River Processes: Erosion, Transport & Deposition

Rivers are powerful agents of landscape change. They shape valleys, create landforms, and transport vast quantities of sediment from the mountains to the sea. This lesson covers the key processes that operate in river systems and how they change from the source to the mouth.

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The Drainage Basin System

A drainage basin is the area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. It is a type of open system with inputs, stores, transfers, and outputs.

Component	Examples
Inputs	Precipitation (rain, snow)
Stores	Interception (by vegetation), surface storage (puddles, lakes), soil moisture, groundwater
Transfers (flows)	Infiltration, percolation, throughflow, groundwater flow, surface runoff (overland flow), channel flow
Outputs	Evaporation, transpiration, river discharge (water flowing out to sea)

Key terms