Erosion and deposition - Write up

Erosion and deposition are two key processes that occur in a river, shaping the landscape over time. Erosion involves the wearing away of the river's banks and bed as water flows downstream. This happens due to several factors, including the force of the moving water, the friction between the water and the riverbed, and the presence of abrasive materials like sand and rocks within the water. As the river water moves, it picks up particles from the riverbed and banks, carrying them along. Deposition, on the other hand, occurs when the river loses energy and is no longer able to carry these particles. They are then deposited, or dropped, along the riverbed or at the mouth of the river, where it meets a body of standing water like a lake or an ocean. Diagrams illustrating these processes often show how the river's velocity affects erosion and deposition, with faster-moving water leading to more erosion and slower-moving water resulting in greater deposition.

Rivers are formed from precipitation, such as rain or snow, which collects and flows due to gravity. This water gathers in small channels that merge to become streams and eventually join together to form a river. The main features of a river include its source, where it begins; the channel, which is the path the river follows; the banks, which are the sides of the channel; and the riverbed, which is the bottom of the channel. Along its course, a river may have various features such as meanders (curves and bends), rapids (fast-flowing sections with turbulent water), waterfalls, and deltas (where the river fans out as it deposits sediment at its mouth). Each of these features is a result of the interplay between erosion and deposition, as well as the river's flow rate, volume, and the type of terrain it flows through.