Fresh water
3 Water droplets get bigger and heavier 4 When the water droplets become too heavy to float, they fall as rain or snow
A River is a body of water flowing in a channel. The place where a river begins is called a river source.
Upper course
A river is a body of water that flows in a channel. Aided by gravity, it always flows downhill from its source. A river can be divided into three sections the upper, middle and lower courses.
1. Rivers drain the surrounding land by collecting the surface runoff and directing it to the lakes and seas. 2. The area that is drained by a river and its tributaries is called the drainage basin.
3. Watershed is an imaginary line that separates one drainage basin from another.
River source
Watershed River
River mouth
River System
NIAGARA FALLS
3. Meanders
As a river flows over flat land, it forms curves and bends which become more and more noticeable along the river course.
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4. Floodplains
As a river flows through a flat valley, it deposits most of the sediments it is carrying. As a result, the bottom of the river bed is raised Whenever it rains heavily, the river will overflow its banks and flood the surrounding low-lying land. This land is called a floodplain
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5. Deltas
At the river mouth, the river deposits its sediments into a lake or sea. There, the sediments build up slowly and obstruct the flow of the river to the sea. When this happens. The river has to flow along alternative channels called distributaries.
Diagram of Delta
Delta
Photo 10-3 The satellite image captures a stretch of the Yangtze River and its tributaries. The red portions indicate areas with vegetation. Inset (yellow box) shows the construction site of the Three Gorges Dam.