The Force of Moving Water
You can never underestimate rivers only by their appearance in size. That's because from what it looks like, it may not be as much as you'd expect from a river, yet the force of the working energy could be moving along in a faster motion than our eyes could see completely. This water that runs tends to carry an amount of sediment along the flowing river, in which the sediment goes through changes on its way of flowing.
Work and Energy
Every river you see has energy. Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. Energy itself has two different types. One of them is Potential Energy, which is stored energy that is saved and is only to be used later. Although some rivers start with Potential energy only because of their level above the sea water. Then there's Kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the energy that an object has due to its motion. This is how it works; As gravity pulls water down a slope, the water's potential energy changes to kinetic energy that can do work. Once the energy does work, energy is transferred from one object right to another. From mountains to the sea, water is always moving sediment. Although at that same moment, the bank's and valley's rivers are eroding.
How Water Erodes
Gravity is the cause of the movement of the water across Earth's land surface. Within the process of erosion, water picks up and places sediment somewhere else. The materials of sediment are soil, rock, clay, and sand. There is a variety of ways that sediment can enter a river. Although as a result of mass movement and runoff, most of the sediment washes off and falls off into the river. Other sediment erodes from either the sides or bottom of the river. It is also possible for wind to drop sediment into the water.
Another process in which rivers can obtain sediment is by abrasion. Abrasion is the wearing away of rock by grinding action. When the particles of sediment in the flowing water run into steam bed continuously, this is when abrasion occurs. Abrasion is what breaks down particles. Sediments also break down pieces of rock in the stream beds, which widens the streams channel.
The load is the amount of sediment that a river carries. The sediment load moves downstream because of gravity and the force of moving water. Most of the sediment hits the bottom of the ocean and slides and rolls. Fast moving water can lift up sand and other small materials of sediment and can carry it downstream. Water can dissolve sediment completely all the way around. These dissolved sediment particles are carried in solution.
Erosion and Sediment Load
It depends on a couple of factors for the power of a river to cause erosion and carry sediment. The river's slope, the volume of the flow, and the shape of the stream bed are all what affects how fast the river can really flow, and how much it can erode. The faster the river is flowing, the more sediment loads it can contain. Once a river slows down, it drops its sediment load, though the larger particles are deposited first.
Slope If a river's slope increases, the water's speed should also increase. A river's slope is the amount the river drops toward sea level right over a given distance. The sediment load and the power might increase if the river's speed increases. There are also other factors that are important to go into determining how much sediment the river erodes and carries.
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Volume of Flow As more water is able to flow through a river, the faster the speed is able to increase. During a flood, it's better to cut more deeply into banks and beds, because of the increased volume. If a river floods, the power may increase one hundred times larger. A flooding river can carry huge amounts of sand, soil, and other sediments. It could move humongous boulders as if they were specks of particles.
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Streambed Shape The streambeds shape can very much affect the amount of friction between the water and the streambed. Friction is the force that opposes the motion of one surface as it moves across another surface. Friction is what affects a river's speed. The reduced friction allows the river to flow faster. Most of the comes in contact with the streambed in a shallow river. Friction increases, reducing the river's speed.
Boulders and obstacles is what a streambed is usually full of. The water cannot flow slowly because of the roughness. Roughness increases friction and reduces the river's speed. The water moves in every which way in which is called turbulence. Friction and turbulence slow the stream's flow. Although there may be a great power to erode with a turbulent stream or river. |
Factors Affecting Erosion and Deposition The shape of a river will almost always affect the ways it erodes and deposits sediment. The water flows faster near the center of the river than along the sides when a river flows in a straight line. Where the water moves slowly, deposition occurs. If a river curves the water moves fastest along the curve. The river tends to cut into its bank, causing erosion. Sediment is deposited on the inside curve, where the water power is slowest.
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