ti
onsbypeopl
ee.g.
thr
oughdefor
estati
oncani
ncr
easetherateofst
ri
ppi
ngofr
egol
it
hthusr
educi
ngt
he
depthofr
egoli
th.
Saproli
te-referstot hef inelyweather
edr ockdebri
swhi chispr oducedmai nlyby
chemicalweat her
ingpr ocesseswhi chli
esi nit
sor i
ginalposi
tion.Inotherwor ds
saprol
it
er eferst othesur f
aceofdeepl yweatheredigneousrockormet amor phic
rock,ri
chincl aymi nerals.Itistypi
cal
lyformedinthewar m humi dandsub- humi d
envir
onment s.Sapr oli
tesf ormi nthelowerzonesofsoi lhor
izonsandr epresent
deepweat heringofthebedr ocksurf
ace.
Regoli
th-r ef
erst o a deep layeroff ine and par ti
all
y weat hered rock debri
s
accumul atedov ermanyy earsofsub-aer
ialchemicalweat her
ingbutnotnecessar il
y
l
yingini tsorigi
nalpositi
on.Regoli
thmayf orm asar esul
tofr esidualaccumulati
on
ofweat heredmat er
ialorasar esul
tofacombi nat
ionofsub- aer i
alweatheri
ngand
deposi
tionoff i
neandcour semateri
albyrunningwat er.
Ri
ce(1943)descr
ibed r
egoli
th asa generalorumbr
ell
ater
m f
ordenudat
ional
pr
oduct
sincl
udi
ngweatheri
nganddeposit
ion.
Basalsurf
aceofweat her
ingorweatheri
ngfr
ont
-ref
erstot
heboundar
ybetween
weather
edandf reshr
ocks,itshowsthemaxi
mum dept
hatwhi
chweather
ingcan
takepl
ace.Itt
endstobeir
regul
arinout
li
ne.
Accordi
ngt oMutodiE.basalsurf
aceofweat heringref
erstotherisi
ngandf al
l
ing
bedrocksurf
aceoverl
ainbyweatheredrockdebrisonwhichperhapstheabsenceof
rock j
oint
s prohi
bit
sf urt
herchemi calweatheri
ng.In shor
tBSW r ef
erstot he
boundarybetweenweatheredandunweather
edr ocks

Denudat
ion-isthelong-t
erm sum ofprocessest hatcausethewear
ingawayofthe
Ear
th’
ssur faceleading t
o ar educt
ioni nelevati
onand r el
i
efoflandfor
msand
l
andscapes.Iti
nvol
vesweat her
ing,er
osion,t
ransportat
ionandmassmov ement
s.
FACTORSAFFECTINGDEEPWEATHERI
NG
Fact
ors affecti
ng deep weat her
ing are cl
assi
fi
ed as cl
i
mat
ic, bi
oti
c,
geomorphol
ogical
,andchr
onol
ogi
calf
actor
s.
Cl
i
mat
icf
act
ors
Hothumi d envir
onmentsr eceiv
e high rai
nfal
l[ above 1300mm/ year]and high
temperatur
e[ 270C onav erage].Theseconditi
onsy i
eldagr eatdealofsubaer ial
decompositi
on of r ocks.On t he contrar
y,limi t
ed rainfallinthe sub-humid
envi
ronmentsr educether ateofsub-aeri
alchemicaldecomposi ti
onofrocks.I
nfact
thi
s process is dominantonl ydur ing t
he wetseason when bot hr ai
nfal
land
temperatur
es ar e hi
gh.Deser t cli
mates experience mi nimum rates of deep
weatheri
ngduet oabsenceofmoi sture.
Bi
oti
cfact
ors
Theamountofv egetat
ioncoverismainl
yafuncti
onofcli
mate.Equator
ialcl
imat
es
arecharact
eri
sed bydensev eget
ati
oncoverwhichprovi
demor eorganicaci
ds
duri
ngdecompositi
on.Thisgi
vesr i
setot
heprocessofsub-
aer
ialchel
ati
onprocess.

52
I
naddit
ion,denseveget
ati
oncoverprotectsaprol
i
tefr
om erosi
onwhichcoul
dresul
t
i
nthestri
ppingofregol
it
h.Last
ly,vegetat
ionincr
easewaterseepagewhi
chmeans
t
hatchancesofdeepweather
ingarehigh.
Ont hecontrar
y,sub-humidenvi
ronment
sarecharacterisedbydryspellswhi
ch
reducev eget
ati
oncov ert
husli
mit
ingsub-
aer
ialweat
hering.Thetemporar
yremoval
ofv egetat
ionalsopromotethest
rippi
ngofr
egoli
thresulti
nginshal
low weat
her
ed
l
ay ers.
Geomor
phol
ogi
calf
act
ors
Thesear erel
atedt otheconditi
onsoft ect
onicstabili
tyorinstabili
tyaswel lasthe
ageoft helandscapewher edeepweat heri
ngoccur s.Upli
ft
ingorbasel evelchange
promoterapiddowncut ti
ng,i
ncreasingtheratesofer osi
on(st r
ippingofregoli
th)and
assucht endt oreducedeepweat her
ing.Seet heef f
ectoft ectonicupl
iftonr i
vers.
Ont hecont rary
,stablelandscapessuchast hoseassoci atedwi thgradedr iv
er
prof
ilestendt oexper i
enceacumul ativeaccumul ati
onofr egolit
hincreasingthe
depthsofweat heredregol
it
h.
Chr
onol
ogi
calf
act
ors
Thesear etime-relatedf actorswhichincludecl imatechangeandt ect
onicchanges.
Cli
mat echanger esultsinanal ter
ati
onofbal ancebet weenthepr ocessesr esult
ing
i
nr egoli
thaccumul at i
on[ weatheri
nganddeposi ti
on]andtheprocessesl eadi
ngt oits
remov al[
erosi
onandt ranspor t
ati
on]
.Indeser t sforexample,ther emnantsofdeep
weathered layers wer ef ormed during the pastwet terepi sode.Howev ert he
subsequentdr oughtcondi t
ionsthatfoll
owedr esult
edinhighlev el
sofer osi
on[ wind
andwat er]andther emov alofdeepweat heredl ayer
s.
Si
teorenv
ironment
alf
act
ors
Deepweat heri
ngoccur srapidlyonelevat
edsitesexperiencingfreedr ai
nage.The
rapi
dr emov alofr ain wat eron such si
tes t
end tor educe wat erlogging t
hus
promotingchemi calweat heri
ng.However,itmustnotbedi smissedt hatchemical
weathering requi
res an abundantsuppl y ofmoi stur
e.Hence r ecepti
on areas,
experi
encingconv ergentr unoffhavemorechemi calweat heri
ngduet oabundant
watersuppl y
,alt
hought her at
estendtobelowduet opoordr ai
nage.
Geol
ogi
calf
act
ors
Thepr edomi nanceofr ockswithmineralspronet ochemi calatt
acktendstopromot e
deepweat hering.Diff
erentrockty
peshav edi f
ferentmi neralcombinat
ionsmaki ng
theirvulnerabil
it
yt ochemicalweatheringdifferent.Forexampl efel
dspari ngranit
e
rocksismor ev ulner
abletochemicalat t
ackunderhumi dconditi
onswhi l
equar t
zis
mor er esistantundersi mil
arconditions.Sandst one hav elarge grai
ns and a
crystal
li
nest ructuremakingitsubj
ectt orapidchemi caldecomposit
ion.Welljoi
nted
rocksalsopr omot er
apidchemicalat
tack.
DEVELOPMENTOFDEEPWEATHEREDLAYERS
Deepweather
edlayersoverthousands,
per
hapsmil
li
onsofyear
sasar esul
tofsub-
aer
ialchemi
calweather
ing.RuxtonandBerr
ydev
elopedati
me-dependentmodelt
o
53
expl
aint
hedev
elopmentofdeep-
weat
her
edl
ayer
s.
TheRuxt
onandBer
ryModel
RuxtonandBerry(1975)ar
guedt hatthedevel
opmentofdeepweat heredlay
ersis
ti
me-dependent
.Theyalsoarguedthatthedecomposit
ionofgr
aniteresult
edinthe
for
mationoffourl
ayersorweatheringzonesunder
lai
nbyaweat heri
ngf r
ont(basal
surf
aceofweather
ing).
 Thef i
rstl
ayerorzoneconsi
stsoffi
nel
yweatheredcl
aypart
icl
es(fine
resi
dualsapr
oli
te)r
esul
ti
ngfr
om acompl
etedecomposi
ti
onofrocks.
 Zone2compr i
sesofbothresidualdebri
sorsaprol
it
eandsomesmal l
rounded rock f
ragment
s,perhaps resul
ting f
rom t
he weat
her
ing of
resi
stantsi
li
cat
ecompounds.
 Zone3compr sesofami
i xtur
eofpar
ti
all
yweat
her
edcor
est
onesand
resi
dualdebr
is.
 Last
ly,zone4 comprsesofweakened orpar
i t
ial
l
yweather
ed bl
ocks
whosejoint
shavej
ustbeenopenedup.Beneat
hzone4i
stheweatheri
ng
fr
ont.
RuxtonandBerryal
soarguedt
hatwheret
hefourzonesoccuri
nasi
nglepr
ofi
l
e,t
hey
i
ndicateamat urestageofchemicalweat
heri
ngachievedovermanyyear
s.See
di
agramsbelow:
Inthei niti
alstage,
exposedgr aniterocks
areat t
ackedbychemi cal
weat heringprocesses
produci ngdebr i
sofzone
3and4.Thi sisfoll
owed
bysuccessi ve
developmentofot her
zonesunt ilt
hef i
nal
mat uri
tyst ageis
r
eached.Thi
sishowev
erachi
evedov
ermanyy
ear
sofchemicaldecomposi ti
onof
r
ocks.

LANDFORMSASSOCI
ATEDWI
THGRANI
TEREGI
ONS

TROPI
CALI
NSELBERGS

Thet er
mI nselbergrefer
stoav ar
iet
yofsteep-si
dedi solatedresidualhi
ll
sofsoli
d
rock,ri
singabrupt l
yfr
om aplai
noflowr el
i
ef.Inselbergsar eoftenassoci
atedwith
sub-humi denvironmentswherethestr
ippi
ngofr egolit
hi srapid.Theyarealsocal
led
‘
islandmount ains’andresul
tsf
rom theweatheringofgr aniti
crocks.

54
TYPESOFI
NSELBERGS
TORS
Tor
scanbedescri
bedasspheroi
dall
yweatheredboul
der
sroot
edi
nthebedr
ock
whi
chhasbeenexposedbytheprocessofexhumati
on.
Torsshoul dnotbe
conf usedwithcast l
e
kopjesalthought hey
arebot hbalancing
rocks.Unliketors,
castlekopjesar e
blockystructuresof
graniticr
ocksf ormed
byasar esultofsub-
aerialjoi
ntcollapse.

THEORI
ESOFTORFORMATI
ON
i
) Li
nton’
shy
pot
hesi
s
Linton(1955)suggestedthatt orsareformedmai nlyasar esultofdeep
witheri
nginvolvi
ngthebreakingdownofi rregularjointedr
ocks.According
tothistheory,gr
anit
erockshav eunevenjointswithsomesect ionshaving
closelypackedj oi
ntsandot hersbeingpoor lyjointed.Thewel ljoi
nted
sections weatherfasterwhi le poor
lyjointed sect i
ons weatherslowly
forming rounded corestonesshowi ng thespher oidalweatheri
ng.See
diagramsbelow:

Li
nt onar guedt hatthe
sub- humi d
env i
ronmentwhi chi s
char acter i
sed byt wo
distinct seasons i s
i
dealf ort heformation
of t ors. Thi s i s
because i n summer ,
deep chemical
weat heri
ng i
s
promoted.Ont hecont
rar
yt emporarylossofv eget
ati
oninwi nt eranddur i
ngt he
earl
ymont hsofsummerpr omoterapidstri
ppi
ngofr egol
it
h.Linton’ shy pothesisis
wellexempli
fi
edinChit
ungwizawher etorsfor
m acont i
nuousr anger esul
tingfrom
unif
orm surface er
osi
on.Thist heoryist he mostcompr ehensi ve and wi dely
acceptedone.

55
 i
i
) Theper
igl
aci
alt
heor
y
Proponentsoft hi
st heory(NelsonandPalmer1962)bel i
evethattorsare
formedasar esultofthepr ocessofblockdisi
ntegrati
oni nperigl
acial
regi
ons.Theybel ievedthattorsarefor
medasar esul
toff r
ostshat t
eri
ng
wherebywat erfr
eezesi nsi
decr acksandsoli
dif
iest her
ecausingbl ock
disi
ntegrati
onongent l
erslopesandt orsonsteeperones.Howev erthe
theoryfail
stoexpl ai
ntheformat i
onoftor
sint
hesub- humidtropi
csandi n
otherwar mercli
mat es.

i
i
i) Thepedi
planat
iont
heor
y
Thist heor ywasproposedbyLCKi ng( 1948)
.Hepr oposedthattorsare
formedbyt hesamepr ocessesr esul
tingint hefor
mationofPedi -
plai
ns
foundi nmostpar tsofAf r
ica.Accor dingt oKing,t
orsareexposedbyt he
unif
or m r emovalofweat hereddebr i
sbysur f
aceerosionduri
ngscar p
retr
eat mentandpedi mentext ensionpr ocess.Torsarealsof
ormedwhen
pre-exist
ingbornhardtdomesbr eakdown.
CASTLEKOPJES
Castlekopjesareblocky
l
ookingmount ai
ns
whichsomet imes
resemblescal etor
s.
Theyhav erectangular
bouldersfrom decaying
rocks.Curvil
i
nearand
verti
calj
ointsarevisibl
e
i
ncast l
ekopj es.

TheEt
chpl
anat
ionorexhumat
iont
heor
yofI
nsel
ber
gfor
mat
ion
Thet heorywaspr oposedbyFal coner(1911)andl at
eradapt edbyWi l
lis(1936)
,
Way l
and( 1934)andThomas( 1974).Accordi
ngtothet heory
,insel
ber
gsar eformed
whent heweat her
ingfronti sexposedasar esul
toft hest r
ippi
ngofr egolit
hor
exhumat i
on bysur f
ace erosion.The t heorysuggestt hatan episode ofdeep
weatheri
ngi sfoll
owedbyst ream downcut t
ingandstri
ppingofweathereddebris.
Theprocessi
sdomi nanti
nsub-humidtr
opicswher
edeepweat heri
ngandst r
ippi
ng
occur
sinanalternat
efashi
on.Thewethotsummerf avour
sdeepweat heri
ngwhi le
thetemporar
yr emovalofv eget
ati
on i
n wint
erpromotestr
ipping ofregol
ith or
exhumati
on.

56
St
rengt
hsoft
het
heor
y
- Thesiteofinsel
ber
gsf avoursanEt chpl
anationori
gin,f
orexampleinZimbabwe
mostinsel
bergsarefoundi ncommunalar easwheresurfaceer
osionisrapi
ddue
towidespr
eadr emovalofv eget
ati
oncov er.Therearesli
m chancesoff i
nding
i
nsel
bergsincommer cialfarmswher eeff
ectivesoi
lconserv
ati
onmet hodsarein
pl
ace.
- Theprocessmanagestoexpl
aint
hedev
elopmentofv
ari
ousf
ormsofi
nsel
ber
gs
l
iket
ors,andcast
lekopj
es.
Weaknessesoft
het
heor
y
- AccordingtoR.J.Smalltheimmedi at
epr oblem wi
tht
heEtchpl
anat i
ont heoryis
the greatheightofup t o 300m associ at
ed wit
h some tr
opicali nsel
bergs.
Howev erR.JSmallacceptedthatt
hehei ghtcoul
dbearesul
tofsev eralepisodes
ofweat her
inganderosi
onov ermanyy ears.
Br
ief
lydescr
ibet
hechar
act
eri
sti
csofgr
ani
teandexpl
aini
tsi
mpactont
hewayi
tis
weat
hered.(
12m)

ChemicalComposit
ion: Chiefl
ymadeofquar t
z,ort
hocl
asef
eldsparsandbi
otit
e
micas.Alt
houghrel
ati
v elystabl
e,hydr
oly
siscanweardownfeldsparsandmicast
o
kaol
in,i
fwateri
sprovidedent ryi
ntothegrani
te.

Har
dness:Veryhard,(
especi
all
yduetothepresenceofquartz),
prov
idi
ng
mechani
calstr
ength.Thi
scharact
eri
sti
call
owssomer esi
stancetoweather
ing.
However
,presenceofjoi
ntscoul
ddecreaseresi
stance.

Text
ure:Coursegr
ained,l
argecr
ystal
size(3-
5mm) ,however,mi
ner
alsi
nter
locked
ti
ght
ly,t
heref
oredecreasi
ngporosi
ty,
andincreasi
ngresi
stancet
oweatheri
ng.

Colour
: Var
ies,
from l i
ghttodar k.Dar kcolours,however
,wi
thloweralbedo
encouragestheabsor ptionoflight.Alter
nat i
veheati
ngandcooli
ngr esul
tsi
n
expansionandcont racti
onoft hegr aniti
cr ock,
induci
ngstr
essandr esul
ti
ngin
i
nsolati
onweat heri
ng.* Theef f
ectal sooccur swhentherocki
smadeofdi f
fer
ent
colour
edmi ner
al s,
differentgrainswoul dexpandandcont r
actalt
ernati
vel
y,whi
ch
wouldleadtogr anulardisint
egration.

Permeabi l
it
y:Poorpr imaryper meabil
it
yasmi ner
alsinterl
ockedt i
ghtl
y .Howev er,
extensivepresenceofj oints(secondarypermeabili
ty).Jointsdevel
opdur i
ngcooling
wheni tcontracts,devel
opingi n3mai ndirecti
ons,verti
cal,hori
zontalandcur v
ili
near
(duet opressurerelease).Jointi
ngmakesgr ani
tevulnerabletophysical and
chemi calweatheri
ng, asitallowsforentryofweather i
ngagent ssuchaswat er,and
i
ncr easesthesur f
acear eaf orweather
ing.
Di
scussthenecessi
tyofaseasonalhumi
dtr
opi
calcl
i
mat
efort
hef
ormat
ionof
i
nsel
bergs.(
13m)
Aseasonal
humi
dtr
opi
cal
cli
mat
eisnecessar
ytoal
argeext
enti
nthef
ormat
ionof

57
i
nselbergs.AccordingtotheEtchpl
anat i
ontheoryofformat i
on,inselbergsrequi
rea
peri
odofhumi dtropi
calcl
imatefoll
owedbyaper iodofar i
dit
y.I
tisdur ingthehumid
cl
imatewheni nt
ensedeepanddi ff
erential
chemi calweatheri
ngt akespl aceand
i
ntenseer osi
onandexhumat i
onwilltakeplaceduringtheperiodofar idit
y,t
hus
al
lowingfort heformati
oninsel
bergs.Therefore,
itbeing'seasonal'playsav er
y
i
mpor tanttaskintheformati
onoft heinsel
bergs.

Fir
stly
,thegeological condi
ti
onsrequiredar ethepresenceofdif
ferenti
alj
oint
sin
ordertoformt or
s, ruwares,bor
nhardtsorkopj es.Toformt or
s,j
ointi
ngshouldbe
mor ecuboidalandext ensiv
e,whilet
her ockisusuall
ymor emassiveforthe
formationoftheot hertypesofinsel
ber gs.

Thef i
rststage, accor di
ngt ot heEt chpl anati
ont heor y
, i
nvolvesthedeepand
dif
ferentialweat heringwher et hosear easwi thclosenet wor kofjointsunder go
greaterweat heringandt ogreat erdept hsrelat
ivet othosewi t
hwi dely-spacedj oints.
Inthi
scase, suchi ntensechemi cal weatheringwi ll
includehy drolysi
sandhy drati
on.
Theseweat heri
ngpr ocessesr equiret hewat erfrom rainfallderi
vedf rom t hehumi d
cli
mat e.Whent her ockisev ent uallyweakenedchemi call
y,physicalexer ti
onwoul d
helpinitsdisintegr ati
on.Weat heringext endsal lthewayt othebasal surfaceof
weather i
ng,hencet hebasal platformi sirregularwi t
hr i
sesandt roughsduet othe
unevendi stri
butionofj oints.Ther isesar ethear easwhi chhav eunder goneal esser
degreeofweat her i
ng.Int hef ormat i
onoft ors,thelowerpar tsusuallypr eserve
rounded, detachedboul derorcour seofunweat heredr ock.Howev er
,int hef ormation
oftheot herinsel bergs,theext entofweat her i
ngi slessandst i
llmaintainst he
massi venessoft heor i
ginalgr aniter ock.

Howev er
, r
egol
it
hnowov er
li
esthetroughsanddoesnotuncovert
heinsel
bergsy
et.
Thus,thehumidcli
mateisrequi
redonlytoanextentofi
tsfor
mati
on,
andhast obe
seasonal.Tocomplet
etheprocess,
aper i
odofaridi
tyi
srequi
redf
ort
heer osi
onand
exhumationofregol
it
htorevealt
heinsel
bergsf
inall
y.

Theexhumat i
onwi l
ltaket hef or
m ofr i
v ererosi
on, i
ncisi
on, winderosi
onandsur face
erosion.Thefirstcondi t
ionr equir
edf orexhumat i
onisdur ingrapidupl
iftandi ncision
ofst r
eams.Ver ticaldowncut t
ingofst r
eamswoul dr esulti
nt heremoval ofregol i
th.
Incisi
onoft heregol i
thoccur sasar esultoftheclimat i
cchanget oanar idone, with
openv egetati
oncov erandamor erapidhi l
lslopeerosion.Thel ossofv egetation
cov erasaresul tofadr iercli
mat eimpl i
est helossorsoi lnutri
entswhichbi nds
regolit
h.Thelossofv eget ati
vecov eralsoimpl i
eshigherr atesofrainsplashand
gullyerosi
on.Ther ateofsur facewasher osionisalsoaccel erat
edduet olackofv eg.
Wi nderosi
oni ssi gnif
icantlyhighduet ohi ghwi ndspeedi nar i
dclimates,being
l
ooseandunconsol idated, r
egolit
hwi llbeeasilyremov ed.

Thi sprocesscausespi l
esofcor est
onest obeex posed,i
ntheformati
onoftors,and
thegr eat erporti
onoft hebasal surf
aceofweat heringtobeexposed,i
nthe
format ionoft heot heri nsel ber
gs.Whenonl yalimitedamountofregoli
thi
sremov ed,
thenonl yasmal lsectionoft hesummi toftheri
seswoul dbeexposed,thi
sisknown
ast her uwar es.Abor nhar dtisexposedwhenmor elay
ersofregol
it
hareexposedby
weat her i
ngagent slikeinsol ati
on,acquir
edinanar idregi
on.Theremovalofregoli
th
alsor esul t
sinpr essur erel easewhichleadstothef ormati
onsheetandcurvi
li
near
j
oi nts,furtherdisintegratingt hegranit
eintokopjes.

58
Theref
ore,
a"seasonal
"humidt
ropi
calcl
i
matei
shighl
ynecessaryf
ort
heformat
ion
ofi
nselber
gsastherei
salsoaneedformor
eari
dcondit
ionstocompl
etet
he
for
mation.

LI
MESTONELANDFORMS

Li one i
mest soneoft
hemostcommonsedi
ment
aryr
ocksf
oundi
nthewor
ld.Ey
e-
catchi
ngfeaturessuchascaves,si
nkhol
esandspectacul
arskyl
i
nelandscapesare
oft
en associ
ated wi t
hlimest
one for
mations.These l
andf
orms have devel
oped
thr
oughtheinteract
ionofr
ocks,wat
erandcli
mate.

Kar
stl
andscapes
Theword‘kar
st’comesf
rom aGermanwor dusedt
odescr
ibethestonyl
imestonelandscape.I
tist
he
di
sti
nct
ivesurf
aceandundergr
oundlandf
ormssuchascaves,
flut
edrockoutcropsanddolinesor
si
nkhol
esthattheter
m‘kar
st’i
mpli
es.

Limest onesthatar erelativ

elypureandhar dwit
hahi ghper centageofcalcium carbonatearetheones
thattendt odev elopthebestkar stfeat
ures.Cavesareal waysfoundi nkarstenv i
ronmentssincethey
providethepassageway sf
orundergroundwaterdrainage.Cav esof t
endev elopstunningf
eatures
suchasst al
actites,stalagmitesandcolumns.Thefor mat i
onoft hesestr
uct uresi
st herev
erseofthe
dissoluti
onoft hecal cium carbonat
ewi t
hacidicrai
nwat er.

Flutedr ockout cr
opshav e
beenf or medasar esul
tof
thechemi calacti
onof
rainwat eront hel i
mestone.
Ast her ainwaterfl
owsov er
anddownt helimestone
out crop, iter
odest hesurf
ace,
resul t
ingi ntheout cr
op
takingonagr oovedorf l
uted
appear ance.

Akar stlandscape’ssurf
ace
i
sof tendot t
edwi t
hbowl -
shapedhol lowscalled
sinkholesordolines.They
varyinsizebutar emost
of
tenupt
o100met
resi
ndi
amet
erandt
ensofmet
resdeep.

Bl
indv
all
eys

Thisisavall
eycl osedont helowerendbyt her ockwall.Thevall
eyis
causedbyt
hel oweringoftheri
verbankbysol
utionweatheri
ngaroundthe
si
nkandeventuall
yretreat
supstr
eam duetopart
ialunder
groundcoll
apse.

59
Dol
ines

Itisashall
owdepr essi
onorhol l
owwithgent
lysl
opi
ngsidesandgener all
yci
rcul
arorovali
nshape.
Dolinesoccurinlar
gegr oupsandthi
sismainlyduetowat erpercol
ati
ngundergr
ound.Therockis
slowlydi
ssectedandasmal lbasi
nisf
ormedandisgradual
l
yenlarged.

Col
lapseddol
ines

Unlikedoli
nes,
col
lapseddol
i
neshavesteepsidesandtheyare
causedbyt hecol
l
apseofpartofanunder
groundcurve.See
diagram bel
ow:

Pol
je

Thisi
sav eryl
arge,shal
l
ow, st
eepsideddepressi
onwithagener all
y
fl
atfloor.Itcan be manykm i n si
ze.The flatflooris often
emphasi
zedbythedeposi
ti
onoft er
ra-
Rosaandcl aymateri
alwhichmayf orm animpermeablelayer
whi
chcanleadt
ofloodi
ngafterheavyr
ains.Apolj
emayhol dtemporary/
permanentLake.

Si
nkhol
es

Thi
sisadeephol ewit
hnear lyvert
icalsi
desleadingtoanundergr
oundcavesystem.Someresul
t
mainl
yfr
om sur
facesolut
ion.Manyar elocatedont hef
loor
sofdoli
nes,uv
alasandpolj
es.Asi
nkis
whenari
verdi
sappear
sunder groundandreappearsdownstr
eam (
swall
owhole)
.

GEOMORPHOLOGYOFSLOPES

Slopesar eanimportantaspectingeomor phol

ogybecausetheyhel pcandi
dates
understandthedevel
opmentofv ari
ouslandforms.Thi
ssecti
onf ocussesonslope
form and developmentas wel las fact
or sthatinf
luence sl
ope devel
opment.
Processesonslopesareal
socov er
edinthi
ssect i
on.
SlopeFor m
Slopef or
mr eferstotheshapeofthelandsurf
ace.Itiswhaty ouseewheny oulook
atal andscape.Whetheraslopeisst
eeporgentle,i
rregularorsmoot hl
ycurved,hi
gh
orlow,ar efeatur
esofitsform.Theform ofaslope,thatis,theslopeoftheground
surface,canbedescribeinter
msofpr of
il
eform andplanf orm.
Prof
il
eformisashapewhenv
iewedi
npr
ofi
l
e,asi
facr
oss-
sect
ionwer
etakenat
ri
ghtangl
est
othehi
ll
si
de.
Planfor
mi stheshapewhenv
iewedf
rom abov
e;i
tisshownonamapbyt
he
curv
atur
eofcont
ours.
Profi
leanalysi
sistodivi
deitint
ostraightandcur v
edpar ts,cal
l
edslopeunit
s.The
strai
ghtparts,on which t
heangler emainsappr oximatelyconst
ant,aretermed
recti
l
inearsegment s.The curv
ed parts are convex and concave segments.A
segmentt hatissteeperthantheslopeuni t
sabov eandbel ow i
tisamaxi mum

60
segment
.Abov
ethemaxi
mum segmenti
stheconv
exi
tyandbel
owi
ttheconcav
ity
.
Four
-uni
tmodel
I
twasproposedbyA.Woodi
n1943.
The waxi ng sl
ope or concave
slope-i
st hecurveov eredgeof
the horizont
al sur
face of the
hil
lt
op.Itisal
socall
edt heconv
ex
slopeorupperwashslope.
Theclif
f/f
reef
ace-Asteepsl
ope
orpartofaslopef
ormedofbare
rock.
The debris/constantslope-i
sa
slopewi t
hauni form anglet
hat
did not al t
er as t he slope
dev el
oped through time.Many
constantslopesonl yhaveav ery
t
hincov
erofr
ockwast
e.I
tusual
l
yext
endsupwar
dt otherock-cutslopeofthef
r ee
f
ace.
Wani ng/concav
eslope-st
ret
chestotheval
l
eyfloorwi
thdimini
shi
ngangl
eandi s
characteri
zed wit
hf i
ne mater
ial
s.I
tis al
so known as pedi
ment,v
all
ey-f
loor
basementorl owerwashsl
ope.
Fact
orsaf
fect
ingt
heDev
elopmentofsl
opes

i
) Thei
nfl
uenceofr
ockst
ruct
ureandl
i
thol
ogyonsl
opes
- Li thology infl
uences profi
l
ef orm and angl e.The st r
ength,st abi
l
ity and
permeabi li
ty ofa r ock areimpor t
antf act
orsin determini
ng slope form,e. g.
convexi t
iesformthegr eat
erpartofprofi
lesdevel
opedonsandst ones,abouthalfon
Li
mest onesandl esst hanhalfonshal es.Maximum slopeangl esalsov erywith
l
ithology ,(
e.g.max.slopeangl
eonl imestoneisusual
lyabout20º,shal
es9º ,andon
cl
ay s5. 5º)
-Thenatur
eoftheregol
it
hwhichi
sformedisalsoimport
ant,e.
g.surf
acewashasa
sl
opeformi
ngprocessdependsonthepermeabil
i
tyoftheregoli
th.Sur
facewashi
s
moreeff
ect
iveonlessper
meabler
egoli
thsuchasclay
.
-Thepr esenceofj
oint
s,cracksandbeddi
ngpl
anescanal
l
ow i
ncr
easedwat
er
cont
entandsoleadt
osli
ding
i
i
) Thei
nfl
uenceofcl
i
mat
eonsl
opes
-Itaffect
ssurf
aceprocessesdirect
lyandindi
rectl
y.Forexampl
e,i
tdetermi
nesthe
si
gnif
icanceofweat
heri
ngpr ocessessuchasfrostshatt
eri
ngorsur
facerun-
off
.
i
i
i) Thei
nfl
uenceofv
eget
ati
ononsl
opes
-Themai
nef
fectofv
eget
ati
oni
sthepr
otect
ioni
tgi
vest
hesoi
lfr
om sur
facewash

61
andr
ainspl
ash.
-Othereff
ectsare:theactionofroot
si nholdingtheregoli
thonthesl
ope,t
he
cont
ri
but
iontochemicalweather
ingbyt
hepr oductsofor
ganicaci
dsandt
hesuppl
y
ofor
gani
cmat t
erwhichimprovessoi
lst
ruct
ure.
i
v) Humani
nfl
uence
-Def
orest
ati
oni
ncr
easest
her
ateofsl
opemov
ement
.
-Bui
l
dingr
oadorquar
ryi
ngatt
hef
ootofsl
opesupset
stheequi
l
ibr
ium.
-Theshaki
ngact
ionofheav
ytr
aff
ic.
-Thegrazi
ngofani
mal
sandpl
oughi
ngl
oosensoi
landr
emov
epr
otect
ivev
eget
ati
on
cov
er.
Sl
opeEv ol
uti
ont heori
es
Evol
uti
onisthechangei nslopef or
m withti
me,asbroughtaboutbytheact
ionof
pr
ocesses.Threemodel sofslopeev ol
uti
onhavebeenproposed:t
hesearecall
ed
sl
opedecli
ne,slopereplacement,andparal
lel
ret
reat
.

Sl
opedecl i
ne(
W.M.
Davi
s,1899)
-Theor ybasedon
sl
opesi nwhatwas
to Davi
s a nor
mal
cl
imate,NW Eur
ope
andNEUSA.
- Slope decl
ine i
s
common i n many
humid t emperat
e
regi
ons.
- Davis’theoryis
based on t
he assumpti
on thatsteepestsl
opes atbegi
nni
ng oft he pr
ocess
exper
ienceapr
ogressi
velydecreasi
nganglei
ntimetogiveaconvexupperslope
andaconcavel
owerslope.
Themov ementofr ockwast eisseenasonest agebet weenweat heri
ngononehand
andt r
ansportat
ionbyri
v ersontheother.Theformsofsl opeschangeast hecycleof
erosi
onadv ances.Whensl opesarefir
stdev el
opedt heyarest eepandcov eredwith
coarsemat er
ial
.Lateri
nt hecycl
ethegr adedslopesaregentlerandar ecoveredwith
at hi
ckerlayeroff i
nermat er
ial
.Thesl opedecl i
nei scausedbyt hef actthatthe
downwashofsoi l
from convexupperslopesisfasterthanit
sr emov alfr
om theslope
base.
Sl
oper
epl
acement
(W.Penck,
1924)
-Thet heor
yofsl
operepl
acementispart
icul
arl
yappli
cabletoexpl
aini
ngt
hesl
ope
dev
elopmentofcl
i
ffsi
nsubtr
opi
calsemi-
humidclimat
icareas.

62
-Themaxi mum angledecr
easesasthegent
lerl
owersl
opeser
odebackt
orepl
ace
t
hesteeperonesgiv
ingaconcavecent
ral
port
iontot
hesl
ope.
- Thi
stheor
yassumest hatthesurf
aceoft heslopeisweather
ed ev
enlyand
cr
umbleswit
hthefr
agments(scr
ee)f
all
ingtot
hebase.Thusmaxi
mum angleoft
he
sl
opedecr
easeandi
srepl
acedbyagentlersl
ope.
Sl
oper
etr
eat(
orPar
all
elr
etr
eat
)(L.
C.Ki
ng,
1948,
1957)
- The t
heor
yofslope r
etreatispar
ti
cul
arl
yappl
i
cabl
eto expl
aini
ng t
he sl
ope
devel
opmenti
nsemi
-ar
idareas.
-Themaxi
mum angl
eremainsconst
antasdoal
lsl
opef
acet
sapar
tfr
om t
hel
ower
onewhi
chi
ncr
easesi
nconcavi
ty.
-Eachoftheupperpar
tsofthesloperetr
eatsbyt hesameamountandmai ntai
ns
t
hesameangle.Thustheconvexi
ty,f
reefaceanddebr i
sslopeal
lret
aint
hesame
l
ength,
bot
habsolut
eandrel
ati
vetoeachot herdur
ingret
reat
.Thepedi
mentextends
i
nlengt
handbecomessli
ght
lygentl
erinangle.

SLOPEPROCESS
Slopeprocessr
efer
st ot
heacti
veagent
swhi
chbri
ngaboutchangesinlandf
orms,
forexampletheimpactoffal
l
ingrai
ndr
opsorr
unningwater
.Ther at
esatwhi ch
slopepr
ocessesactcanbemeasur
ed.

MASSMOVEMENT
Massmov ement–Thebul kmov ementofweat her
edandbr oken
rockmateri
al sdownsl opesundert heinf
luenceofgr av
ity.ORthedown-sl
ope
mov ementofmat er
ial,whetheritbebedrock,regol
ith,oramixtur
eofthese,i
s
commonl yr eferr
edtoasal andslide.
Factorsaffectingmassmov ements
Gravit
y– thef orceofgr av it
ypr ovi
dest heener gyt hatcausesmater
ial
to mov
e
downhill
.Gr avit
yisalwaysact i
ng!!
Int
ernalcohesi on (st
rength)– the charact er
ist
ic proper t
y ofar ockorsoi lthat
measur eshowwel litr
esistsbeingdeformedor br
okenbyf orcessuchasgr av i
ty.For
examplebeddi ng planesi n sedimentaryr ocks( especiall
yt hoseinvol
vi
ngcl ayor
other“weakl ay er
s”)nearlyparall
elt
otheslopear ev erysuscept ibletosli
ding,while
uncement eddr ysandandcoar serf r
agment shav ev eryli
ttl
einternalcohesionand
assumean“ angleofr epose”whichist hemaxi malsl opeatwhi chmat eri
alwi l
l
remainstable.Clays in the sedi ment pr omot e higher i nternal cohesionindry
unconsolidatedmat eri
al,buttheyall
owf oreasierdownhi llsl
ippagewhenwet .
Water
-Claybecomesplasti
candweakwhenitabsor
bswater
.Wetclay
snotonlyact
as l
ubri
cantsformass mov ements,butt
endtofl
ow outl
ater
all
yfrom beneath
bur
dens,thuscausi
ngsubsi
denceandsl
umpi
ng.
Waterinfractur
esandporesgeneral
lyreducesthestr
engthofrocksandcl
ay-
bear
ing
soi
ls.Itpr
omot esmassmov ementbecauseitisunderpr
essure,whicht
endstopush
apart
indiv
idualgrai
nsandopenjoi
ntsandbeddi ngpl
anes.

63
Steepness ofsl
opes-the st
eeperthe l
and sur
face (
i.
e.,the sl
ope)the lar
ger
thecomponentofgr
avi
tyacti
ngparal
l
elwiththesl
ope.Thisincr
easesthetendency
ofmat er
ial
tomovedownhil
l.
Natur
e ofvegetat
ion -Plants ar
e ableto prot
ectsoi
land r
egol
i
th agai
nst
er
osionbybi
ndi
nggr ai
nst
ogetherwi
throotsy
stems.
Externalf
actors-Earthquakes–v i
brat
ionscantri
ggerfai
l
ureinweakenedrockor
soilmassesincreasi
ngtherateofmassmov ementwhil
eman-madeexcavat
ionscan
remov emateri
alatthebaseofasl ope,promoti
ngsuddenslopefai
lur
eandmass
mov ement.
Tr
igger
ingEv
ent
s

Amassmov ementcanoccuranyt i
measl opebecomesunst able.Someti
mes, asin
thecaseofcr eeporsol i
fl
uct
ion,theslopei
sunst abl
eall
ofthetimeandt heprocessis
conti
nuous.Butot herti
mes,trigger
ingeventscanoccurt hatcauseasuddeni nstabi
li
ty
tooccur.Herewedi scussmaj ortri
ggeri
ngev ents,buti
tshouldbenot edt
hatitifa
slopei
sv eryclosetoinstabi
l
ity,onl
yami norev entmaybenecessar ytocauseaf ail
ure
anddisaster.Thismaybesomet hi
ngassimpl easanantr emov ingthesi
nglegrainof
sandthatholdst heslopeinplace.

 Shocksandvibrati
ons-Asuddenshock,suchasanearthquakemaytri
gger
sl
opeinst
abil
ity
.Mi norshocksl
i
keheavytrucksrambl
i
ngdownt heroad,t
rees
bl
owinginthewi nd,orhumanmadeexplosionscanal
sotri
ggermass
movementevent s.

 SlopeModi f
ication-
Modi f
icationofa
slopeeitherby
humansorbynat ural
causescanr esul ti
n
changingt hesl ope
anglesot hati tisno
l
ongeratt heangl eof
repose.Amass
mov ementcant hen
restor
et hesl opet oit
s
angleofr epose.

64
  Under cutti
ng-st r
eams
erodingt heirbanksor
surfactional onga
coastcanunder cuta
sl
opemaki ngit
unstable.

 ChangesinHy dr
ologi
cCharacteri
sti
cs-heavyr ai
nscansat urat
eregoli
th
reduci
nggraintograi
ncontactandreducingtheangl eofrepose,t
hustri
ggeri
ng
amassmov ement.Heavyrai
nscanal sosaturaterockandincreasei
tsweight.
Changesinthegroundwatersystem cani
ncreaseordecr easeflui
dpressur
ein
rockandalsotri
ggermassmov ements.

 Changesinsl opest r
ength-Weat heri
ngcr eatesweakermateri
al,
andt husleads
toslopefai
lure.Veget at
ionholdssoilinplaceandslowstheinfl
uxofwat er.
Treesputdownr ootsthatholdthegroundt ogetherandst
rengthentheslope.
Remov aloftressandv egetati
oneitherbyhumansorbyaf orestfi
re,oft
en
resul
tsinslopefailuresinthenextrainyseason.

 Volcani
cEruptions-pr oduceshocksli
keexplosi
onsandear thquakes.Theycan
al
socausesnowt omel tordi
schargesfr
om craterlakes,rapi
dlyreleasi
ngl
arge
amount sofwat erthatcanbemi xedwit
hr egol
it
ht oreducegr ai
nt ograi
n
contactandresultindebrisfl
ows, mudf
lows,andlandslides.

MECHANI
SMSOFMASSMOVEMENTS
A.Fal
l
ing–bl
ocksf
all
downst
eepsl
opesorcl
i
ffs
B.Sl
i
ding–downwar
dsl
i
pofbl
ocksofr
ock
C.Fl
ow– unconsol
i
dat
edmat er
ial
sli
kesoi
l
s,cl
ayandweat
her
edshal
eonsl
opes
canunder
gosl
owplast
icf
low
D.Fr ostheav e– repeatedf r
eezingandt hawingorswel li
ngandshrinkingofcl ay
resultsi nveryslow downwar dmov ementsofsur f
acemat eri
als.I
fcondi t
ionsar e
ri
ght ,waterthatsoaksintothegr oundduringwi nt
ermont hs, f
reezesandper mit
sice
toaccumul atei
nt hezoneoffreezingaswat erisaddedf rom theatmospher eabov e
andi sdrawnupwar dfr
om theunf rozengr oundbelow.Int i
memassesofi cearebui l
t
up,andt hesoilabov ethem i
sheav edupwar d.Duri
ngt heprocessoffrostheaving,
mat erialmov esupwi t
heachi ntervalof fr
eezing(expansion)anddownwi theach
i
nterv al of thawing(contr
acti
on). Ther efore,mat eri
al mov es downslope wi th
eachf reeze-
thawcy cl
e.

65
 CLASSI
FICATI
ONOFMASSMOVEMENTS
Massmov
ement
scanbecl
assi
fi
edont
hebasi
sofhowf
astt
hemat
eri
almov
es.
Slow Mov ement
s-Sl ow,inexor
able downsl
ope mov ementof mat
eri
alunder
thei
nfl
uenceofgr
avi
ty.Examplesar
ecreepandfrostheave
ModerateMovement
s-thesearemoder
atemovement
sthatoccur
sonsl
opesand
examplesi
ncl
udeear
thf
low,mudfl
ow,
anddebr
isfl
ow.
Rapi
dMov
ement
s-i
swher
emat
eri
almov
esv
eryf
astonsl
opes.Exampl
esar
e:

MASSMOVEMENTPROCESSES

1.Sl
opeFail
ures-asuddenf
ail
ureofthesloperesul
ti
ngi
ntr
anspor
tofdebr
is
downhi
l
lbyslidi
ng,
roll
i
ng,
fal
li
ng,orslumping.

2.Sedi
mentFl
ows-mat
eri
alf
lowsdownhi
l
lmi
xedwi
thwat
erorai
r.

Sl
opeFai
l
ures

 Slumps-t y pesofsl ideswherein

downwar dr otati
onofr ockorregoli
th
occursalongacur vedsurface.The
uppersur faceofeachsl umpbl ock
remainsr elati
v el
yundi st
urbed,asdothe
i
ndividualbl ocks.Slumpsl eavearcuat
e
scarsordepr essionsont hehil
l sl
ope.
Heavyr ai
nsorear t
hquakesusual l
y
tri
ggerslumps.

 Rockf al
lsandDebr i
sf alls-Rock
fallsoccurwhenapi eceofr ockona
steepsl opebecomesdi slodgedand
fallsdownt hesl ope.Debr i
sf all
sare
simi lar,exceptt heyi nvolvea
mi xtur eofsoi l
,regol it
h, andr ocks.A
rockf allmaybeasi ngler ock, ora
massofr ocks, andt hef all
ingr ocks
candi slodgeot herr ocksast hey
collidewi tht hecl i
ff.Att hebaseof
mostcl i
ffsi
sanaccumul ationof
fallenmat erialt ermedt alus.The
slopeoft het alusi scont r
olledby
theangl eofr eposef ort hesi zeof
themat eri
al.Si ncet alusr esul t
s
from t heaccumul ationofl ar ge

66
 rocksormassesofdebri
stheangl
e
ofreposei
susuall
ygreat
erthani
t
wouldbeforsand.

 RockSl idesandDebr i
sSlides-Rock
slidesanddebr isslidesresul twhen
rocksordebr i
sslidedownapr e-
existi
ngsur face,suchasabeddi ng
planeorj ointsur f
ace.Pilesoft alus
arecommonatt hebaseofar ock
slideordebr i
sslide.Fact
or st hat
frequent lycont ri
but etorocksl idesor
av al
anchesar esteepmount ainsi des,
beddi ngpl anespar all
elt
ot hesl ope,
faultst hatbr eakbeddi ngpl anes,
weakl ay ers( wetclaysorcoal ,f
or
exampl e) whichcan
under gosl owpl ast i
cdefor mat i
on
undert hewei ghtofrockupsl opeand
Ear t
hquakes

Sedi
mentFl
ows

Sedimentf l
owsoccurwhensuff
ici
entfor
ceisappli
edtorocksandregol
i
tht hatthey
begintoflowdownslope.Asedi
mentf l
owisami xt
ureofrock,
regol
it
hwithsome
water.Theycanbebrokenint
otwot y
pesdependingontheamountofwat erpresent
.

1.Sl
urryFlows-ar esedimentf l
owst hatcontai
nbetweenabout20and40%wat er
.
Asthewat ercont entincr
easesabov eabout40%sl ur
ryfl
owsgr adeint
o
st
reams.
2.Granul
arFl ows-ar esedimentflowst hatcontai
nbetween20and0%wat er
.
Notethatgr anul
arf l
owsar epossiblewithli
tt
leornowater.Fl
uid-
li
kebehavi
our
i
sgivent hesef l
owsbymi xi
ngwi t
hai r
.

Eachofthesecl
assesofsedi
mentfl
owscanbef
urt
hersubdi
vi
dedont
hebasi
soft
he
vel
oci
tyatwhichfl
owageoccurs.

67
 Sl
urr
yFlows( highamount sofwat er)
o So l
ifluct ion-f lowageatr atesmeasur edont heor derofcent i
met r
esper
yearofr egol i
thcont ainingwat er .Sol ifluctionpr oducesdi stinctiv
elobes
onhi l
l slopes.Theseoccuri nar easwher et hesoi lremai nsf r
ozenandi s
theni st hawedf orashor ttimet obecomesat uratedwi t
hwat er
.
o De br i
sFl ows-si mil
art omudf l
owsexceptt hatt hey cont ainmanyl arge
fragment sofr ocksandt rees, allcar riedi nt hemov ingmi xtureofsand,
silt
, clay ,andwat er.Theseoccurathi gherv elocitiest hansol if
lucti
on, and
oftenr esul tfrom heav yr ainscausi ngsat ur ationoft hesoi l andregol i
th
wi t
hwat er .Theysomet imesst artwi thsl umpsandt henf lowdownhi l
l
formi ngl obeswi t
hani rregularsur faceconsi sti
ngofr idgesandf urrows.
o Mu df lows-awel l-
mi xedmassofr ock, soilandwat er
thatf l
owsdownsl ope.I thasaconsi stencyl ikeconcr ete
andsuper sat uratedwi t hwat er.Tendt ot rav el i
nst ream- likemasseswi thi
n
valleysandcany ons.Thei rformat ioni sfav our edbysuddenabundanceof
wat er, lackofv egetation,andabundanceofl ooser egol i
thor
unconsol idatedsedi ment .Of t
ent hesecondi t i
onsar ef oundi nari
dr egions
thatar esubj ectedt oper iodictorrent i
al rains.Onesuchr egioni s
Califor nia, wher eper i
odi cbr ushf ir
esl eav et hegr oundwi thout
prot ect i
onagai nstt henextheav yr ainf all
.

Thus,af tera heavyrain

str
eamscant urnint
omudflowsastheypickupmor eandmor eloosesedi
ment.
Mudflows can tr
avelforlong di
stances overgentl
ysl oping str
eam beds.
Becauseoft hei
rhighvel
ocit
yandl ongdistanceoftraveltheyarepotenti
all
y
verydanger
ous.Mudf l
owsonv ol
canoesarecalledl
ahars.

 Gr
anul
arFlows( l
owamount sofwat er)
o Creep-t hev eryslow, usuall
ycont inuousmov ementofr egoli
thdown
slope.Cr eepoccur sonal mostal l slopes,buttheratesv ary
.Evidencefor
creepi softenseeni nbenttrees, offsetsi
nr oadsandf ences,andi ncl
i
ned
util
it
ypol es( seefigur e16.2ci nyourt ext)
.
o Ear t
hfl
ows-sl uggi sh, r
athererrati
cf lowof cl
ayeyorsilt
yr egol
it
hdown
relati
velygent l
esl opes.Wat erispr esent,
butusual l
ynotatsat urati
on.
Somet imesr ecogni zablebyacur vedscar p(porti
onofsl ipsurf
ace
exposed)t hatdev elopsatt hebr eakawayl ineont heslopeandbyt he

68
 crescent -shapedbul gesatthe“ t
oe”oft heflow.
o GrainFl ows-usual l
yforminrelat i
velydr ymaterial
,suchasasanddune,
onast eepsl ope.Asmal ldist
urbancesendst hedr yunconsolidated
grainsmov i
ngrapidlydownslope.
o De bri
sAv alanches-Thesear ev eryhighv el
ocit
yf l
owsofl argev olume
mixtur esofr ockandr egoli
ththatr esultfrom compl et
ecol l
apseofa
mount ai
noussl ope.Theymov edownsl opeandt hencant ravelfor
consi derabledistancesalongrelativelygent l
eslopes.Theyar eof ten
tr
igger edbyear t
hquakesandv olcanicer upti
ons.Snowav alanchesar e
si
mi lar,butusual l
yinvolv
eonl ysnow.

Mass-
Mov
ement
sinCol
dCl
i
mat
es

Massmov ementsincoldcl
imatesisgovernedbythefactthatwat
eri
sfr
ozenasice
duri
nglongperi
odsoftheyear.I
ce,al
thoughitissol
i
d,doeshav et
heabi
l
ityt
ofl
ow,and
fr
eezingandthawi
ngcyclescanalsocontri
butetomov ement.

ARI
DANDSEMI
-ARI
DENVI
RONMENTS
DEFI
NITI
ONOFTERMS
Desert-thet er
m deserti
susedt oexpress‘ar
idi
ty’whichmeansmoi stur
edef i
cit
.It
ori
ginatedf r
om aLat i
nwor d“deser
tus”whichmeans‘ abandoned.’Desertareasar e
moisturest r
essedandasar esul
ttheyl ackbi
odiver
sity( fl
oraandf auna).WaughD
descri
bedadeser tasanareathatrecei
veanannualr ainfallt
otalbel
ow 250mm.Hi gh
evapotranspi
rati
onrat
esal
socontri
butestomoistur
edeficitindesert
s.

69
Ari
dit
y -ref
erstot hegener
allackofmoistur
einanar eaortheexpressionofmoi st
ure
defi
ciencyresult
ingfrom apermanentabsenceofrai
nfal
l(l
i
ttl
erainfal
l)
.Ari
dityisalso
expl
ainedast hedegreeofdry
nessofanareawhichcanbecategor
izedint
o3gr oups:
(
i) Semi
-ar
id:areareaswith2disti
nctseasons( summerandwinter)
,recei
ving
summerrainf
all
,whi
chis,however
,inadequat
et osuppor
tbi
odi
versi
ty(rai
nfal
l
i
sabove250mm butlessthan400mm) .
(
ii
) Ar
id ar
eas-these are charact
erised byspasmodic,spor
adi
c ori
nfr
equent
st
orms.Theannualrai
nfal
ltotaldoesnotexceed250mm.
(
ii
i) Extreme ari
d areas-are areas whi
ch are ext
remel
y dr
y wit
h no rai
nfal
l
throughouttheyear.I
fitfal
l
s,itdoesn’
texceed24mm peryearhencethese
areaslackfl
oraandfauna.
Deser
tscanf
urt
herbecat
egor
izedi
nto2i
.e.hotdeser
tsandcol
ddeser
ts.
(
i) Hotdesert
sar echaract
eri
sedbyv er
yhi
ghdaytemper
aturesandver
ylowni
ght
0
t
emperatures.Suchdesertshavemaximum t
emperat
uresofabout40Canda
ver
ylar
gedi ur
naltemperat
urerange.
HotDeser
tsoft
heWor
ld

NameandLocat
ion Si
ze Phy
sicalFeat
ures Pl
ant
s&Ani
mal
s

Austr
ali
an(Gr
eatSandy
, GreatSandy
,Victor
ia,
and acacia,casuari
nastree,
Vi
ctori
a,Si
mpson,Gi
bson,
and 2, 000km2
300, Si
mpsonar esandy; eucalyptus,sal
tbush,
St
urt) (1/3of Gi
bsonandSt urtar
e
st
ony . blue-t
onguedl i
zard,di
ngo,f
at
Austr
ali
a Austral
i
a) -t
ailedmouse, kangaroo,
mar supialmole,r
abbit-
ear
ed
bandicoot,sandgoanna,

Kal
ahari Cover
edbysanddunes acaci
a,al
oe
Sout
h-west
ernAf
ri
ca 000km2
520, andgrav
elpl
ains.
gazell
e,gerbi
l,
gr ound
squir
rel
, hy
ena,jackal
,sand
grouse,spri
ngbok

Sahar
a Cov eredbymount ains, acaci a,grasses,tamar i
sks
Nort
hernAf
ri
ca 9,
100,
000km2 rockyar eas,grav
el plai
ns,
saltfl
ats, andhugear eas addaxant elope,gazell
e,
ofdunes.Ar easi
nt he f
ennecf ox,hornedviper,
centralsomet imesgetno j ackal
,j
er boa,sandgr ouse,
rai
nf ory earsatatime. spi nyli
zar d

Hotdeser
tcl
i
mat
ehast
hef
oll
owi
ngchar
act
eri
sti
cs:
 hi
ghdayt
emper
atur
esduet
olackofcl
oudcov
er

 verylow ni
ghttemperat
uresduet
onoct
urnalr
adi
ati
onorf
reeheatl
oss(
lar
ge
diur
naltemper
atur
erange)

 l
owr
ainf
all
notex
ceedi
ng300mm duet
oper
manenthi
ghpr
essur
esy
stems

70
  dustst
ormsduet
ost
rongwi
ndsandl
ackofv
eget
ati
oncov
er

 sudden,shor
t-
li
ved er
rat
icst
ormswi
thhi
ghi
ntensi
tyduet
olocal
i
zed heat
ing
(spasmodi
cstor
ms)

Mosthotdeser
tsarefoundonthewesternsi
desoftheconti
nentsduetotheeff
ectof
col
doceancurr
ent
sthatsweepsthear
eas.Seedet
ail
sonthecausesofdeser
ts.

(
ii
) Colddeser
tsarechar
act
eri
sedbyv er
yl ow t
emperat
uresandper
manentf
rost
forexampl
etheSi
beri
andeser
t.Seeotherexampl
esbelow:

Col
dDeser
tsoft
heWor
ld
Atacama 54,
000mi2 Coveredbysanddunes bunchgrass,car
doncact
us,
CoastsofPer
uandChi
l
e 000km2
140, andpebbles.Oneofthe tamarugatrees
dri
estareasoneart
h.
l
izar
ds,l
lama,Per
uvi
anf
ox,
nesti
ngareaf
ormany
seabi
rds

Gobi 450,
000mi2 Cov er
edbysandysoi
land camel'sthorn,
grasses
Nort
her
nChi
naandSout
her
n 1, 000km2
200, areasofsmallst
ones
Mongol
ia call
ed"gobi
." Bactr
ianbamel ,gazel
le,
gerbi
l
, j
erboa,l
izards,
onager,wolf

Namib 52,
000mi2 Cov er
edbysanddunes aloe,bunchgrass,li
chens,
CoastsofSout
h-west
ern 000km2
135, alongthecoastandgr
avelwelwitschia
Afr
ica fart
herinl
and.
darkli
ngbeet l
e,fr
inge-t
oed
l
izard,goldenmol e,j
ackal
,
sidewinder,vi
per

Desert
scanal sobefurthercategori
sedaccordingtothei
rlocat
ion,i
.e.marit
imedeserts
andcontinentaldeser
ts.Mar it
imedesert
sar ethosedesert
swhi chareadjacenttowater
bodi
es( closet ocoastalar eas)forexamplet heNami bDeser twhichisadj acentto
Atl
anti
cOceanort heAt acamaDeser tadjacentt oPaci
fi
cOcean.Ont heot herhand,
cont
inentaldeser t
s aret hose found i
nt he interi
orofcontinent
s e.g.t he Sahar
a,
Austr
ali
an, Gobi,
andAr i
zonaDeser t
s.

CAUSESOFDESERTS
Rainshadowef f
ectMoi
- sture-ladenairencount
ersamount ai
nmassandi smov edupward.
Theascendi ngonshor ewi ndsar ecool edadiabati
cal
lyandr el
easesmoi stur
eont he
windwar dsideoftherange.Onceov erthesummi t,t
heairdescendsont heleewardsi
de
ofther ange,warmingadiabat ical
l
yasi tdoesso,andhencer educingrainf
allf
ormati
on
resul
tingindesertf or
mat ion.Thi siscalledther ai
nshadow effect
.Insummar y,t
he
rai
nshadow ef f
ectshowst hatadiabati
ccool i
ng occursont hewi ndward si
dewhen

71
onshorewi ndsarefor
cedt ori
sebymountai
nr anges,produci
ngr
ainf
allher
e.Ont
heother
handadi abati
cwar mingoccur sastheairdescendsont hel
eewardside,pr
event
ing
rai
nfal
lformat i
on.Thi
scr eat
esdesert
se.g.theAt acamaDesertinSouthWestAmerica
whichiscausedbyt hepresenceofAndesmount ai
nr ange.
Coldoceancur r s-Thesout
ent hwesterncoastsofAf r
icaandSout hAmer i
caaresweptby
col
dcur rent
supwel l
ingfr
om theoceanf l
oor.Thesecur r
entscooltheonshorewi ndsthat
passesov erthem byadv ect
ion,reducingthewat er-
holdingcapacit
yoft heair.Coldair
holdslessmoistureorhavear elat
ivel
ysmal lmoistur
e-beari
ngcapacityt
hanwar m air
.As
aresultsuchareasrecei
veprecipitati
onintheform ofmi standfoghencear i
dconditi
ons
woul dprevai
l. TheNami bandAt acamaDeser thavef or
medbecauseoft hesecol d
current
s.
NB-Thi
sfact
orexpl
ainwhymostdeser
tsar
efoundont
hewest
ernsi
desofcont
inent
s.
Atmospherichighpr essurezones–mostdeser tsarelocatedaround300Nor thandSout h
oftheequator;i.
e.alongt heTropi
cofCanceri ntheNor thandTr opicofCapr icorninthe
southernhemisphere.Theset wolati
tudesarecall
edHor selat
itudesorsubt ropicalhi
ghs.
Theyar echaracter
isedbyhi ghpressurecausedbydescendi ngai r.Subsi
dingai rwarms
upandr educesr ai
nfallformat
ionbecausewar m ai
rhav emor eev aporat
ivepowerhence
permanentdrycondi t
ionsprevai
linhighpressureareas.TheSahar adesertwasf or
med
asar esul
tofthiseffect.
Continent
ali
tyorDist
ancefr
om oceans–t hisfact
orexplainthelocat
ionofdeser t
sinthe
i
nteri
oroflargeconti
nentsl
ikeAfr
ica.Areaslyingdeepwi thi
nacont inentmaybecome
deser
tsi mplyas a resul
tofbei ng l
ocated farfrom t he ocean,from whi ch most
atmospheri
cmoi st
ureisdrawn.Themoi stureisprecipi
tatedbeforeitcanr eachthese
i
nteri
orareas.TheGobiDesertinChinaandt heKalahariDesertinBot swanaaregood
example.
Typesofdeser t
s
Sandydesert(Erg)–vastar easofseasandwi t
hmi l
esofsanddunesandrippl
es.The
NamibDeser ti
sagoodexampl e.Roadsarediffi
cul
ttoconstr
uctbecauseofmigrat
ory
sanddunes.Thet er
rai
nist oohar shforwil
dli
fe,pl
antsf
indithar
dtogetrootedand
ani
malsgeteasi l
yexhaustedi nthesoftsand.
Stonydesert(Reg)–i sabarefl
at,st
onysurfaceconsist
ingoflayer
sofpackedgr avel
;
formedbywi nderosionwhichremov essand.Si
ncethegr oundissoli
dandstable(unl
ike
sandydesert)bushes,tuf
tsofgrassandsomeani malsmaybepr esent.
TheKalahari
,
l
owerAt acamaandSahar adesert
sar egoodexamples.
RockydesertHamada)-isthatwheresandandst onewerewashedorblownaway .Thi
sis
usual
lyassoci
atedwithv
eryhill
yormount ainousterr
ainexposi
ngver
yhardrocky
materi
al.Anexamplewouldbet heupperAt acamaDesertorpart
softheUSstatesof
Ari
zonaandUt ah.Someadaptedwildl
if
eal soexists.
Mountai
nDesert
s-ar
escatteredrangesofdissectedhil
lsormountai
nsseparatedbydr y
,
fl
atbasi
ns.Mostoftheinf
requentrainf
alloccur
sonhi ghgroundandrunsof frapi
dlyin
the f
orm offl
ash f
loods.These floodwatersdissectmountai
nsand hils.See al
l so
badl
ands.

72
 DESERTI
FICATI
ON

Desertifi
cat
ionr ef
erstothespr eadingofdesertintoar easlyingont heedgesoft he
presentdeser t
s( margi
nalar eas)ort he conti
nuous encr oachmentofdeser tli
ke
conditions into non-
desert areas and areas bor der
ing deserts. I
n ot her words
desertifi
cat
ionisaprocesswher ebynon-
desertar
easar ebeingturnedintodesert
sduet o
anthropogenic( human) fact
or s and nat
uralf actors.This problem is particul
arl
y
si
gnificanti
nt hosepar
tsofAfricacloset
otheSahar adesertknownast heSahelregion.
Deser
ti
fi
cat
ionasapr
ocesscanbecl
assi
fi
edi
nto3gr
oups:
- Sl
ightdesert
if
icati
on:
heretheprocessofdesert
if
icat
ioni
snotyetevi
dentorv
isi
ble
butiti
sslowlytaki
ngplace.Ther
eisnodeteri
orat
ioninpl
antcovery
et.
- Moder atedeserti
fi
cat
ion:heretheprocessofdesert
ifi
cati
oni
ssl
ightlybecoming
vi
sibleandt hereisani ncr
easeinundesirabl
especiessuchasshrubs.Thereis
acceleratedwindandwat ererosi
onaswel lassal
i
nizati
onoft
hesoil.Pl
antcover
beginst odet
erior
ate.
- Sev
eredeser
ti
fi
cat
ion:
her
eev
idenceofdeser
ti
fi
cat
ioni
squi
tev
isi
ble.
Causesofdeser
ti
fi
cat
ion:
Deser
ti
fi
cat
ioni
scausedpr
imar
il
ybyhumanact
ivi
ti
esandcl
i
mat
icv
ari
ati
ons.

Cli
matechange-isanat ur
alcauseofdesert
if
icat
ion.Cli
matechangeincr
easestheint
ensi
tyofdroughtand
fl
oods,yetr
ainf
allbecomeerrati
casar esul
tofcli
mat echange.Thi
ssubstant
ial
l
yincr
easesdeserti
fi
cati
on
i
nt heSahel
regi
on.

Globalwar
ming-i
salsoanothernaturalcauseofdeser
ti
ficati
on.Globalwar
mingref
erstoanincreasein
atmospher
ict
emperat
ure.However
,globalwarmingi
sclassif
iedunderhumanacti
vi
ti
esbecausei
tislargel
y
causedbyhumans.

Drought
-(
natur
alcause).Dr
oughtmeanst
hatcropsandnat
uralveget
ationwi l
ldr
yout.Lackofapr
otect
ive
veget
ati
vecoveri
ncreaseerosi
onandl
anddegr
adati
onandresul
tantl
yincreasedeser
ti
fi
cati
on.

Populat
ionpressur
e-hasledtoovergr
azingbyani
mals,ov
er-cult
ivat
ionofpoorsoil
sandthecut
ti
ngdown
oftr
eesandshr ubsforuseasfuel
.Thelossofthepr
otecti
onleadstot hef
urt
herremovaloft
hesoilcov
er
andtheconsequentspreadoft
hedesert.

Over
grazi
ng-Over
grazi
ngi
soneofthegr
eatestcausesofdeser
tif
icat
ion.Landi
slef
tbareandproneto
degr
adati
on.Ov
ergrazi
ngi
scausedbyov
erstocki
ngofanimals,
exceedingthecar
ryi
ngcapaci
tyofthel
and.

Culti
vat
ionofmar gi
nallands-Margi
nall
andsaredryorari
dareaswhicharenotsui tabl
eforprofi
tabl
ecop
product
ion(arabl
efarming),
whichhavepoorsoi
lsandotherundesi
rablecharacter
isti
cs.Becauseofrapi
d
populat
iongrowth,marginal
areasar
enowusedf oragri
cul
ture;
howev erwit
hdi r
econsequencesoneof
whichisdeserti
fi
cat
ion.

Defor
estati
on-
Dest
ruct
ionofpl
antsi
ndryr
egi
onsi
scausi
ngdeser
ti
fi
cat
iont
ooccur
.Peopl
ear
ecut
ti
ng
downtreestouset
hem asasourceoff
uel
.

73
Irr
igati
on-inAri
dRegi onsir
ri
gati
onleadstotheaccumulati
onofsaltsint
heAhor i
zon.Theaccumulati
onof
saltsi
scal l
edSali
nizati
on.Thi
sprocessleav
esahar denedcrustwhichdoesnotsupportpl
antli
fe.Asa
result
,landdegr
adat i
onoccursfol
lowedbythewidespreadexpansionofdeser
ts.

TheEf
fect
sofDeser
ti
fi
cat
ion
Soi
lbecomesl essusable-Thesoilcanbeblownawaybywi ndorwashedawaybyr ai
n,removingimport
ant
pl
antnutr
ients.Sal
tscanbuildupint hesoil
whichmakesitharderforpl
antgr
owth.
Veget
ati
oni sdamaged-v egetat
ionisdamagedbyer osi
on.Also,whenovergr
azi
ngoccurs,
plantspeci
es
maybelost.Thisalsol
eadt oexcessivelossofl
ivest
ock

FoodLoss-Thesoi
lisnotsuit
edforgr
owingfood;t
heref
oret
heamountoffoodbei
ngmadewi
l
ldecl
i
ne.I
f
thepopul
ati
onisgr
owing,thi
swil
lcauseeconomicprobl
emsandst
arvat
ion.

Shor
tageofwat
erf
ordomest
icandi
ndust
ri
aluses

Howt
opr
eventdeser
ti
fi
cat
ionandi
tsdev
ast
ati
ngi
mpact
s
Desert
if
icat
ioncanbepr
event
edor
,atl
east
,sl
oweddowni
nanumberofway
s.These
i
nclude:
 Governmentcanint
roducefinanci
alai
dtosupportaffect
edareasforexampl
ear easaff
ectedby
crop fai
l
ure.Thegovernmentcanal so i
ntr
oducedroughtrel
iefintheform off ood ai
d.The
gover
nmentcanalsoint
roducecommuni t
yfoodaidt
hroughpr
ogr amssuchasfoodforwork.

 Signingofinternat
ionalagr
eement stof
ightdeser
tif
icati
onforexampletheKy otoPr
otocoli
nJapan
ort he Mont realprotocolin Canada.Bypar ti
ci
pat i
ng i
nt hese i
nternat
ionalagreements,the
gover nmentwi l
lbecommi tt
edtomeetsetgoalsandobj ect
ivesthatwi
llgoal ongwayinprevent
ing
deser ti
fi
cat
ion.

 I
ntr
oduct
ionofear
lyf
orecastandpr
edi
cti
onofdr
ought
sinor
dert
oimpr
ovehazar
dawar
enessand
pr
epar
edness.

 Int
roduct
ionofir
ri
gati
onschemeinar easoflow r
ainf
alli
nor
dert
oimpr
ovef
oodpr
oduct
ionf
or
exampletheMushandi
kei
rr
igat
ionpr
ojectinMasvi
ngo;Zi
mbabwe.

 Dam const
ruct
iont
oimpr
ovewat
erhol
dingcapaci
ti
esandr
ainf
allf
orexampl
etheTokwe-
Mukosi
Dam i
nMasv i
ngo.

 Reduct
ioni
nthenumberofgr
azi
ngani
mal
sordest
ocki
ngofani
mal
s

 Plant
ing of trees thr
ough affor
est ati
on and reforest
ati
on programmes and pr ev enti
on of
defor
estati
onthroughtheuseofener gysubsti
tut
es,e.g.useofbi
ogas, t
sotsost
ovewhi chdoesnot
requi
rebiglogs,sol
arpowere.t
.c.I
nZi mbabwe,t
hegov er
nmentint
roducedanationalt
r eeplant
ing
daytopr omoter e-
veget
ati
on.Deforestati
oncanf ur
therbepr ev
entedt hr
oughruralel
ect ri
fi
cat
ion
progr
ammes

 Educat
ionandt
rai
ningofpeopl
eonpr
operf
armi
ngmet
hods

 Enf
orcementofenv
ironment
alpr
otect
ionl
awst
oreducedef
orest
ati
onandcul
ti
vat
ionofmar
ginal
l
ands

CaseSt
udy
:TheSahel
Regi
on
TheSaheli st hesemi-ar
idtransi
ti
onregi
onbetweent heSaharadeser
tandt hewett
er
regionsofequat or
ialAfr
ica.Ithashi
ghv ar
iabi
l
ityofrai
nfal
l,andthelandconsi
stsof
stabil
izedanci
entsandseas.I ti
soneofthepoorestandmostenvir
onmental
l
ydegraded
areasonear t
h. 74
Int
heSahelDeser
t,deserti
fi
cat
ionisbecomi
ngahugepr obl
em.Ar oundthe1950’
s,peopl
e
set
tl
edint
otheSahelregion,i
nareaswheretherewaswater.Thi
sresult
edinover
grazi
ng,
whi
chisoneofthegreatestcausesofdeser
tif
icat
ion.Al
otofthetopsoi
lwaswashed
Ev
aluati
onofmeasur esst atedabov e:successesandf ail
ures
 Shor t
ageofel ectricit
yandf r
equentpowercut sincreasetheneedf orfi
rewoodi n
bothr uralandur banar easmeani ngt hatdefor
estati
onr emai
nsahugepr oblem.In
addi t
ion,therateofr uralel
ectri
fi
cati
oni sslowduet olackoffunds,suchthatmost
ruralareasofZi mbabwe( forexampl e)arestil
lusingwoodf uelf
orcooki ngand
war ming.Mostr ur alpeoplei nAf r
icaar epoorhencet heycannotaf fordhuge
electri
citybil
l
sandt hismeanst hatt heyareforcedt ocontinueusingf uelwood
whi chischeaperf ort hem.
 Cult
uralatt
itudestowardsthemeasur es-somepeopl er esi
stproposedmeasures
toreducedeser t
if
icat
ionsi
mplybyst i
ckingtot hei
rcult
uralbel
iefs,
forexampl
eon
thedestockingofanimalswhereoncul t
uralbasispeoplefi
ndcomf orti
nquanti
ty
thanquali
ty.Thismeansthattheycontinuetokeeplargeherds.
 Refusalonpol
iti
calgrounds-someofthepr
oposedmeasuresar
esi
mpl
yrej
ect
ed
becauseofsuperi
ori
tyofsomepeopleonpol
iti
cal
grounds.
 Lackofbet teropt
ionsduet opopul at
ionpressureonr esources.InmostLess
Economicall
yDevelopedCount r
iesl
i
keZi mbabwe,therat
eofpopul ati
ongrowthi
s
rapidsuchthatpeoplear
efor cedtocontinuecutt
ingdownt reestoopenupnew
areasforagri
cul
tur
eandset t
lements.Thishappensduetopopul ati
onpressur
eon
resour
ces.
 I
gnor
anceofpeopl
e
 Lackofcapi
tal
 Dr
oughtwhi
chr
educev
eget
ati
oncov
er.
 NB-someoft hemeasur
eswerehowev
ersuccessf
ulf
orexampl
etheenf
orcement
ofenvi
ronmental
prot
ect
ionl
awsbyEMAinZimbabwe.

WI
NDACTI
ONI
NDESERTS

75
NB-Wi ndpl aysav it
alrol
ei nlandform dev el
opmenti ndeser t
s.Deser tlandfor
msar e
ei
therpr oducedbywi nderosi
onordeposi ti
on.Wi ndact i
onispar t
icular
lysignif
icantin
l
andf or
m dev el
opmentbecausedeser t
slackmoi stureandvegetati
ont obindthesoi land
preventtheinfl
uenceofwind.Inadditi
on,thepresenceofsandy ,
loosesoilsalsoaidwi nd
acti
oni ndeserts.Deser
tsfr
equentlyexperiencev erystr
ongwi ndswhi chmeanst hatthe
acti
onofwi ndinshapingdesertl
andscapei smor ei mport
antthantheact i
onofwat er
.
Windtranspor
tati
on
Quest
ion-descri
beway
sinwhi
chwi
ndt
ranspor
tit
sloadi
nar
idar
eas.[
9]
Windtranspor
tat
ionislargel
ydet
ermi
nedbywindvel
oci
ty,
nat
ureofsurfacemat er
ialand
thesizeofmat erial
s.Therearethr
eeprocessesofwind t
ranspor
t,i.e.suspension,
sal
tat
ionandsurfacecreep.
Suspensi on-i swher eby
thesheerf orceoft he
wind pi cks up t he
mat erialssuchasf ine
sand, si lt and cl ay
par t
icles(less t
han
0.5mm i n di amet er);
and t ranspor tthem i n
raised or suspended
position f
or
consi derabledi stances.
The mat erial remai n
suspended abov et he
groundaslongasthewi
ndst i
l
lhast
hecapacityt
oraiset
hemateri
al.Suspendedmat erial
canberaisedupto100m abovet
hegrounddependi
ngonthest
rengthoft hewi nd.
NB-Suspensi
onisver
ycommoni nt heSaharadeser
twher
eitcausesdustst
orms
compr
isi
ngredcl
ayt
hatreducesv
isi
bil
i
tytoabout10km.
Salt
ation-i
nvolv
est hetransportati
onofr elati
vel
ylargerandmedi um sizedpart
iclesina
hoping and bouncing manneri nt hedi recti
onofwi nd orthet r
ansportat
ionofr ock
part
iclesandsandi naser iesofjumps/ leaps.Iti
nv ol
vesthejumpi ngupanddownof
part
iclesastheyrespondt ot hestrengthoft hewind.Saltat
ionoccurswhent hev el
ocit
y
ofwi ndisgreaterthant hresholdv el
oci
ty( speedrequiredtoinit
iat
egr ai
nmov ement).
Whent het
hresholdv el
ocit
yi sexceededbywi ndspeed,apar ti
cleisli
ftedandsal t
ati
on
occurs.
Tracti
onorsur facecreepordri
ft
-i nvol
vest her ol
l
ing,dr
aggingandsli
dingofl ar
ge
parti
cles(above2. 5mm indi
amet
ere. g.pebbles)astheyar
et r
ansport
edbyviol
entand
str
ongwi nd.Thel oadinthi
scaseresistupli
ftbecausethesheerfor
ceofwindcanonly
exceedf r
ict
ionaldrag.
Aeol
ianerosi
onorwinderosionindeser
ts
Winderosiondependslargelyont heerosi
vest
rengt
hoft
hewi
ndal
thoughsur
face

76
char
acter
ist
ics,moisturecontent
,andveget
ati
oncov
erar
eal
soi
mpor
tantf
act
ors.Wi
nd
canerodebydeflat
ion,att
ri
ti
onandabrasi
on.
Def
lat
ioni
st helower i
ngoft helandsur f
aceduet oremovaloffine-
grai
nedpart
icl
esby
t
hewind.Thisiserosionwhichinvolv
est heremovalofl
ooseweat her
edmateri
albywind.
Def
lat
ionconcentr
atesont hef i
ne-gr
ainedparti
cl
esatthesurface,event
ual
l
yresult
ingi
n
asurf
acecomposedonl yofthecoarsergrai
nedf r
agmentsthatcannotbetr
ansport
edby
t
hewind.Suchasur faceiscaleddeser
l tpavement.
I
fdef l
ati
onoccursi nareaswherechemicalweat
heri
ngweakensthesoilfor
mingdeep
regol
it
h,theregol
it
hi sgoingt
obebl ownawaycreat
ingveryst
eepdepressi
onssuchas
theZemzem i nLi
byaandt heQatt
araDepressi
oninEgypt
.Thesedepr
essionsar
ecall
ed
defl
ati
onhollowsandt heycanreachadept hofmorethan100m.Somet i
mesdefl
ati
on
persi
stunti
lthewatertabl
eisr
eachedandexposedasanoasis.
Abrasion–thisissandbl asti
ngprocesscausedbyt r
ansportedsandandr ockfr
agments.
Heret heimpactofsal t
ationpart
icl
eswear sawayr ocksur facescreat
ingspectacul
ar
desertfeat
ureslikerockpedestal
sy ardangsandzeugens.Rockpedest al
s,yar
dangsand
zeugensareer osionlandformsproducedbysel ect
iveabrasionwherebyerosi
ontargets
theweakerrocks.Windabr asi
onisgreatestneart
heground( 1m).
Er
osi
onLandfor
ms
 Defl
ati
on hol
l
ows and deser
tpav
ement
s-Wi
nd def
lat
ion pr
oduces def
lat
ion
hol
lowsanddeser
tpav
ements.

Defl
ation holl
ows ar e depressions f
ormed
duet other emovaloff ine-
grainedparticl
es
by the wi nd.Ifwi nd deflati
on continues
undergroundwat ermay beexposedandan
oasi
si sf ormed.Def l
ati
onhol lowsalsoact
aschannel sforwaterflowsint imesoff l
ash
fl
oods.
 Yar dangs-thesear eformedby
sand blasti
ng orwi nd abrasion on
rocksthathavev ert
icalbandsofhar d
andsoftrock.Thealter
natelay
ersofhardandsoftrockslieparall
el t
othedirecti
on
ofprevail
i
ngwi ndssucht hatthesof
terlay
eriserodedf asterthant hehardr ock.
Sel
ecti
v ewindabrasionhere,l
owersthesoftpartf
ormi ngthegr oovesandi fwind
abr
asionremainconcent r
atedontheweakerrock,t
hegr oovesarel oweredforming
ari
dgeandf arrowlandscape.

77
 The r i
dges are t he y ar
dangs.
Yardangs varyin size and they
couldber i
dgesofj
ustaf ewcm t o
tens of met ers t o sev eral
kil
ometres.
 Zeugens- t hese ar e
tubular masses of r ocks
formedbywi ndabr asi onin
areas t
hat have
heterogeneous l ayer s of
rocks lyi
ng hor i
zont albut
across prevail
ing wi nds.I n
thi
scaset heweakerr ockwillbeov erl
ainbyahar derrockasshownbel ow.The
softerrockisex posed to wind abrasi
on byweat hering and fault
ing and one
exposed the weakerr ockisl owered (unti
lthe mor eresistantrockbel ow is
reached)toformr i
dgesandf arrows.Thet abul
ar-
shapedr i
dgesf ormedar ecal led
thezeugens.

Unli
keyardangszeugensformi nrockst hathave
hori
zontalbands ofhar d and softr ock.The
ri
dgesar ecall
edzeugenswhi chmaybeashi gh
as100f eet
.Ulti
matel
ytheyareunder cutandcan
gradual
l
ycollapse.
NB-zeugensand y ardangsar esi mil
ari nthat
botharer i
dgeandf arr
ow landscapesandt hey
bothhavealternatelayersofhardandsof tr
ocks.
Howeverzeugensdi ff
erfrom y ardangsi nthat
theyhav e horizont
albands ofhar d and soft
rocksandt hatzeugensev entuall
ycollapsedue
toundercut
ting.

Rock pedest als- t hese ar e massi ve

mushr oom- shapedr ockf eat
ureswhi char e
formedasar esultofsandbl astingbywi nd.
Theyhav eawi depar tandanar row‘ st
alk’
,
j
ustl i
ke a mushr oom.They ar ef ormed
from exposed, i sol
ated r ocks wi th
hor i
zontalbands ofhar d and sof trock.
Wi ndabr asioner odest hesof tr ockata
fasterratethant hehar done.Seedi agram
below
Si
ncewindabrasi
onisgreat
estnearthe
gr
oundsur
face(upto1m)averyt
hinst
alk

78
i
spr
oducedf
ormi
ngamushr
oom shapedf
eat
urei
nthepr
ocess.
Winddeposi ti
onalfeat
ures
Windcandeposi tsedimentwheni tsv el
ocit
y(st
rength)decreasestothepoi ntwheret
he
part
icl
escannol ongerbetranspor ted.Thiscanhappenwhent opographicbarri
erssl
ow
the wi
nd v eloci
tyon the downwi nd side ofthe barr
ier.Featur
es produced bywind
deposi
tioni ncl
udesanddunes,r i
pplesandl oessdeposi ts.Thegener alali
gnmentof
deposi
tionalfeatur
esisdet er
mi nedbyt hedir
ecti
onofpr ev ai
li
ngwinds.Inaddi t
iont
he
for
m andsi zeofdepositi
onalfeatureslargel
ydependsont hesupplyofsand.
Ri
pples-ar
ethesmall
estf
eatur
esofsanddeposit
spr oducedbysmallscal
etur
bul
ence.
Theycreat
eanundul
ati
ngdeser
tter
rai
n,maki
ngitdi
ff
iculttomoveacr
ossdesert
s.
SandDunes–Sanddunesar easymmet r
icalmoundswit
hagent l
eslopeint
heupwi nd
di
rect i
onandst eepsl
opecalledaslipfaceont hedownwindside.Dunesmigr
ateby
erosionofsandbywind(sal
tati
on)onthegentleupwi
ndsl
ope,anddeposi
ti
onandsli
ding
ont hesli
pface,
andthusarecross-
beddeddeposit
s.
Sanddunesf
orm whent
her
eis:
(
i)ar
eadysuppl
yofsand,

(
ii
)ast
eadywi
nd,
and

(
ii
i)
someki
ndofobst
acl
esuchasv
eget
ati
on,r
ocks,orf
ences,t
otr
apsomeoft
he
sand

Sanddunesform whenmovi
ngai
rsl
owsdownont hedownwi
ndsideofanobst
acl
e.The
sandgrai
nsdropoutandfor
m amoundthatbecomesadune.Thety
pesofsanddunes
are:
BarchanDunes-arecrescent-
shapedsandduneswhi chhavetwohor nspointinginthe
downwinddi r
ect
ion(t
ot hedir
ecti
onofprevail
i
ngwi nds)
,andacur vedslipfaceont he
downwindsideofthedune.Theyforminareaswher etherei
sahardgr oundsur f
ace,l
ess
vegetat
ion,
amoder at
esupplyofsand,andaconst antwinddir
ect
ion.Theyhav eagent l
e
windwardslopeandaconcav esli
pofffacewhi chadv ancesdownwi nd.Nor mal
lythe
for
mat i
onofbarchansistri
ggeredbyanobstaclesuchasasmal lbushorar ockwhich
i
nhibitt
hemov ementofsand
These hor ns are caused by t he
mi grati
on ofbar chans wher ethe
rateofmi gr at
ioni sgreatestonthe
sides wher et he quant it
y of i s
great er t han at t he cent re.
Bar chans mayr each a hei ghtof
30m.Bar chansar emi gratoryand
they f ol
low t he di recti
on of
prev ail
i
ngwi nds.
Tr
ansv
ersedunes–arel
ongr i
dges
ofdeposi
tedsandwhi
char
eal
i
gnedt
othepr
evai
l
ingwindwhichi
sunidi
rect
ional
.They

79
arealsocal
ledlar
gef i
eldsofdunest
hatresembl
esandr i
pplesonalar
gescal
e.They
consi
stofri
dgesofsandwi t
hasteepf
aceinthedownwindside,
andf
orminar
easwhere
ther
eisabundantsuppl
yofsandandaconstantwi
nddi
recti
on.

Barchandunesmer gei
ntotr
ansv
ersedunesifthesuppl
yofsandi
ncr
eases.Unl
ikein
l
ongitudi
naldunes,t
heri
dgesoftr
ansv
ersedunesli
eacrosst
hedir
ect
ionofprev
ail
ing
winds.
Longitudinalorseifdunes–ar eelongatedri
dgesl y
ingpar
all
elt
ot heprevai
l
ingwind.They
assumeanext ensivef or
mr eachingheightsof100m and200m l ong.Seifdunesar e
thoughtt o develop from barchanswhen secondar ycr
osswi ndsmer gea ser i
esof
barchans.Wher ecr oss-wi
ndsbl owfrequentl
y,thewindwardhor
nwi l
lrecei
vemor esand
resul
ti
ngi nitsmer gingwi t
ht henearbybar chandune.Oncef ormedt heseifdunei s
maintainedbypr evail
ingwinds. Theirmi gr
ation,however
,isnotv erypronouncedas
opposedt othecaseofbar chans.
Parabol
icdunes– ar ecrescentshapedduneswhi chresembl
ebarchansbutdi f
fer
ent
fr
om barchansinthatthei
rhornspointt
othedirect
ionwherewi
ndiscomi ngfrom.They
havesli
pofffacesont hedir
ecti
onwherewindcomesf r
om andtheyareformedinareas
wherethesupplyofsandisli
mitedandwherethesheerf
orceofwindi
slimited.
St
ardunes–t
hesear
ecompl
exduneswhoseshaper
esembl
east
ar.
Loessdeposi ts-Loessi sthewind-
blownsandandsi ltpar
ticles(l
oamy)foundondeser t
margins.Loessdeposi tsar eformedwhenwi ndtransport
ationcarri
esfi
nesandandsi lt
part
icl
esf orlongerdistancesevenout si
dethedeser t
.Oncedeposi t
edondesertoutski
rt
s
l
oess t ends to develop intov er
yr ich agr
icul
turalsoil
s.Underappr opri
ate cl
i
mat i
c
condit
ions,itissomeoft hemostagricul
tural
l
yproduct i
veterrai
nintheworl
d.

THEACTI
ONOFWATERI
NDESERTS
Quest
ions

80
 (
a)Descri
beandexpl
ainthenat
ureofr
unni
ngwateri
npresentdaydeser
ts(9)
(
b)Assessthesi
gnif
icanceofr
unni
ngwateri
nthedevelopmentofdesertl
andf
orms.
(16)

Sourcesofwaterfordeser
ts
a)Inf
requentorspasmodicr
ainswhi
char
eusual
l
yheav
yandshor
tli
ved.
b)Exogenousriver
s-thesear eri
verswhosesour cesareoutsidethedeser
tbutpass
thr
ought hedesertarease.g.theNil
eRi v
erinAf r
icawhichcutsacrosst
heSahara
Desert;t
heTigri
sRi verwhichcutsacrossIr
aq;andt heEuphrat
esRiverwhi
chcuts
acrossIr
an.TheNi gerRiveral
socutsacrosstheSahar aDesert
,whil
etheCol
orado
Riv
erpassesthroughAr izona.
c)Oasis-orspr
ingsindesertsf
ormedwhent
hewat
ert
abl
eisexposedbywi
nd
def
lati
onmentionedear
li
er.
d)Ephemer
alorinter
mit
tentst
reams-t
hesear
est
reamst
hatf
low seasonal
l
yaf
ter
st
ormsindeser
ts.
Typesornatur
eofr unni
ngwaterindeser
ts(
answerf
orquest
ion(a)above)
Themaintypes/natureofr
unningwateri
ndeser
tsar
esheetfl
oods,str
eam fl
oods(
fl
ash
fl
oods)andExorgenicRi
ver
s.

SHEETFLOODS
Sheetfloods-r
efer
stothewat ert
hatfl
owsinunconcent r
atedfor
m usual
lyspreadouton
undisectedupl
andsofdeserts.Normal
lysheetfl
oodsflowi nv
erythinl
ayersofwater.I
n
desertssheetfl
oodsoccuronundisect
eduplandsont heupperpartsofthesl
opes.They
al
sooccuronr ockpedi
ment sandtopofall
uvialf
ans.
Sheetfloodsaregenerat
edfr
om thesuddeni nf
requentdownpour
sthatoccuri
ndeserts.
Thesedownpour susuall
yexceed i
nfil
tr
ati
on capacit
yand theyusuall
ycompactt he
ground,closi
ngallt
heporespacesi
nt heprocess.Thi
sgenerat
esalotofoverl
andf
lowin
theform ofsheetfl
oods.
Sheetf
loodsal
sooccuronthemout
hsofwadi
s,whenwat erfrom t
hewadi
sspr
eadout
ontopoftheal
l
uvi
alfansasi
tfl
owst
owar
dsthesal
tlakescall
edplayas.
I
mpactofsheetf
loods
Accordi
ngt oMcGee(1937)sheetwashusuall
yoccurinthi
nlay
ersofwat eraf
terst
orms
andtherefore,t
heyhav
elesser osi
vepower.Asar esul
t,t
heyareincapableoffor
ming
erosi
velandforms.
AgainMcGeesuggest edthatsheetfl
oodshavelesstransport
ationpowerandassuch
theyleadtofor
mation/devel
opmentofdeposit
ionfeat
uressuchasal luv
ialfansont he
mout hsofwadisandcanyons.Thisisbecauseasthewat erspreadsoutthev el
oci
tyis
reducedthusal
l
owingdepositi
ontotakepl
ace.
Geomor
phol
ogi
calr
oleofsheetf
loods
Accor
dingt
oMcGeesheetf
loodsar
eresponsi
blef
ort
hef
ormat
ionofsmoot
hsur
faces

81
onr ockpedimentsandal sot heformati
onofdeposi t
ionalf
eat
uressuchasal luvi
alfans.
Her egardedsheetf l
oodsasf ormati
veagent sofrockpedimentsandal luv
ialfansbut
otherGeomor phologistsarguet hatsheetfloodsfl
ow onsuchsur facesbecauset hey
al
readyexi stnotthatsheetf l
oodsformedt hem.TheseGeomor phol
ogistsarguet hat
sheetfloodsaretoinsigni
fi
canttohav eproducedsuchlandf
orms.

STREAM FLOODS
Str
eam fl
oods-refer
stothatwaterthatfl
owsinconcentr
atedfor
m usuall
yindissect
ed
upl
andsofdeser ts.Thestr
eam f l
oodsnormall
yf l
ow insteepsidedandflatfloor
ed
val
leyscal
led wadis.Theyaregener at
ed bysudden stor
mswhi ch nor
mallyexceed
i
nfi
ltr
ati
oncapacit
yleadi
ngtotheformati
onofover
landf
low.
I
mpactofst
ream f
lows
Geomorphologi
stsar
guethatst
ream f
loodsar
eusuall
yofver
yhi
ghvel
oci
tysincet
he
waterfl
owsi nconcent
rat
edformsandasar esul
ttheyhav
ever
yhigherosi
veand
t
ranspor
tat
ionpower.
Geomor
phol
ogi
calr
oleofst
ream f
loods
Johnsonarguedt hatstr
eam f
loodsarer esponsi
bleforthedowncutti
ngandf or
mati
onof
steepsidedvall
eyslikewadi
sandcany ons.Howev er,someschoolsofthoughthav
et he
i
deat hatwadisandcany onsarear esultofapastf luvi
alpr
ocessesrat
herthanpresent
daystream f
loods.

EXORGENI
CRI
VERS
Refer
stowat erthatfl
owsinr
iverswhosesour
cesareout
sidedesert
s.Theser
iverl
osea
l
otofwat erast heypassthrough deser
tstowar
dstheseaoroceansduet o hi
gh
evapot
ranspir
ati
onr at
esi
ndesertar
eascausedbyhi
ghtemperat
ures.

WATERLANDFORMSI
NDESERTS
Quest
ion(b)assessthesigni
fi
canceofpr
esentdayr
unni
ngwat
eri
nthedev
elopmentof
pr
esentdaydesertl
andfor
ms.[16]
- Wadi
s:st
eepsi
dedandf
lat
-f
loor
edv
all
eys
- Cany
ons
- Rockpedi
ment
s
- Ov
ersi
zedv
all
eys
- Al
l
uvi
alf
ansorbaj
ada:
feat
uresofdeposi
ti
on
Desertareashavedi
sti
nctlandf
ormsthatarediff
erentfr
om otherlandf
ormsfoundin
ot
herr egi
ons.Onemajorprobl
em ofdesertgeomorphol
ogyistodecidehow f
arthese
l
andformsarethepr
oductsofthepr
ocessesacti
ngindesert
stoday.
I
thasbeenwi
del
yaccept
edt
hatt
hel
egacyoft
hepasti
sfundament
ali
nexpl
aini
ngdeser
t

82
l
andf orms.Thi
sisbecauset hecurrentlevelsofpr ecipit
ati
onindeser tsdonotadequat el
y
accountf orwaterrelatedfeatur
est hatarepr esenti nt hesear eas.Inf actr ai
nfal
lin
desertsisspasmodic,infr
equent,
unpr edi
ctableandi nsi
gnifi
canttohav escul pturedthese
massi vedesertl
andforms.Geologist
sact uallybelievethatpr esentdaydeser tlandfor
ms
couldhav ebeenf or
meddur i
ngapastwet terfluvialera.Itisalsobel ievedt hatdesert
areascouldhav eatonet imebeenr eceivingsignificantamount sofr ainfallhencesome
featurescoul
dhav ebeenf or
meddur ingthisperiod.
Wadi
sorarr
oyos-thesearest
eepsi
deddr
ychannel
swhi
chhav
egotf
latf
loor
sthatar
e
gr
adual
l
yunder
goingsediment
ati
on.
These dr y channels are
wat erf ashi
onedbutsome
are v ery dry t hat the
presentscenar iodoesnot
account for thei
r
format ion,t
husleavingthe
pastwetcl i
mat i
cr egi
me
as t he onl y possi bl
e
explanat i
on for t he
existenceofwadi s.
Ov ersi
zed r iv
er v all
eys-
these v al
ley
s ar e usually
dryandev enwhent heyar e
wet,t
heycannev erbef i
l
ledwithwaterbecausedesertrai
nfal
list ooli
ttl
e.Theirpresence
t
herefor
esupporttheideathattherewasonceawet t
erperi
odindeser t
s.Thepr esentday
wateracti
oncannotadequat el
yexplaint
heexistenceofsuchl ar gevall
eys.Infactmost
Geomorphologi
sts argue thatpresentdaywat eract i
on is onl yresponsibl
ef orthe
modifi
cati
onofov ersi
zedv all
eysnotthei
rformation.Examplesofsuchv all
eysi ncl
ude
heTsondabi
t andtheTsonahabi nNamibi
a.
Rockpedi ment-t
hesearegent lyslopi
ngrocksurfacesf oundont hedeser tpiedmont
zone.Schol ar
ssuchasMcGeeandJohnsonat t
ri
butethef ormati
onoft hesepedi ments
tostream f l
oodsandsheetf l
oodsindeserts.HoweversomeGeomor phologistsar gue
thatsheetf l
oodsandpresentdayst r
eam fl
oodsquickl
ydimi ni
shduetoseepagei ntothe
all
uvi
alf ansandexcessiv
eev apotr
anspir
ati
onwhichmeanst heyhavelesser osiv
epower
tohav ef ormedr ockpediment.TheseGeomor phologi
stsbel i
evethatr ockpedi ments
couldhav ebeenf ormedduringapastwet t
erregi
mes.Pr esentdayrunningwat eri sonly
modifying these rockpediments bydepositi
ng t
hinv eneers ofall
uv i
alon t he r ock
pediment s.
Bajadaandal l
uvi
alfans-t hesearemassi vedeposi t
ionalf
eaturesfor medont hemout hof
wadi swher estr
eam f loodsempt yt hei
rwat eront onearl evelplains.Becausewat er
exit
ingwadi swil
lcov erawi derspacei tsvelocit
yander osivepoweri sreducedhence
depositionoccurst ofor m all
uvialfans.All
uvialfanscanl at
ermer get of
orm agi gant
ic
featurecalledabajadat hatst r
etchest oseveralhundredsofmet ers.Themassi vesizeof
thesef eaturesalonet estif
ybey onddoubtt hattheycan’tbeat t
ributedtopr esentday
runningwat er.

83
Givent
heaboveevi
dence,i
tcanbeconcl
udedthatt
hef or
mat i
onofmostwaterfeatur
es
i
ndesertsdat
esbacktoapossibl
epastwett
erperi
odorapastf luv
ialer
awhendeser t
s
wererecei
vi
ngmorer ai
nfal
l.Thesi
zeofmostoft hesefeatur
esalonesupport
st hi
s
assumpti
on.

CLI
MATECHANGEI
NDESERTS
Cli
matechangeisaprocesswhichinv
olvesagradualchangeinthecl
imaticcondi
ti
onsof
anarea,i
.e.adecr
easeori ncr
easeintheamountofpr ecipi
tati
onoveral ongper
iodof
ti
me.Inot herwor
dscl i
matechangei sapr ocesswher ebythecondit
ionsofanar ea
changefr
om wettodr
yordr ytowetoveralongperi
od.
Geomor phologistsarguethatdesertareasexperiencedachangei nclimatef r
om wetto
dryconditi
ons;andt hatthecli
matei ssti
llchangi
ngt oday.Thismeanst hatdesert
sonce
exper
iencedawet t
erregimebeforet hecli
mat echangedt opresentdayar i
dconditi
ons.
Accordi
ngt oGeomor phol
ogi
sts,thi
swet t
erperiodisr esponsi
bleforthef ormati
onof
mostwat errelatedfeatur
esseenindeser t
st oday
.
Evi
denceofcli
matechangeindesert
s
Thistheevi
denceoftheexist
enceofapastf l
uvi
aler
awhi
chwaswet
tert
hant
oday
’s
deser
tcondi
ti
ons.Theseev
idencesaregr
oupedi
nto:
- Geomor
phol
ogi
cal
evi
dence
- Hy
drol
ogi
cal
evi
dence
- Bi
ologi
cal
evi
dence[
anal
ysi
soff
lor
aandf
auna]
- Ar
cheol
ogi
cal
evi
dence

1.Geomorphologicalevidence
a)Weat
( her
ing-someweat heri
ngpr oductsfoundi npr esentdaydesert
spoi nttoa
wetterperiod.Forexampleinthewest ernpart
sofAust r
ali
anDeser
twher et
hear ea
isunderlinedbysheet soflateri
tesandchemi call
yweat her
edcrystal
li
ner ocks
rel
atedtohumi dcl i
mates.Thepr esenceoft hesef eatur
essuggestthatdeserts
onceexper i
enced a wetterclimatebecausei n presentdaydeserts,chemical
weatheri
ngi smi ni
mum and/ori nsigni
fi
cant.
(
b)Theexistenceofal l
uvialdeposi
tscompri
singofchemi cal
lyrott
enresiduesf or
exampleintheAustral
iandesertal
sopoi
nttoawetterperi
od.Thegrani
teterrai
nof
theArabi
anDeser tareunderli
nedbychemical
lyr
ottenrockcontai
ningcoalstone
andfinel
yweat heredmat eri
alwhicharetypi
calcharacter
ist
icsofpresentday
humidregions.
(
c)Theoccur enceofdustst
r or
mswhi chcontai
nredclayresiduesint heSahara
Desertalso t
est
if
yt he dominance ofchemi
calweather
ing l
ike oxi
dati
on and
hydr
olysi
sinthepastwhencli
mat ewaswet.
(
d)IntheAr abiandesertwestofRiadh,l
y i
mestonesoilofthatareahavegotsolut
ion
pipesofmor et
han30m indepthformingtunnel
sandcr ev
iceswhichindi
cat
esthat
carbonationtookplaceduri
ngapastwetper i
od.Presentdaydesertcli
matewith
l
ow r ai
nfallandhighevaporat
ionratesduet ohi
ght emperat
urescannotaccount

84
 f
ort
hef
ormat
ionoft
hesef
eat
ures.

2.Hydrologicalevi
dence
a)Wat erfashi
onedfeatur
es-theexistenceofover
sizedv al
l
eysanddeepsteepsi
ded
wadi scanonlypointtoawet terregimebecausepr esentdayr
ainf
allamount
sin
desertsistooli
tt
letoberesponsibl
ef ort
hei
rfor
mat i
on.
b)Shri
nki
ngofwat erbodies-l
akesfoundindeser
tswer eoncev eryl
argeanddeep
butnowtheyareshallowandsmallforex
ampletheMegaChadLakei ntheSahara
whichoncecoveredanareaofabout350000km2butnowcov er
sless.Thi
smeans
thatl
ongbackdeser t
srecei
vedhighamountsofrainf
all
.AnotherexampleisLake
Borevi
l
leinUSAwhi chhasshri
nkedtoamere ofi
tsori
ginalsi
ze.

3.Ar cheol
ogi
calevi
dence
Thisinvol
vesthestudyofhumansofthepastwhi
cht
est
if
ypastwet
terper
iods.They
provethatt
hepastcli
matewaswet
ter
.
a)Rockpai nt
ing-rockpaint
ingfoundint heArabianDeser
tshowthatpeopleusedto
huntbigani malssuchasel ephants,gir
aff
esandbuf fal
os.Ther
ear ealsorock
paint
ingswhi chshow humanoccupat ionli
kef i
shi
nginlakesandcattl
eherdi
ng.
Theser ockpainti
ngsprovethatdesertswereoncewetbecauseiti
simpossibl
efor
thebiganimalst osur
viveinpresentdaydesertcondi
ti
ons.
b)Thereisalso ev
idenceofsmallcrocodi
l
er emai
ns found t
rapped theTibet
an
Mountai
ns.Thismeanst hatcr
ocodi
lesoncesurv
ivedinthesear easlongback
duri
ngthewetperi
ods.
c)Fl
oraandf aunaremains-usi
ngthecar
bondat
ingt
echni
quearcheol
ogi
stsdat
ed
someoft heani malandt r
eeremai
nsbacktoawet t
erregi
mebef or
ecli
mate
changei
ndeserts.

4.Biologicalevidence
Analystsofot herplantspecieshasal soshownthatt
her
ewer everylar
geforest
si n
desertslongago.Thesef orest
sdisappear
edbecauset
heycannotsurv
iveunderharsh
weatherconditi
onsofpr esentdaydesert
s.
EVI
DENCETHATSHOWSTHATDESERTCLI MATEI
SNOW CHANGI
NG
- Cont
inuousi
ncr
easei
ntemper
atur
es
- Occur
renceofper
sist
entdr
ought
swhi
char
ebecomi
ngmor
eandmor
efr
equent
- Deser
ti
fi
cat
ionpr
ocessort
hespr
eadofdeser
tsi
ntonon-
deser
tar
eas
- Rai
nfal
lamount
swhi
char
ebecomi
ngl
essandl
ess.
- Ext
inct
ionofcer
tai
nanimalandpl
antspeci
esandt
hechangi
ngofani
malbehav
ior
duetocli
matechange.
OTHERDESERTWATERFEATURES
Whenrainfal
l
swaterdoesnotsi
nkdowni
ntothegroundbecausethegroundi
stoohardandtherear
eno
pl
antstotr
apitonthesurace.Thedr
f yri
verbedcall
edwadiscanf l
oodinminut
es.Thisi
scall
edaflash
fl
ood.
Alt
houghthesefl
oodsmayoccursever
alyearsaparttheyproduceabiginfl
uenceonthedesert

85
l
andscape.
Theycanpr
oducef
eat
uressuchassal
tpan,
all
uvi
alf
ans,
mesasandbut
te.

Asal tpanorPl ay aisalake

ofsaltywat erthatdr i
esout
i
nt hedr yseasont oforma
l
ay erofsal tcr ystal
sont he
ground. All
uvial f ans ar e
deposited subst ances on
the gr ound af ter being
transpor t
ed by a
fl
ood. Mesasand but teare
hardr ock l andforms that
hav enotbeener odedaway
byt hewat er.

THEDESERTPI
EDMONTZONE
Piedmontzone–ref
erst
other
api
dchangei
nsl
opeangl
ebet
weent
hest
eepuppersl
ope
andthegentl
erpi
edmont
.
According t o Smal l
R.J. t he desert
piedmontzone r efers
to an ar ea t hat
separates desert
uplands f r
om t he
broadpl ainsbel ow or
a t ransi ti
on f rom
dissected upl ands t o
the plains. The
process ofer osion is
thechiefcausef ort he
formation of t he
piedmontzone.
Mountai
nfront-isthescarporfaceoft hemount ai
nandi sgeneral
l
yst eep.Themountain
0
fr
ontcomprisemai nl
yofav erysteepsloperangingfrom 35t o90.Ther eisanabrupt
changei
ngr adientf r
om mountainfrontt
opedi mentzone.Thissurface(mountainfr
ont)
consi
stofabar er ockwhereerosion,weather
ingandsl operetr
eatoccur .Thefor
mation
ofmountai
nf r
ontist husat
tri
butedtobackwear ingpr
ocess.
Knickpoi
ntorPiedmontangl
e–t hisisananglewhi chseparat
esthemount ainf
rontf
rom
theplai
nbelow.Itshowsanabr uptchangeofgr adi
entfr
om steepmount ainfr
onttoa
gentl
erpedimentzoneorapointofbr eakfrom themountai
nf r
onttotherockpediment.
Knickpoint
sareusuall
ycover
edwi thalluv
ialfansderiv
edfrom theweatheredmountai
n
front
.
Geomor
phol
ogi
stsat
tri
but
ethef
ormat
ionofni
ckpoi
ntst
olat
eralpl
anat
ionbyr
unni
ng

86
wat
er.I
not
herwor
dsst
ream f
loodsar
eresponsi
blef
ort
hef
ormat
ionofkni
ckpoi
nts.
Alluvialf
anorbajada-refer
st odeposi
ti
onalfeatur
esfor
medatt hebaseoft hemount ai
n
front. Streamsdeposi tweathereddebris(all
uvi
al)atthemount ai
nbaseasv el
ocity
declinesduet oachangei ngradi
ent.Baj
adaisf or
medduet othecoalescenceofall
uv i
al
fansdeposi tedbyephemer alst
reamsatt hebaseoft hemount ai
nf r
ont.Bajadaare
ev i
denceofef f
ect
ivetr
anspor t
ati
onprocessontheupperpartofthepediments.
Peri
-pediment-i
smadeofdeposi tedall
uvialfr
om themountai
nf r
ont.Theper
i-
pedi
ment
i
swhol lyaresul
tofdepositi
onofal l
uvialonthelowerpartofthepedi
ment.It
sterr
aini
s
gent
leandundul at
ing.Theperi
-pedimentmar kstheendofthepedi
mentzone.
Playas-areephemeralsal
tlakeswhi chactasmout hsofst reamsr unni
ngf rom the
mount ai
nf r
ont
.Theyhav eall
uvialdeposi
tsandtheyquickl
ydepl etebecauseofhi gh
evaporat
ionrat
escausedbyhi ghtemperatur
esandstrongwinds.Thesesaltlakesthus
quickl
ydriesuptobecomehar dsaltpans.Howeversomeplayascanper manent l
yhold
waterift
hesupplyf
rom sur
roundingsisconst
ante.
g.t
heMagkadi ghadii
nBotswana.
Pediment
-isagentl
yslopi
ngerosi
onsur
faceorplai
noflow r
eli
efformedbyrunning
wateratt
hebaseofamountai
n.Apedi
mentist
ypi
call
ycov
eredbythi
nlayer
sofal
luv
ium
der
ivedfr
om upl
andar
eas.
Char
act
eri
sti
csofRockPedi
ment
s
- t
heycompri
seofabasalsl
opeofl
owangl
erangi
ngf
rom 70t
ol han10ont
esst he
l
owerpar
tofthepedi
ment
- t
heyar
econcav
einpr
ofi
l
e
- compri
seofabar
esol
i
drocksur
facewhi
chi
ssomet
imescov
eredbyat
hinv
eneer
ofal
l
uvial
- t
heyar
esmoot
hsur
facedduet
otheef
fectoff
lashf
loodsf
lowi
ngont
opoft
hem
THEORI
ESOFPEDI
MENTFORMATI
ON
Theformationofrockpedi mentsremainsacont r
oversi
alissue.Althought heyar enot
excl
usi
v el
ydesertfeatures[forexamplet heyarealsofoundi nSav anar egi
on];thei
r
for
mationremainsasubj ectofdebateamongGeomor phol
ogists.Severaltheori
eshav e
beenputinplacei
nt r
yingtoaccountfortheformat
ionofrockpedi ments.Theset heori
es
aredi
vi
dedi nt
owaterandcomposi tetheori
es.
WATERTHEORI
ES
McGee’ssheetf l
oodstheory-accordi
ngtoMcGeer ockpedi mentsi
ndeser t
sarear esul
t
oflat
eralplanati
onbysheetf loodswhichcausedther et
reatmentofuplands,scar
psor
mountainfronts.Theinfrequentorspasmodic( sporadi
c)st or
msi ndesertsgenerate
l
argeamount sofrunoffint hef or
m ofsheetfloodswhi charesignif
icantenought o
downcutthemount ai
nf rontthuscausingit
srecessionorbackwearing.Thiscreat
esan
ext
ensiverockpedimentdescribedabove.

Ev
idenceofsheetf
loodsi
mpactont
hef
ormat
ionofpedi
ment
sincl
ude

87
  t
heexist
enceofsmoot
hsur
facewhi
chMcGeesay
swassmoot
henedbysheet
f
loods
 absenceofmat er
ial/
debr
isorf
ew mat
eri
als(
thi
nlay
erofal
l
uvi
al)becauseof
removalbysheetf
loods
 exi
stenceofkni
ckpoi
ntwhi
chMcGeeat
tri
but
edt
othepr
ocessofdowncut
ti
ngby
sheetfl
oods
 gent
leconcav
esl
opeoft
hepedi
mentwhi
chshowst
hater
osi
oni
snol
ongeract
ive

Cr
it
ici
smsoft
het
heor
y

 Mostrockpedimentsfoundindeser
tsar ef
oli
ated( heavil
yjoi
nted)i
nstruct
ure
suchthatther
eismor eseepageofwat eri
ntot hegr oundwhichwillr
eappear
downstr
eam.Thisl
eavesnowaterorl
i
ttl
eamountsf orfl
ashf l
oodi
ng.
 Iti
swellknownthatrai
nfalli
ndeser t
sisveryl
owsot hecombinat
ionoflowrai
nfal
l
andhighev apor
ati
onmeanst hatthesheetfloodsqui
ckl
ydisappearandbecome
i
nsigni
fi
canttoaccountfortheformationofpediment
s.
Johnson’sst ream f
loodstheory(1937)-Johnsonsuggestedthatrockpediment sarea
resultoflateralpl
anationbystream floodsrat
herthansheetfl
oods.Accordingt othi
s
theory,pedimentsarewhollyar esul
tofdowncut t
ingbyst
reams,i.
e.lat
eralplanati
onby
streams.St ream i
ncisioncreat
esdi ssectedupl
andswhicharegoi ngtodi sappearby
l
ateralplanationl
eavingapedimentbelow.

Ev
idenceofst
ream f
loods

 exi
stenceofashar
pkni
ckpoi
ntangl
e
 i
nfrequent
,spasmodicst
ormscangener
atepower
ful
str
eamssucht
hati
nfi
l
trat
ion
capacit
ywil
lbeexceeded

Cr
it
ici
smsoft
het
heor
y

 st
reams in deser
ts havev er
ylit
tl
e erosi
onalcapabi
l
iti
es t
her
efor
ethey ar
e
i
nsigni
fi
cantt
oaccountfordowncut
tingputf
orwar
dbyJohnson
Howard’
sstream andsheetfl
oodstheory
-Howar
dacknowledgesthei
mport
anceofboth
st
ream andsheetfloodsi
ntheformati
onofpedi
ments.Accordi
ngtoHowar
d,sheetand
st
ream fl
oodscanbeexpressedasfoll
ows:

Sheetf
loods
& r
ate of weat
her
ing + t
ranspor
t= r
ock
pedi
ment
Str
eam fl
oods
NB-t
her
oleeit
herstr
eam f
loodsorsheetf
loodscannotadequat
elyexpl
aint
hef
ormat
ion

88
ofar ockpedi
menti
ndeser
ts.Ther
eisther
efor
eneedtoconsi
derot
hergeomor
phol
ogi
cal
processessuchasmassmovements,weat
heri
nge.t
.c.
Composi tet heory-Thecomposi t
et heorywasst artedbyLawsonandl aterusedbyPenk
andKi ng.Accor dingtothesetheor ists,r
ockpedi mentsi ndeser t
sar ear esultofscarp
retreatorpedi planat
ion/
pediment ationpr ocesses.Thesepr ocessesar ef acili
tatedby
weat heri
ngandmassmov ementonmount ainfrontfol
lowedbyact i
vewat ererosionand
transportati
on.I not herwords,t hecomposi t
et heori
esst at
et hatrockpedi ment sin
deser t
sar ear esultofscarpr
etreat.I nfactthepediment sarear emnantf eatur
er esul
ti
ng
from dest ruction ofdeser tuplands due t o geomor phol
ogicalpr ocesses such as
weat heri
ng,massmov ementander osion.
Lawsonf urt
herstatesthattheprocessofscarpret
reatisi
nit
iat
edbyf
ault
ingf
oll
owedby
theprocessofbackwear i
ngal ongthescarp.Inaddit
ionLawsonpoi
ntedoutthatr
ock
pedi
ment sareat ransport
ationzonebetweent hedegradi
ngzoneonthemountai
nfront
andthealluvi
alzone.

St
rengt
hs

 the t
heoryisv er
y appl
i
cabl
ei n deser
ts ofUSA where Lawson made hi
s
obser
vati
onsandwheremount
ainfr
onthaveori
ginat
edf
rom f
aul
ti
ng
 t
het
heor
yisal
soappl
i
cabl
etogeol
ogi
cal
str
uct
urest
hatar
einf
orm ofbl
ocks
 t
het
heor
yacknowl
edgest
hatt
hepedi
ment
sar
ear
esul
tofmor
ethanonepr
ocess

Cr
it
ici
sms

 t
het heor
yi snotappl
i
cabl
eout
sideUSA si
nceAmer
icadoesn’
tconst
it
utet
he
wor
ld’sdr
iestar
eas
 pedi
ment
sar
enotconf
inedt
omar
ginsofi
nlandasLawson’
stheor
ysuggest

DESERTGEOMORPHOLOGY
Quest
ion:descr
ibeandexpl
aint
hemai
nfor
msofweat
her
ingoccur
ri
ngi
npr
esentday
deser
ts.
Therear
ev ari
ousformsofweat her
ingthatoccuri
npresentdaydeser
ts.Bot
hphy si
cal
andchemicalweat
heringoper
atesindesert
s.Howevert
herateofchemi
calweather
ingis
ver
ysli
ghtowingtotheabsenceofmoistur
e.
Phy
sical
Weat
her
ingPr
ocesses
i
) Thermalshat
teri
ng(exfol
i
ation)–i st hemostcommont ypeofweat heri
ngi n
hotdeser
tsbecauseofalargediurnal r
angeoftemperaturecausedbyv eryhigh
daytemperat
uresandv er
yl ow nightt emperat
ures.Daytemper aturesexceed
400C,whi
leni
ghttemperaturesarev erycold.I
nadditi
on,absenceofv egetati
on
covermeans t hatrocks ar e exposed t othe sun’s heat.Consequent ly,
exfol
i
ati
onbecomesadomi nantweat heri
ngprocessindeser t
sl eadingtot he
devel
opmentofcurvi
li
nearsheet sjoint
sast heouterrocklayer
sexpandf ast
er

89
 (rememberr ocksar epoorconduct or
sofheat )
.Exfol
iat
ioni
smostact i
veon
crystal
li
ne r
ocks like grani
te.Howev er,some Geomorphol
ogist
s ague t
hat
ex f
oli
ati
onismi ni
mum i ndesertsbecausetheabsenceofmoist
uremeansthat
thereisnosuddencool ingofrocks.
i
i
) Pressurerel
easeordi l
atat
ion( unloading)-i
salsov er
yact i
veindeser t
sduet o
hi
ghr atesofwi ndwaterer osionf aci
li
tat
edbyl ackofv egetation/prot
ect
ive
cover.Aeoli
anandwat ererosi onexposebur iedrocksleadingt heirexpansi
on.
Thisexpansionl eadt
ot hef or mationofcur vi
li
nearjoints( pseudobeddi ng
pl
ane)onexposedcr yst
all
iner ocks.Thi sprocessexposet her ockt oother
weatheri
ngpr ocessesl
ikeexf oliati
on.
i
i
i) Saltcrystal
li
sati
on-occursindeser t
sduet otheabundanceofsal tsandsali
ne
water.Spasmodi corer r
ati
cstormscauset hesalt
stodi ssol
veandaccumulate
i
nsider ock’sporespaces,andwhendehy drat
ionoccur sduringtheday,sal
t
cry
stalsr emainsinsidethepores.Ast heprocesscont i
nues,theporespaces
become f i
l
led with sal
tcr y
stals,causi ng mechanicalstress and gr
anul
ar
di
sintegrati
onofr ocks.Saltcry
st al
l
isationisal
soai dedbycapi l
lar
it
ywhichis
hi
ghduet ohighev apotr
anspi
rati
onr ates.
i
v) Frostshatteri
ng-occursi ndesert
sonmount ainpeakst hataresometimes
coveredbyi ce.Asthewat erfr
eezesinsi
dether ockcracksatmountai
nt ops,
i
cewedgi ngt akesplaceleadi
ngtoblockdisint
egrat
ion.NBf r
ostshat
ter
ingis
onlyrestr
ictedtomount ai
npeaksi ndesert
ssuchast hosefoundinIr
anand
Afghanist
an.
v
) Rootwedging-alsooccursindesert
swhenrootsgrow i
nsidecr
ackscausi
ng
expansi
onanddi si
ntegr
ati
onofrocks.Howev
er,r
ootwedgingismini
mum due
tolowvegetat
ioncoveri
ndesert
s.
Chemi
cal
Weat
her
ingPr
ocesses
Hi
ght emper atur
esf acil
itat
eschemi calreact
ions.Moistureforchemi calweatheringis
al
so av ail
ableinthe f orm ofspasmodi cstorms.Exampl esofchemi calweat heri
ng
pr
ocessesi ndesert
sar ecarbonati
oni nli
mestoner ocks,oxi
dati
oni ni r
onstoner ocks,
hydr
oly sisincryst
all
iner ocksandsol ut
ioninr
ockst hatcontai
nsalts.Howev er
,chemi cal
weather ing remai
nsv eryslightin desert
sduet o prev
ail
ing ar
id condit
ions(lackof
moisture) .

DESERTDI
SSECTEDUPLANDS
Quest
ion:descr
ibeandexpl
aint
hemai
nfeat
uresofdi
ssect
edupl
andsi
nhotdeser
ts.
Thewor ddissecti
onmeansdeepl yerodedorcutbymov i
ngwat er.Themainfeat
uresof
di
ssectedupl andsincludeflattoppedplat
eaus,messas,but tes,cany
ons,wadisand
al
luvi
alfans.Thesefeaturesaremainlyar
esultofpastfl
uvialprocessoferosi
on.Vert
ical
i
ncisi
onf ol
lowedbyl ater
alerosi
onoccurr
edonupl if
tedlandl eadingtothefor
mationof
fl
at-
fl
ooredandst eep-si
dedvall
eyscall
edwadis.
But
te,
MessaandPl
ateaus

90
 Thesear
esteep-si
ded,
f
lattoppedfeat
uresfoundi ndesert
s.Theyformtheflat-
toppedlandscapei
nhotdeserts
suchast hosefoundinthewest er
nAustrali
anDesert.Theyusuallyhavel
ater
it
ecaps
suggesti
ngpastfluv
ial
f ormati
on.Thebutteisthesmal l
estf
ollowedbymessat hen
pl
ateau.
Thef ormati
onoft heseflattoppedfeatur
esisthesameastheformat
ionofdur i
crusts
andl at
eri
tes.Thehar dlateri
ti
ccapsr esi
sterosi
onthat
’swhythesefeaturesaref lat
-
topped.Weat her
ingander osi
onbreakt helater
it
ecapoft hedeser
tl andscapei nto
smalleruni
tsshowni nthediagram.

DESERTECOSYSTEM
Quest
ion:out
li
net
hechar
act
eri
sti
cfeat
uresofar
idandsemi
-ar
idecosy
stems.
Def
ini
ti
ons:
Ecosystem – i
sahol i
sti
cconceptwhichencompassestheinteract
ionoft
heli
vi
ngand
non-l
iv
ingcomponent swithinagivenenv
ironment
.Inotherwordsitisacommunit
yof
organi
smsco- exi
sti
ngtogethert
oform ar
ecogni
sablesel
f-
cont
ainedcommunit
y.
NB-deser
tecosyst
emsechoesabl
uepr
intoft
hecl
i
mat
icandenv
ironment
alcondi
ti
ons
f
oundinthesear
eas.
Env
ironment
alandCl
i
mat
iccondi
ti
onsofDeser
ts
Preci
pit
ati
on/rainfal
l-deser
tsr ecei
vev er
ylow annualrai
nfal
ltot
als(notexceeding
300mm) .Rainfallher
eisinf
requent,unr
eli
abl
eanderrat
icanditi
sofver
yhighintensit
y
butshort
-l
iv
ed.
Temper at
ures-daytemperat
uresar eextr
emelyhi ng400C somet
gh;exceedi imes.This
encourageexcessevapotr
anspirati
onrat
es.HighETl eadstoincr
easedsal
inizat
ionand
tr
anslocati
onofmineral
supwar dlyinaprocesscal
ledcapil
l
aryacti
on.Thediurnalr
ange
oftemperaturei
salsover
yhigh.
Winds-deser t
sar echaracter
isedbypr evai
l
ingwi nds[windsblowingf
rom t
hesame
dir
ecti
onal ways]ofv
eryhighintensi
ty;someti
mesdev el
opingint
odustst
ormsthathav
e
verystronger osi
veandt ransport
ati
oncapabi l
i
ties.General
l
y,windsar
ehotanddr y
encouraginghighETrat
es.

91
Soil
s-deser tsoil
sar esandy,coarse,poorl
ydev el
oped,and shal
low;ar ef
lect
ion of
i
nadequat eandincompleteweatheri
ng.Thesoil
sarealsosal
ineandunf er
ti
leduetolack
ofvegetationcoverwhichisessentialf
orhumusaccumul at
ion.Asar esul
tdesertsoils
areincapableofsupport
ingcr
oppr oduct
ionandthegrowthofveget
ati
oncov er.
Ani
mal
s-therear
esomeanimalsthatl
i
veindesert
s;butonl
yfewoft
heseani
mal
swhi
ch
hav
eadaptedtohar
shcondi
ti
onscansurv
ivet
here.
Veget
ati
on-desertecosyst
emshavetheleastbiomasscomparedt
oanyot
hercli
mate.
Mostplantsfoundindesert
sarexer
ophy
t eswhichhaveadapt
edtodr
ycondi
ti
onsand
hal
ophyteswhichhaveadaptedt
osal
i
neconditi
ons.
Adaptat
ionofplant
sandani
malsindesert
s
Anadapt at
ion i
sacharact
eri
sti
cort rai
tdev
elopedbyanor
gani
sm t
oassi
sti
nit
s
sur
viv
al.
Adapt
ationcanbest r
uctur
al(
e.g.plantshav
ebigleavestomaximi
zetr
anspi
rat
ionunder
humidcondit
ions)orbehavi
oural(e.g.ther
abbi
twillsqueakwheni
tisbei
ngchasedt o
warnotherr
abbitst
hatther
eisdanger ).
NB-thefl
oraandf
aunaindesert
sdi
spl
ayawi devar
iet
yofstr
uctur
al,phy
siol
ogi
caland
behavi
our
alfor
msofadapt
ati
onstot
hecur
rentpr
evai
l
ingcondi
ti
ons.
Deser
tplant
s ar
e dr
oughttol
erantpl
ants whi
ch are mostl
yxerophy
tes.Theyhav
e
mechani
smsmeanttowit
hst
anddrycondi
ti
ons.Theseadapt
ati
onsaregi
venbel
ow:
 l
ongt
apr
oot
stodr
awunder
groundwat
er

 xerophyt
es-e.g.cact
usi
nor
dert
omi
nimi
set
ranspi
rat
ionbyhav
ingspi
kesort
hor
nsi
n
placesofleav
es

 waxycov
eredl
eav
est
oreducewat
erl
oss

 desertpl
antsreducemetabol
i
sm wheni
tisdr
ybysi
mpl
ydr
yingoutbutr
eadyt
o
resumegrowthwheniti
swet

 huget
runksandt
uber
stost
orewat
er

 f
leshyst
emst
ost
orewat
er

 sunkenst
omat
atomi
nimi
set
ranspi
rat
ion

 produceseedswhi
chliedor
mantforalongti
meandgermi
nat
ewhenl i
ttl
erai
nsf
all
;
theseseedsar
ecover
edwithhar
dcrust
sorshel
lst
oext
endt
hei
rli
fespan

 shortl
if
ecyclee.g.f
lower
ingplant
sandherbstomaxi misechancesofsur
viv
alof
fut
uregener
ati
onsbyprovi
dinghumust
hroughdecomposit
ion

 l
ateralextensi
onofroot
sorspreadi
ngr
oot
sforqui
ckabsor
pti
onofwat
erdur
ing
i
nfrequentshort
-l
iv
ed,
err
ati
cst
orms

92
Adaptat
ionofanimals
o Nocturnalact
ivi
ty-t
oprev
entexcessi
veheatdur
ingt
hedaye.g.thr
oughsweat
ingand
respi
rati
on.Animalsal
sosleepdur
ingthedayi
nshadesandcavestoprev
entdayt
ime
heat.

o Animalsalsobarr
owint
othegr
ounde.g.rept
il
es,
rodent
sandmicetoavoi
dexcessi
ve
heatofthedayti
me.Bar
rowi
ngofthegroundisal
sodonebysnakesf
orwarmt
hdur i
ng
thecol
dseason.

o Ani
malsal
sopassoutconcent
rat
eduri
neanddryfaecesi
nor
dert
omi
nimi
sewat
er
l
ossfr
om t
hei
rbodi
es.Agoodexampl
eistheJer
boa.

o Theyal
soadapttodesertcondi
ti
onsbystor
ingfatatt
hehumpsoft hei
rbacksforuse
duri
ngtheabsenceoff
ood, e.
g.camel
s.Camelsalsohavet
hecapacityt
ogof ordays
wit
houtdri
nki
ngwaterduetotheabsenceofrel
i
ablesour
cesofwater.

o Ani
mal
sal
sodev
elopl
argebr
oadhoov
est
obeabl
etowal
kindeser
tsands.

THECONCEPTOFSUSTAI
NABI
LITYI
NARI
DANDSEMI
-ARI
D
ENVI
RONMENTS
Quest
ion:wi
threfer
encetoexampl
es,di
scusst
heconceptofsust
ainabi
l
ityi
nar
idand
semi-
ari
denvi
ronments.

Theconceptofsust
ainabi
l
ityr
eferstothewiseuseofdeser
tresourcesbypeopl
einor
der
tosat
isfythei
rdemandsbutwi thoutcompromisi
ngtheabil
it
yoff ut
uregener
ati
onsto
meetthei
rowndemands.Desertsareutil
i
sedinanumberofway s:

Mining-deser
tenvironment scanbeuti
l
isedthroughminingofmineral
sfoundther
e.For
exampleinBot swanat hereisdi
amondwhi l
ethereiscrudeoi
linLibya.Ur
anium i
salso
minedi nNamibia.Rev enuegenerat
edfrom t
hesemi ni
ngacti
vi
tiesisusedtomeett he
needsofthesecount r
ies.

Agri
cult ur
e-aridareashav eExor geni
cRiverswhi chcanbeusedf orirri
gati
onpr acti
ses.
Damsandbor eholescanal sobeputi ndeser tstopr acti
ceirri
gationf ar
mi ngandt o
i
ncreaset owat erholdingcapacit yofdeserts.Agoodexampl eisEgy ptwhereirri
gati
on
far
mi nghasbeenpr acti
cedal ongt heNileRi v
ersi nceancientti
mes.I nIranirri
gati
on
far
mi ngi ndeser t
si salsopr acti
cedalongt heJor danRi v
er.Suchar easwher eirri
gati
on
far
mi ngi sdonehav ebecomegr eenbel
tsforar idandsemi -ari
denv ir
onment s.Pastoral
far
mi ngi salsodonei nar idandsemi -
ari
dr egionse. g.inBotswanawher el ar
ge-scal
e
catt
ler angingisdone;somet imesunderzer o- grazi
ng.Bot hcommer cialandsubsi st
ence
pastoral f
armingisdoneher e.

Touri
sm-desertsareal so ut
il
ised bya wider angeoft ouri
stacti
vi
ti
est o generate
rev
enues.Mostdesertfeat
uressuchaswadi s,cany ons,andsanddunesattr
actt ouri
sts
[
arescenicattr
acti
ons]
.Becauseoft hi
ssomecount ri
eslikeBotswanahav ebecome
popul
artour
istdest
inat
ionsandt heygetalotofi ncomer etur
nsintheform offorex.In

93
addit
ionsomecountriesli
ket heUni
tedAr
abEmi
rat
eshav
ebecomet
our
istheav
ens
becauseofdeser
tat
tract
ions.

Sport
ingacti
vi
ti
es-desertar
eashavealsobecomev eryf
amousvenuesf
ormotorcarand
bi
ker aci
ng.IntheSaharaDesertforexample,ther
eisthemostpopul
arannualDakar
Pari
sraceandthisat
tractst
housandsoftour
ist
s

Testi
ngofweapons-becauseofthei
rsol
it
ude,desert
shavebecomebestsi
tesoft
est
ing
dangerousArsenal
ssuchasnucl
earweapons.Forexampl
etheMojav
eDesertofAmer
ica
andotherdesert
sinIr
anandIr
aq.

Dumpingofhazardousmateri
als-deser
tshav
eal sobecomebestsi
tesf
orthedumpingof
hazar
doussubstances.Thi
sisdonebecauset heref
ewerpeopl
eindesert
sandther
eisa
small
eramountoff loraandfaunawhi chmeanschancesofendanger i
ngli
fearevery
sl
im.

Probl
emsassociat
edwit
hthesust
ainableuti
li
zati
onofari
dandsemi-
aridenv
ironments
Quest
ion:Di
scussthepr
oblemsassociatedwiththesust
ainabl
eut
il
isat
ionofaridand
semi-
ari
denvi
ronment
s.[
16]

Mining ofmi neral

s cause land degradati
on in al
readyfragi
le envi
ronmentand t
his
i
ncreasearidi
ty.Wor t
h-noti
ngamongt heseminingacti
vi
ti
esi sopencastmi ni
ngwhich
cause deforestati
on through t he remov alof the overburden. Thisleav
es bare
unproduct
ivesoilswhicharev ul
nerabl
et osoil
erosi
onandlanddegr adat
ion.

Ir
ri
gationcontri
butetot hepr obl
em ofsal ini
zat
ionwhi chalreadyi sahugepr oblem
associatedwit
hdesertsoils.Thi
sworsenst heproblem ofsali
nit
yhamper i
ngt hegrowth
ofv egetat
ioninthepr ocess.Thisfurtherreducestheamountofbi omassi ndeser t
ecosystems.Ont heotherhandpast oralfarmingleadtoov ergrazi
ngofalreadyf r
agil
e
envi
ronment si
ncreasi
ngther i
skofsoil
er osi
on.

Touri
sm increasepollut
ionofdesertareasandal socausepr oblemsofcul turaler
osion.
Touri
stsusuallycarr
yalongwiththem plasti
cbottlesandot hernon-biodegr adablethi
ngs
whichtheydumpi ndesert
safterusedur i
ngtheirtours.Inaddi t
ionactivi
tiessuchascar
raci
ngislikel
yt ol
eavebehindtorntyr
esl eadi
ngt olandpollution.Touristsar ealsoli
kely
toerodelocaltr
adit
ionsandcultur
esasl ocal
strytoimi t
ateforeigncultures.

Touri
stsalso engageinactivi
ti
essuchasspothunt ingwhi chulti
matel
yreducethe
populat
ionsofdesertani
mals.Someani malspeci
eswhicharetar
getedmostarefaci
ng
theri
skofextincti
onduetosuchact i
vit
iescoupl
edwit
hi l
l
egalhunti
ngandunwarrant
ed
kil
l
ingofdangerousanimal
slikel
ions.

Testi
ng ofdanger ous weapons and t
he dumpi ng ofhazardous wastes in deser
ts
endanger
sdeser tecosyst
ems.Inf
acttheyreducedesertv
egetati
onandt hreat
ensanimal
l
ifedir
ectl
ybypoi soningofani
malsandi ndi
rect
lybypollut
ingundergroundandgr ound
watersources.Thedistur
banceofli
fefor
msi nanal r
eadyfragi
leenvir
onmenti ssaidto
bedevastati
ng.

94
95