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📘 A river spends gravitational energy downhill

A river cuts a valley because gravity pulls water toward a lower elevation.

3
lessons
~15 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Energy and supplyRelate gradient, weathering, and discharge to river power.Downhill energy, available sediment, and flow rate set how much work a river can do.
  2. Moving sedimentExplain entrainment, load types, and braided channel form.Drag moves grains as dissolved, suspended, or bedload material stored on bars.
  3. Valley shapeConnect incision, meanders, cutoffs, floodplains, and long-term widening.Steep steps cut downward; bends migrate; floods deposit and avulse across the valley floor.

Questions this course answers

What does channel gradient describe?

Gradient is the change in elevation over distance and helps set available gravitational energy.

What must happen before rock can be transported as sediment?

Weathering, landsliding, and earlier erosion make rock fragments available to the river.

What is discharge?

Discharge is a flow rate, usually expressed in cubic metres per second.

When does a grain become entrained?

Drag and lift must exceed the grain's weight, friction, and packing resistance.

Where does bedload move?

Bedload rolls, slides, or hops close to the bed while suspended load is held in turbulent water.

Why do braided rivers split into several channels?

Abundant sediment and variable flow build bars that divide and redirect the current.

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