ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Weathering

• Earth movements (plate tectonics) create and lead to the development of the earth ’s
landforms for example Block Mountains, volcanic cones, lava plateaus and rift valleys.
• As soon as they are formed denudation processes attack, expose and gradually wear these
landforms away.
• Denudation is a term that is used to describe the forces that wear away the land surface it
includes the processes of weathering, erosion, transportation and mass wasting.

Weathering

• Weathering refers to the weakening, breaking up, and disintegration of rocks that form the
surface of the ground and lie exposed to the weather elements in situ.
• The little phrase in situ is a Latin phrase which simply means “in its or
/ . ”
”stationary

Examiners at ZIMSEC, Cambridge and other examining bodies often ask students to distinguish
between weathering and erosion.

Weathering Erosion
Washing away of soil by either
Breaking down of rocks
wind, water or ice.
Happens in situ (is static) Washing away of top soil
Produces inselbergs and karst landscapes Produces gullies and dongas
Caused mostly by temperature variances and acid rain (i.e there Caused by the movement of
are two types chemical and mechanical) water, wind and ice

Mass wasting

Creep movement on a slope. Image credit Myschoolstuff.co.za

• is the movement of regolith and other weathered material en masse due to the force of gravity.
• It takes place in the form of mudslides and rock falls when a semi-liquid spongy mass falls
down a slope as a single mass as opposed say to erosion when the soil and regolith is washed
down the slope instead.
• Mass wasting includes such processes as creeping, soil and rock slides, topples and falls.
• It can take place at a slow almost imperceptible pace as in creep or quickly in the form of
sudden rock falls and landslides.

• There are two types of weathering:

1. Physical/Mechanical weathering.
2. Chemical weathering.
NB Aspects of biological weathering are either grouped as being physical or chemical depending
with their nature, a criterion which ZIMSEC seems to favour at Ordinary Level.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Main types of weathering: Chemical weathering

• Chemical weathering is the breaking down or decomposition of rocks as a result of various

chemical processes and reactions altering the chemical components of the rock.
• Some types of rocks decompose when they come into contact with water, oxygen, carbon
dioxide and other naturally occurring acids such as in the soil.
• These acids include humic acids, carbonic acids, acid rain and smog (which is fog laced with
toxic and sometimes corrosive materials).
• Some minerals in the rocks for example calcium are susceptible to chemical reaction.
• They undergo chemical changes and fall of the rock leading to the reduction of the rock ’s
size.
• Chemical weathering processes include oxidation, hydration, hydrolysis, carbonation, organic
weathering and acid rain.
• Chemical weathering is most prevalent in humid zones, against reactive minerals in rocks at
typically at the base of slopes where it is likely to be wet and humid for extended periods of
time to allow the chemical processes to occur.

Oxidation

• Occurs when rocks or more specifically certain minerals within the rocks are exposed to and
react with oxygen in the air or water.
• The most prevalent of these is when rocks containing iron compounds react with oxygen to in
a form of oxidation called rusting as the rock is transformed from what is known as a ferrous
state to a ferric state.
• During rusting rocks change their colour and become reddish-brown (the colour of rust).
• This compromises the integrity and structure of the rock making them crumble easily thus
aiding other forms of weathering as well.
• Reduction (the opposite of oxidation) also occurs in waterlogged areas where a process
called gleying takes place.

Hydration

• Some types of rocks for example those that contain salt minerals have the capacity to absorb
water into their structure causing them to swell and become susceptible to future breakdown.
• Hydration is in actual fact a physical-chemical weathering processes since the rocks swell and
exert pressure in addition to changing their chemical structure.
• The rock swell during wet periods and contract during dry periods causing them to fracture
and to develop joints and weaknesses.
• For example anhydrite absorbs water to become gypsum.

Hydrolysis

• Hydrogen ions in water react with minerals ions in the rock

• That is the water reacts with minerals in the rock instead of dissolving it.
 • This gives rise to different compounds.
• This is very common in granite areas
• Where the feldspar in the granite/igneous reacts with hydrogen to form clay.
• Mica another rock mineral can also be affected by hydrogen in acidic water solutions.

Carbonation

• This is when carbon dioxide dissolves with rain water to form carbonic acid.
• This weak acid reacts with rocks that are composed of calcium carbonate for example
limestone.
• The calcium is dissolved and removed in as a calcium bicarbonate solution by running water.
• The may result in the formation of landform features such as Underground caves such as the
Chinhoyi caves as well as other limestone features such as stalagmites and stalactites.

Solution

• Some minerals like rock salt are soluble in water

• When they come in contact with water they just dissolve in situ.
• As the rocks dissolve in water they may form clints and grikes/grykes which are collectively
known as limestone pavements.

Organic Weathering

• Decomposing vegetation (humus) releases humic acid.

• This acid attacks calcium, magnesium and iron minerals within rocks in a process
called chelation.
• The respiration of bacteria and plant root increases carbon dioxide levels within the soil thus
accelerating the process of carbonation.
• Lichen extracts iron from rocks via reduction.

Acid rain

• Human and economic activities are realising more and more carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere together with other chemicals such as Sulphur dioxide and nitric oxide.
• These gases then dissolved into rain water to form acidic solutions.
• Acid rain attacks and corrode limestones and at a lesser rapid rate sandstones.
• Also the acidic solutions tend to free up oxygen ions thus fueling the process of hydrolysis.

Physical weathering

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Physical Weathering

• Physical weathering is the disintegration of a rock into smaller particles by mechanical

processes and without any changes in the chemical composition of the rock.
• It is more likely to occur in arid climates such as deserts, arctic regions and areas that have
little to no vegetation.
• Physical weathering typically produces sand soils.
 • Physical weathering is also known as mechanical weathering.
• Physical weathering processes include exfoliation, frost shattering, pressure release and
thermal shattering.

Exfoliation

• Rocks expand when heated and contract when cooled much like all solid materials.
• In deserts and areas with scant vegetation, diurnal temperatures can exceed 50°C.
• During the excessive day heat the rocks expand.
• The outer layers of the rocks expand faster than the inner layers.
• At night the when temperatures drop, in deserts evening temperatures can and usually fall to
below freezing point, the rock contracts and again the outer layers cool faster than the inner
layers.
• This results in stresses being set up within the rock causing outer layers of the rock to peel off
like the rings of an onion.
• Thus the process is sometimes called onion weathering.
• Also several different minerals within the rock expand and contract at different rates
depending on their physical characteristics.
• This will result in granular disintegration with the rock.
• This is the process that was thought to result in the creation of exfoliation domes like
Domboshava.
• This form of weathering is also known as thermal expansion or insolation weathering.

NB At Ordinary Level you are supposed to accept this method of weathering as fact. The
occurrence of this method of weathering in the real world is nowadays seriously doubted after a
series of experiments by people like David Griggs and others.

Frost shattering

• It occurs in rocks that have crevices and joints and where there is limited vegetation cover and
temperatures revolve fluctuate around 0°C.
• During the day when temperatures are warmer, water enters the crevices or joints.
• When temperatures fall at night the water freezes leading to breakdown:
• Ice occupies more space than water i.e as the temperature of water falls below 4°C it starts to
expand.
• As the water freezes within the rock it attracts more small particles of water which forms
more ice crystals and expands further, fueling the process.
• With each freeze and thaw cycle the joints expand until the rocks shatter and fall off the main
rock as blockfields, scree and talus.
• The process is also known as frost wedging

Salt crystallization

• Saline(water containing salt) water enters pore spaces in rocks.

• As it evaporates salt crystals are likely to form.
 • This process usually occurs in deserts where water is drawn to the surface of rocks (sandstone
rocks) by capillary action.
• As the crystals become larger they exert stress upon the rocks causing it to disintegrate (
granular disintegration).
• Salt crystallization occurs on costs where there is a ready supply of salt water.
• The process results in the development of weathering pits.

Pressure release

Intrusive granite landforms such as batholiths are formed deep below the surface and under intense
pressure due to the weight of the overlying overburden.

• If the overburden is removed by denudation processes there is a substantial reduction in

pressure.
• The reduction in pressure causes fractures to develop especially on the top layers of the rock.
• These cracks develop parallel to the surface in a process that is referred to as sheeting.
• This results in the formation of exfoliation domes like Domboshava

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Factors affecting weathering.

• The rate and prevailing type of weathering at any given place is affected by:

1. Climate
2. Relief
3. Vegetation
4. Rock type

Climate

• Weathering types are distributed according to the prevailing climate of given areas especially
when considering.
• Temperature and rainfall have the greatest effect on weathering.
• In cold areas especially regions where temperatures fluctuate around 0°C physical weathering
in the form of frost shatter (freeze-thaw) is dominant.
• In hot areas such as deserts where there are large diurnal temperature ranges exfoliation
insolation weathering (heating and cooling) is dominant.
• In hot and wet areas like the savannah and rainforest chemical weathering takes place in aided
by the easily available moisture and high temperatures which favour chemical reactions.
• In rain forests the decomposition of humus creates humic acid leading to organic weathering.
• Mechanical weathering processes.
• Thus chemical weathering occurs is dominant in hot and humid climate areas
• Climate also indirectly affect weathering by affecting the amount of vegetation and presence
of organisms that can lead to chemical weathering.

Relief
 • Mountain regions have steep slopes which means that in the event of rain they drain quickly
leaving the dry.
• As a result physical weathering is dominant at mountain topics especially when considering
how some peaks tend to have temperatures that fluctuate around the freezing point even if
temperatures are quite higher at the start of the slopes.
• Moisture tends to accumulate at the base of mountains aiding chemical weathering processes.
• Granite regions sometimes lead to the development of vleis which are water logged since
granite is impermeable thus favouring chemical weathering in the moist conditions.

Vegetation

• Tree roots penetrate into rocks, widening cracks, release carbon dioxide during respiration
resulting in biological weathering. These processes are naturally dominant in areas where
there are more trees.
• When tree roots decay humic acids are produced causing biological weathering a process
which more readily occurs in areas with dense vegetation cover and moisture such as in
rainforests and in the tropics.
• Lichen and moss grow on rock plateaus and domes aided by moisture from rain and at the
base of slopes forming acids that eat into rocks.

Rock type

• Limestone is very soft and porous (being porous is not the same thing as being
impervious/impermeable) and therefore more easily affected by processes such as
carbonation, more so given the chemical composition of the rock.
• Granite rock is hard and non-porous and thus less susceptible to chemical weathering
processes which require a certain amount of moisture in order to occur.
• Different rock types are composed or different chemicals that stand on different places of the
reactivity series.
• Chemicals found in limestone readily react with weak acids while granite rocks are more
resistant.

Exposure

• Rocks that are exposed to the surface tend to be weathered faster than bedrock which is
covered.
• However mechanical weathering processes such as pressure release can still occur if the
overburden is being removed by denudation processes.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Landforms resulting from weathering.

• Weathering processes and usually in conjunction with other denudation processes such as
water and wind erosion and mass wasting results in the formation of various landscapes.
• In temperate and tropical latitudes these include:

1.Inselbergs/Monadnocks
 • The word inselberg is German for “island mountain”
• Monadnock is West Indian for isolated mountain.
• An inselberg or monadnock is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises
abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
• They are hills made up of rock piles or blocks of rocks that rise from an area of relatively flat
and/or lower terrain.
• If the monadnock is dome-shaped and formed from granite-gneiss, it can also be called a
bornhardt.
• Common inselbergs include: castle kopjes, tors , balancing rocks and conical hills with
rectangular sides.

Weathering also forms:

2) Ruwares/Dwalas/Whalebacks

3) Karst landscapes

4) Mountain peaks that are usually made up of rocks when the mountain core is exposed.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Landforms resulting from weathering: Dwala

• Known as ruware in Shona, dwala in Ndebele (Nguni languages) and whaleback in English.
• An example is Domboshava where several such landforms can be found.
• It is a hill or rock which is dome shaped and rises several metres from the ground.
• It is a near level rock outcrop, that develops where the basal surface is undulating.
• Dwalas are gently sloping,low lying and rounded or elongated hills.
• They are about 2-5m in height.
• They have a gentle, convex summit that is usually smooth but can have sheet joints as a result
of pressure release and regolith that is onion-peel shaped as a result of exfoliation.
• Its slopes are convex/rectilinear and gentle.
• Might also have vertical joints which begin as fractures as a result of pressure release but are
further widened weathering processes.
• They are surrounded by deeply weathered regolith
• They are usually bare of vegetation but can be lightly populated by shrubs and bushes.

The formation of dwalas

The diagrams below detail the possible formation of a dwala.

An underground intrusion e.g. batholith is exposed by denudation.

The overburden is removed by denudation processes resulting in pressure release and the formation
of a dwala/ruware.
A dwala/ruware is formed when the overbuden is removed.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Landforms resulting from Weathering: Kopjes

Tors/Kopjes/Castle kopjes

• Tors/kopjes/castle kopjes are inselbergs.

• Tors the same as kopjes even though some books make an attempt to distinguish between the
two.
• Different names are applied in different localities to what are essentially the same landforms.
• Kopje is an Afrikaans word meaning a small and isolated hill made of granite rock piles.
• Tor is a Scotish word meaning hill.
• They appear appear as a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the
surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest.
• They are resistant rock features that have been made by weathering.
• They are usually less than 5 meters in height.
• They are a result of marginal subsurface weathering of domed landforms.
• Granite intrusions are weathered beneath the surface due to acidic water penetrating joints in
the rock.
• When the rock is exposed the rotten parts are washed away by erosion.
• Weathering continues in the form of both mechanical and chemical weathering.
• Because these rocks have rectangular joints, chemical and mechanical weathering takes place
in these joints.
• The regolith (weathered/rotten parts of the rock) is stripped away by erosion to form a
kopje/tor.
• If the joints are close together the whole mass collapses and is washed away,
• However if the joints a wider blocks of rocks fall away from the main rock creating
tors/kopjes.
• They are sometimes remnants of dwalas and bornhardts such as Dwalas/ Bornhadts and
inselbergs/Monadnocks.
• They are usually found in temperate latitudes.
• Because of their morphology (shape) kopjes are known is some localities as castle kopjes.

Balancing rocks

• These are a result of continued weathering on kopjes and tors.

• If the joints in the rocks that form kopjes and tors are further apart massive chunks of rock
may withstand the denudation processes to remain balancing one on top of another.
• An example are the Balancing Rocks in Epworth.

Limestone pavements

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Limestone pavements

• Limestone pavements are flat areas of exposed limestone rocks.

 • They are part of the dissolved bedding plate which may have been exposed because the
surface soil may have been removed by glacial activity and never replaced.
• Where the pavement has joints that reach the surface, these joints may be widened by acid
rain water.
• This process is called carbonation.
• The widening of the joints leaves deep incisions/gashes/fissures called grikes.
• Some grikes such as found in the Limestone regions of England can be about half a meter
wide.
• Separating the grikes are flat-topped yet dissected blocks referred to as clints.
• As time passes these clints are levelled by denudation processes including the widening of the
grikes until a lower bedding plane is exposed.
• This bedding plane ’s jo
forming grikes and thus repeating the process all over again.
• Grikes can also be formed by subsurface weathering in much the same way as tors are
formed.
• Acidic water may seep into the ground into joints in the underlying limestone bedding rock.
• Over time it widens these joints and when the overlying soil is washed away by erosion the
clints and grikes are exposed.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: People and weathering

How humans influence weather?

• Human activities such as industrialisation and driving of cars produce emissions such as
sulphur dioxide,nitric oxide and carbon dioxide leading to increased incidences of acid rain
which in turn accelerates chemical weathering processes such as carbonation.
• These industries sometimes dump acidic chemicals into drains and rivers leading to chemical
weathering.
• Deforestation increases runoff and reduces the moisture retention of certain areas leading to a
decrease in biological and chemical weathering and an increase in mechanical weathering.
• Humans are also indirectily affecting weathering through the process of global warming. The
effects depend on the ensuing climatic conditions in each given area.
• Plating of trees can lead to increased chemical weathering.
• Blasting and mining operations can lead to seismic movements that can create fractures that
can be exploited by weathering processes such as freeze and thaw and crystallization thus
aiding weathering.

Benefits of weathering to people.

• Creates tourist attractions for example the balancing rocks in Epworth draw regular crowds
bringing in much needed income to the community dwellers.
• It produces soil which is essential for agricultural activities, biodiversity and development of
vegetation.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River processes:Basic Concepts.

• Rivers are perhaps the most important denudation agent.

 • They carve channels, form valleys,transport and deposit regolith over great distances and
other material to form other types of landforms.

Terms used in describing a river channel.

• A channel is an area that contains flowing water confined by banks.

• Channel width is the distance in meters across the surface of a river, it is the distance between
the two banks i.e. the distance from bank to the other.
• Depth is the distance in meters of the level of water down to the river bed. This is the vertical
distance from the surface to the bed.
• Gradient/Slope is the angle between the horizon and the river ’s surface.
• Velocity is the speed at which the water flows through the channel. Speed is low at the sides
near the banks and at the river bed due to friction and highest at the center.
• The source is where the river begins.
• The mouth is where a river empties/ends usually into a lake, sea or ocean.

Flow of water in streams

• Rivers always flow downstream because of the pull of gravity.

• A river n’sitserosion,
channel.transport
• This flow is determined by several factors viz:
• The energy which is provided by gravity and is affected directly by they gradient of the
river ’s bed the steeper the slope the m
• Volume is the amount of water in a river ’ s channel. Volume increases during the wet
seasons when most of the precipitation occurs or if a river ’s
experiencing wet climatic conditions
• Conversely a river ’s volume
imbabwe
or if it passes through arid conditions/regions experiencing dry conditions.
• The nature of flow also affects and channel shape also affect a river ’s energy.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River Profile

• Rivers can be studied from two aspects viz:

• The long profile-this is the cross section along the river ’
mouth.
• The short profile-this is the cross section across a river ’s
bank) to the channel to the other crest line. This is known as the river ’s valley.
• There is only one cross profile but an innumerable short profiles that can be taken at any point
in a river ’s length.
• The short profile however tends to widen the further one moves downstream.
• The diagram above shows the three main sections of a river/stream ’s lo
diagram below shows the corresponding typical short profiles at each stage.

Short profiles that correspond to the long profile.

 • A river ’s long profile can be divided into
• the upper course or headwater reaches, the middle course or middle reaches, the lower course
or the lower reaches.
• The base level of a river is the lowest point a river can erode its channel, this is equal to the
sea level of the ocean into which the river empties.

Upper course

• it has a steep gradient, less volume of water, there is eddying and splashing as the water flows
turbulently.
• Common features include:V-shaped narrow valleys, potholes, interlocking spurs, water falls
and rapids, gorges, strewn boulders.
• The most dominant form of erosion is vertical erosion and headward erosion also takes place.

Middle course

• Its less steep, has more water volume, a wider channel and more velocity due to reduced
channel roughness.
• Common features include: Open V-shaped valleys, truncated spurs, meanders, ox-bow lakes
and braids.
• Erosion is mostly in the form of lateral erosion.

Lower course

• Is flat and has a very wide channel with less energy.

• Common features include: bluffs and other flood plain features such as swamps, braiding,
deltas, alluvial fans, deferred junctions and natural levees.
• These features are mostly due to deposition which is more dominant than erosion due to the
reduced river energy due to the lower gradient and increased wetted perimeter.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River Erosion

• River erosion involves the wearing away of rock and soil found along the river bed and banks.
• It also involves the breaking down of the rock particles being carried downstream by the
river.
• There are four main processes of erosion.
• These are corrasion, attrition, hydraulic action and solution (also known as corrosion).

Corrasion

• Is the wearing down of the sides and bed of the river by the load as it is being transported by
the river.
• Corrasion occurs when a river picks up material and rubs its bed and bank wear them away
by abrasion like sandpaper.
• Corrasion therefore happens when the river ’
being transported by the river.
• This process is most pronounced during flooding.
 • This is the major means of erosion by which a river extends both vertically and horizontally.
• If there are hollows in the river bed, pebbles can get trapped in these and whirled by turbulent
eddies (in circular motion) to form potholes.
• When pebbles are trapped in existing potholes these are deepened further by the whirling
pebbles.
• Corrasion wears away the channel ’
amplifying the processes as more load means more corrasion.

Attrition

• Is a process by which the river’s own load is broken down from larger particles into smaller
ones.
• This happens because the river ’s l
collide and knock into each other causing them to break into smaller fragments.
• As the load progresses downstream it gets smaller and smaller.
• Also angular rocks become increasingly rounded.

Hydraulic Action

• refers to the sheer force and turbulence of the moving water which can be able to remove
loose material such as gravel, sand and silt.
• This force can also weaken solid rocks by surging into cracks in the rock.
• This processes can be aided when there is air in the cracks which is compressed causing
eventual bank collapse.
• Cavitation is a form of hydraulic action caused by bubbles of air collapsing and the resultant
shock waves hit and weaken the banks of the river.
• Hydraulic action by itself is very effective if the river does not have some load to produce
corrosive erosion/abrasive erosion.
• Hydraulic action is the weakest and least effective form of erosion.

Solution or Corrosion

• The water in the river dissolves some soluble rocks such as rock salt and sometimes
limestone.
• This is most effective in areas where the stream bed and banks are composed of soluble rock
for example in limestone regions.
• This method of erosion takes place all the time and is independent of a river ’s v
discharge.
• It is similar to the chemical weathering process of solution.
• The river ’s corrosive ability

Forms of Erosion

• The above four processes make up a river ’s erosion processes.

• River erosion takes place in three ways:
• Headward erosion, lateral erosion and vertical erosion.
Headward Erosion

• Is the processes by which a river increases its length upstream.

• This is achieved by a river cutting back at its source.
• Rain wash and soil creep are other processes by which a river extends its channel up the
slope.

Lateral Erosion

Forms of Erosion, Up arrow shows headward erosion, the two arrows lateral erosion/widening or
channel and the downpointin arrow vertical erosion. Image Credit WikiCommons

• The processes by which the river s’s

areside
worn away and the channel being extended in
width.
• This is more pronounced along the bends (outside banks) of meanders.

Vertical Erosion

• This is a process by which a river deepens its channel.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River Transportation Processes.

• Any energy left after a river has overcome friction is used to transport sediment.
• This energy varies directly with a river ’s discharge, velo
• That is if they increase the amount of a river ’s energ
eases
until a river reaches flooding level when deposition is likely to occur due to an increase in the
wetted perimeter and thus friction.
• There are three main processes by which a river ’s load is transported:
• suspension, solution and bedload (sometimes divided into saltation and traction making them
four methods instead of three in this case).

Suspension

• This is when light silt and mud floats along with the water.
• Very fine particles of silt and clay are dislodged and carried away in the turbulence of the
flowing water.
• The greater the turbulence the greater larger the quantity and size of particles picked up by
and carried away by the river.
• This partly explains why flooded river often have mud coloured water, it is due to the heavy
amounts of suspended material with the water.
• The suspended material usually forms the largest part of a river ’s total load.
• It increases in amount towards a river ’s
water that is similar to that of most rivers after a storm.
Solution/Dissolved Load

• Is when material dissolves in the water and is carried away in solution form for example rock
salt.
• Flowing water within river channels almost always contain acids in the form carbonic and
nitrous acids especially after a storm or due to pollution.
• This dissolves the bedrock especially if it is soluble for example limestone.
• It dissolves in water and is carried away in solution form.
• This is a very active form of transportation in limestone regions and in other regions it forms
a comparatively small part of the load.

Bedload

• Is divided into two processes traction and saltation.

• Saltation is when smaller particles bounce along the bed of the river.
• Traction is when larger boulders and pebbles roll and are dragged along the river ’s bed
• Since larger particles cannot be picked up by the current they are moved along the bed of the
river in these two ways.
• Saltation happens when pebbles,sand and gravel are temporarily lifted up by the river ’s
current and bounced along the bed of the river in a hopping motion.
• Traction occurs when the largest cobbles and boulders roll or slide along the bed of the river.
• The largest loads can only be moved in this way during flood periods for example after a
storm.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River deposition

• Deposition occurs when a river no longer as sufficient energy to transport its load.
• When its velocity begins to fall and has less energy, a river ’
material which a river is capable of transporting) and capacity ( maximum amount of load that
a river is capable of transporting) falls and therefore deposition begins.
• Deposition occurs when:
• Discharge is reduced after a period of low precipitation.
• Velocity is reduced upon the river reaching the dam, lake,sea or ocean resulting in the
formation of deltas.
• Shallow water occurs on the inside section of a meander for example.
• The load is suddenly increased for example in the event of a landslide for instance when a
portion of bank collapses into the river.
• When the river overflows its banks so that the velocity outside the channel is reduced
resulting in the formation of a floodplain.
• During floods, especially in the lower course rivers spread to the sides of the channel.
• Frictional drag and the reduced gradient slow down the flowing water resulting in deposition.
• Deposition occurs along the entire course of the river:

1. On the channel bed.

2. The river valley floor especially during floods.
3. On the river ’s banks as in a meander.
 4. At the river ’s mouth when it empties into the sea.

NB Deposition occurs at any part of a river ’s

The division of a river into stages is therefore useful but by no means conclusive.

Deposition

• When the river loses its energy to any of the reasons pointed out above the following
happens.
• The heaviest material/load is deposited first this is why rivers are littered with boulders in the
upper course.
• This is because traction load and siltation loads require more energy to transport.
• The finest material is deposited last and may reach the sea where it is deposited onto and to
form deltas.
• The dissolved load which is in solution water is deposited at all but transported to the sea
where it maintains the saltiness of oceans.
• The deposition of sand and silt leads to the development of a gently sloping plain known as
a flood plain.
• Deposition can result in aggredation where the river ’s
can happen at deltas and on alluvial fans.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes

• The following factors affect the river ’

load.
• Type of flow, gradient of channel, volume/discharge, cross-sectional channel shape, channel
roughness.

Type of flow

• When water flows downhill under gravity it follows the path of least resistance.
• There are two patterns of flow: laminar and turbulent.
• Laminar-is a horizontal movement of water in a river with minimal vertical mixing.
• The water is in layer, such a form of flow would result in minimal erosion and more
deposition
• In reality such a type of flow does not exist although something close to this can be observed
in flat terrain when rivers are relatively calm during their flow.
• Turbulent flow-consists of a series of vertical and horizontal eddies and a lot of vertical
mixing of the water as it flows downhill.
• Turbulent flow results in more erosion and transportation and this form of flow increases with
an increase in a river ’s energy.

Gradient of the channel

 • The gradient of the channel determines a river ’s a
load.
• The upper course of a river is associated with steep gradients therefore a lot of velocity and
energy and therefore river erosion and transportation takes place in the upper course.
• The middle and lower course have a much gentler gradient and therefore the slower moving
waters have less erosive power and therefore more deposition takes place and less
transportation and erosion.

Discharge/Volume

• As already said, water flows in response to the pull of gravity which is also determined by the
mass and in turn the volume of the moving water.
• Rivers have less water in the upper course because of most have fewer tributaries at this stage
therefore they have less energy to erode.
• Middle course and lower course river sections have higher volumes of water since they have
more upstream tributaries at this stage resulting in more energy to transport and erode and
transport in terms of water volume.

Cross Sectional Channel shape.

• Channel A has a larger wetted perimeter which means more friction and leaves less energy to
erode its bed and to transport load.
• Channel B has a smaller a smaller wetted perimeter resulting in more vertical erosion because
it has more energy left over from overcoming friction.
• In terms of channel cross section upper course streams have more energy to erode when
compared to lower and middle course streams.

Channel Roughness

Channel roughness channel A) is typical in the upper course streams and B) in the lower course
streams

• Upper course streams encounter more friction due to their rough channels which are a result
of protruding boulders and rocky outlines. This means such channels will have less energy
left over to erode and transport their load.
• Middle and Lower course streams have more energy to transport and erode since they have
smooth channels resulting in less friction.

Conclusion

• More erosion takes place in the middle course since the channels are smooth, the gradient
steeper than in the lower course, the wetted perimeter smaller than in the lower course and the
volume of water is high.
• A lot of vertical erosion takes place in the upper course.
 • Most deposition takes place in the lower course of the river since the gradient is smaller, the
wetted perimeter larger, and the gradient considerably less steep when compared to the other
two courses.

NB It is important to remember that this is a generalised approach since erosion, deposition and
transportation can take place in any part of the course due to various circumstances regardless of the
course of the river.

ZIMSEC Geography Notes: Landforms resulting from river processes

Topics linked to this page are currently being edited and may change appearance or be unavailable.

• A river through its processes of erosion, transportation and deposition forms several
landforms.
• These can be broadly divided into those landforms resulting from erosion and deposition.

Landforms resulting mainly from erosion

1. Narrow valleys
2. Interlocking spurs
3. Waterfalls and rapids
4. Pot holes
5. Gorges

Those resulting from mainly deposition

1. Flood Plains
2. Meanders
3. Ox-bow lakes
4. Braids
5. Levées
6. Deltas

Click on each one to learn more about it and where it is most likely to be formed in a river ’s
course.

It is important to note that this division into landforms as either resulting from deposition or erosion
is not hard and fast as it would appear. For example a lot of river features such as floodplains and
meanders are formed by both erosion and deposition acting in tandem.

Also minor river features such as bluffs (sometimes known as river cliffs or bluff lines), point bars,
pools and riffles are included in the descriptions of river landforms that they are often associated
with.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Floodplains and Levees

Floodplain
 • These are typically found in the middle and lower course sections of the river.
• They are gently sloping surfaces of alluvium that result from lateral erosion and material
deposited onto the valley floor.
• A flood plain commonly has the following river features alluvium, marshes, meanders and
ox-bow lakes which are remnants of cut off meanders.
• When a river is in flood it overflows its banks and covers the whole plain upon which it
deposits some of its load.
• The continual deposition results in the formation of levees.
• These are ridge like features resulting from deposition.
• Flood plains may become so large and wide the the edges of the meanders may not be able to
reach the sides of the valley for example the Nile River and the (Yellow River) Huang Ho.
• In meanders both lateral and vertical erosion takes place resulting in the removal of the
original floodplain and the formation of a new one.
• The pieces that survive the erosion form terraces which have varying heights and often times
the heights of terraces might not match those on the other side.
• This differentiates these terraces from the ones formed by river rejuvenation.
• The river Benue has a well developed flood plain.
• It is important to note that floodplains are both a depositional and erosional feature.

Natural terraces resulting from successive erosion of floodplains. Image credit Kent.edu

Levees and tributaries with deferred junctions

• Flooding causes deposition to take place on a river ’s banks

ower therebe
and therefore has less energy to transport the load.
• As already said above, continued flooding results in the formation of raised banks.
• These ridges are known as natural levees.
• Most flooding takes place at the edges of the channel since the water is slower
• The river then flows above the level of the floodplain which causes tributaries to defer joining
with the main stream.
• Tributaries flow parallel to the river, with some flowing into depressions resulting into
swamps, while others eventually join the main river further downstream forming what are
known as deferred junctions.
• Rivers that flow above the flood plain present great risk of flooding to nearby settlements for
example the (Yellow River)Huang Ho in China and the Mississippi in the United States.

Swamps/Marshes

• This is stagnant water that is clogged with water loving vegetation.

• They occur in the flood plain due to frequent flooding and where tributaries fail to enter the
main stream (i.e. deferred junctions where a tributary flows over a depression).

Bluffs

• This is a prominent slope that mark the edge of a floodplain.

 • These steep promontory cliffs are sometimes found on the outside bend of a meander.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Meanders and Ox-bow lakes

Meanders

• Meanders are pronounced bends in a river ’s course

• They are formed when a river twists and turn in wide bends.
• They are common on the floodplain but can develop in any part of the river ’s course
• Meandering is a common behaviour of fluids that avoid a straight path to flow in a twisting
and turning path.
• It is believed that meandering is a thermodynamics behaviour that maximizes velocity and
reduces friction.
• Other experts have theorized that Meanders start when friction with the channel bed and
banks causes turbulence in the water flow.
• This results helicoidal flow.

• This is a corkscrew like movement of the water as it spirals downstream from bank to bank
as shown in the diagram above.
• This often occurs during floods and results in the formation of meanders and their associated
features such as pools and riffles.

Helicoidal flow in a meander and the resulting features at each point. Image credit WordPress.com

Pools and riffles

• Pool-this is a deep section in a meander where a lot of erosion takes place where the river ’
energy builds up due to reduced friction and the water has higher velocity.
• Riffle-this is a shallow section in a river where there is deposition due to reduced capacity in
a river resulting from energy dissipation (reduction) in a river due to increased friction and a
reduction in a river ’s velocity.
• The spacing of the pools and riffles are fairly regular in a river channel about six to five times
the width of the channel.
• Helicoidal flow is responsible for the erosion on the outside bends and then depositing it into
the inside bends of meanders.

Point bars and meander cross section

• Water flows fastest on the outer bend (concave bank) of the river where the channel is deeper
and there is less friction.
• It erodes this bank laterally by attrition and hydraulic action.
• There also vertical erosion which deepens the channel, which reduces friction and increases in
energy results in further erosion.
• The lateral erosion results in undercutting of the river bank and the formation of a steep sided
river cliff these cliffs are also known as bluffs.
 • the inner bend water is slow flowing, due to it being a low energy zone, deposition occurs
resulting in a shallower channel.
• This increased friction further reduces the velocity (thus further reducing energy),
encouraging further deposition.
• Over time a small river beach or runoff slope builds up on the inner bend.
• The greater erosion of the concave bank occurs just downstream of the axis of the meander
bend, because the course of the maximum velocity zone in the channel does not reflect the
meander shape.
• This causes meander to migrate down the valley.
• The lateral erosion of the meanders and their migration widen the flood plain.
• A point bar is a depositional feature made of alluvium that accumulates on the inside bend of
streams and rivers below the slip-off slope.
• They are crescent-shaped and located on the inside of a stream bend of meanders.
• They show the former positions of a meander during its downstream migration.
• The term is sometimes used synonymously with slip-0ff slopes although the term slip-off
slope is used to refer to the cross section and the term point bar is used to refer to the aerial
view.

Point bars and cut banks

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Waterfalls and Rapids

Waterfalls and Rapids

• Waterfalls commonly occur in the upper course section of the river although they can occur at
any part in a river ’s course.
• There are various ways in which a waterfall/rapid can be formed.
• A sharp break in the bed of a river produces a waterfall.

• A band of resistant rock with a vertical face overlying less resistant rock produces a waterfall
when it is exposed at the surface by river erosion can also result in the development of a
waterfall.
• A rapid is formed if the rock lies at a steep angle but is not vertical.

A waterfall can also develop when resistant rock overlies a less resistant is horizontal or dips gently
up river.

• A rapid might be formed first in such instances but continued erosion at the base of the pool
will resulting into the rapid developing into a waterfall.

• A rapid develops when the resistant rock, overlying a less resistant rock dips gently down
river.
• The Victoria Falls are the widest falls in the world.
 • They may have developed as a result of the river Zambezi uplift of an almost horizontal
basaltic plateau.
• Where a river flows across a line of weakness it erodes vertically to form a waterfall.
• The Victoria Falls may also have been formed in this way.
• It has retreated upstream along fault lines and might cease to exist one day.
• A river might descend the scarp in areas of faulting resulting in a waterfall at the knickpoint.
• A waterfall may also be formed where a river descends from a highland area(for example a
plateau) into a lowland area.
• A river might erode backwards to undercut and divert the water of a neighbouring stream and
the point of capture is marked by a waterfall.
• An example is the Pungwe Falls which marks the point where the Pungwe River captured the
waters of the Nyakupinga river which is a tributary of the river Odzi in the Eastern Highlands.

Plunge pools

• Is deep pool that is formed at the base of waterfalls due the swirling water eroding the base of
the waterfall via hydraulic action and corrasion aided by bits of the hard rock that falls into
the pool and becomes part of the load and the eddying and turbulent motion of the water at
the base.
• As the undercutting continues the waterfalls migrate upstream.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River Processes: Stream bank cultivation

• Stream bank cultivation refers to the practice of growing or cultivation of crops near a
wetland, stream or river.
• Sub-Saharan Africa has faced political, socio-economic problems in the recent times.
• These problems have been in brought about by erratic rainfall patterns in the region.
• In Zimbabwe, erratic rainfall patterns, lack of employment and poverty has led to the
cultivation of stream banks.
• An example of areas that experience a lot of streambank cultivation are the peri-urban areas
of Seke-Chitungwiza.
• Crops are grown mostly for domestic consumption although horticultural activities such as
vegetable grown is sometimes carried out with most of the produce sold at local farmer ’s
markets.

Results

• Stream bank cultivation results in siltation and the choking of rivers and dams.
• It also leads to eutrophication as fertilizers containing nitrates are washed into the rivers.
• It also leads to the disturbance of natural ecosystems.

Gold Panning

Results

• It results in the siltation and choking of rivers and dams.

• It leads to pollution as dangerous chemicals like mercury an cyanide are released into streams.
 • The disturbances of ecosystems.

Urbanization

Results

• Results in increased pollution and disturbances of ecosystems.

• Increased impervious surfaces result in increased overland flow, shorter lag time between a
storm and a surge in discharge and increased incidences of flooding downstream.

River diversions

• Sometimes river water is diverted through man made canals, dames and pipelines to supply
water for irrigation, industrial and domestic use.
• The Pungwe Project in Mutare is an example.
• The result is decreased discharge and the formation of more deposition features.
• This may also lead to the shortage of water downstream.

Interlocking spurs/spurs and steep valleys

• Interlocking spurs are a result of water taking the easiest path down the slope and tending ot
go round resistant rock resulting in a winding course.
• The bends become more pronounced with time because water flows faster at the bends and
erodes the sides leading to the projections/spurs to interlock.
• The undercut concave banks stand up as river cliffs while the opposite convex develop into a
slip off slope as there is very little erosion.

• Interlocking spurs occur mainly in the upper course section of streams and rivers as rivers
have little energy to erode.

Steep sided valleys

• Since water flows in small amounts and in predominantly steep areas in the upper course
section vertical erosion is more dominant than lateral erosion.
• This also facilitated by the load which the river carries because it cannot reach the upper
levels of the valley walls once they have been formed so much of corrasion processes are
limited to the lower sections of the river and this tends to deepen the channel.
• The result are V-shaped steep sided valleys.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Braiding and Alluvial Fans

Braiding

• Braiding occurs typically during the dry season when a river ’s

• The river may be split into several channels which rejoin and split again.
• These are known as braided river channels.
 • Rivers with heavy loads becomes overloaded in the dry season when the amount of water falls
in the dry seasons.
• As the amount of water and thus its capacity to carry the load is reduced deposition takes
place in the form of sand banks and alluvium islands causing a channel to braid.
• In order to continue flowing the river splits into smaller channels that continuously split and
rejoin.
• Braiding is the process by which a river diverges and converges into a series of segments
separated by channel bars
• A braided river can be both wide and shallow.
• Although it mostly occurs in the floodplain braiding is by no means limited there.
• Human activities such as streambank cultivation and gold panning can lead to the choking of
the river due to excessive siltation and thus result in braiding.
• Decreased discharge in Winter months leads to river braiding in most of Southern Africa ’s
rivers including Zimbabwe.

Alluvial Fans

• These are cone or fan shaped features composed of alluvium that form as a tributary descends
down the bluffs onto the flood plain.
• Deposition occurs at the point where the steep bluff merges with a flat plain leading to
reduced velocity.
• They also occur when a river descends into a flat area from an escarpment or the edge of a rift
valley.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Ox-bow lakes

• An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from the main
stem of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water.
• This landform is so named for its distinctive curved shape, resembling the bow pin of an
oxbow.

Development of Ox-bow lakes

• Ox-bow lakes form when an acute meander leaves a narrow neck separating the two ends of a
meander.
• Active lateral erosion takes place on the outside bends and break through this neck especially
during floods.
• In flood the cut ends are sealed off by deposition and the meaner becomes an ox-bow lake.
• The banks are steadily raised by depositions resulting tin the river lying above the level of the
lake.
• The lakes gradually lose water as vegetation and sediment fill them up.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Deltas

• A delta is a gently sloping depositional feature that is found at a river ’s mo

empties into a sea or ocean that extends to the surface and is shaped like the Greek letter delta
(Δ).
 • It is important to note that although some deltas are indeed shaped like the Greek letter delta
some deltas as pointed below have other shapes as well for example the Estuary delta.
• They are low lying swampy plains that gradually become colonised by various types of
plants.
• The growth of a delta interferes with the flow of a river resulting in the river splitting up into
several distributaries not unlike the ones resulting from braiding.
• A distributary is a channel that splits and rejoins with other channels of the same river.
• An example is the Niger Delta in West Africa and the Nile Delta in Egypt.

Formation of deltas

• most of the load carried by rivers is deposited into the oceans, seas and lakes into which the
rivers empty.
• Sometimes the load is carried far away into the mouth of the river before it sinks to the
bottom.
• Deltas are formed when the load instead sinks at the bottom of the mouth of the river.
• When this happens layers of sediment collect and pile up to form a gently sloping platform.
• With time the platform extends to the surface to form a delta.

Conditions necessary for the formation of a delta.

1. The river must have a large load.

2. The velocity of the river must be low enough to allow its load to be deposited in the river ’s
mouth.
3. The river ’s load must
of tides and be
currents.
4. The chances for the formation of a delta are greatly enhanced when clay particles are part of a
river ’
and settle at the bed in a process called flocculation.

• The Congo River has a large velocity at the point at which it meets the sea and thus has no
delta as most of its load is carried off into the sea.
• The River Niger has low velocity at its mouth resulting in the formation of an extensive delta.

Stages in the formation of a delta.

Stage 1

• Deposition in the river ’s mouth res

• The delta begins to form when the initial sediment collects at the bottom near the river ’s
mouth.
• As depositions continues layer upon layer a slow platform results.
• Deposition on the banks of the distributaries forms levees.
• The area between the distributaries may result in the formation of lagoons.

Stage 2
 • The lagoons begin filling with sediment which causes further division into distributaries and
to the formation of smaller distributaries.
• The delta starts to take a more solid appearance although it may still be swampy and usually
covered with water loving vegetation.

Stage 3

• Further in-filling of the lagoons plus the growth of vegetation results in the older parts of the
delta coming to stand above water level forming dry land.
• Continued development of a delta can lead to it merging with the flood plain and forming
deltaic plains

Types of deltas

There are four types of deltas viz:

Arcuate, Bird ’s foot, and Cuspate Deltas.

Estuarine

Arcuate

• Is a triangular shaped delta with an arc-shaped shoreline.

• The Niger delta is an example of such a delta.
• They have coarse and fine sediment in the form of a cone.
• It is crossed by many distributaries.
• It is useful for man to settle on as it provides arable and fertile lands as well as pastures for
animals.
• However the waterlogged conditions tend to favour pests and diseases.

Birds foot

• Is formed where there are weak tidal currents which allow the distributaries to extend further
seawards resulting in a form that looks much like the shape of a bird ’s foot.
• An example is the Mississippi River delta.
• It consists of very fine material like silt and several distributaries bordered by levees jutting
out from the shore.

Estuarine

• Is made up of a single channel with braids formed from deposits made onto the river ’s
channel as it reaches the ocean.
• An example is the Zambezi River delta in Mozambique.
• The delta is formed from material deposited in the submerged mouth of a river.
• It forms the shape of an Estuary.

Cuspate delta

• Sometimes a cuspate delta may be formed.

 • These develop where there is limited distributary development in coasts that have moderate
current.
• An example is the Medjerda River delta in Tunisia.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Drainage Basin

• The term drainage basin refers to an area of land drained by a river and its tributaries (river
system).
• It includes water found in the water table and surface run-off.
• The drainage basin is also known as catchment area among an assortment of terms.
• There is an imaginary line separating drainage basins called a watershed.
• Usually, the watershed is a ridge of high land for example mountains forming a boundary
between two adjacent drainage basins.
• The point where a river begins is called the source. It is usually in the form of a lake or
spring.
• A confluence is the point where two rivers join.
• A tributary is a stream or smaller river that joins a larger river.
• The mouth is the point where a river enters the sea.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: The hydrological cycle.

• Water does not leave or enter the planet earth.

• It is instead continuously transferred between the atmosphere and the oceans.
• The system of inputs, storages, flows and outputs is known as the water or hydrological cycle.

Inputs

• Inputs – refers to water coming into the system.

• Precipitation – refers to all forms of moisture that reach the Earth’s surface e.g. rain, snow,
sleet and hail.

Storages

• Interception – this is when precipitation lands on buildings, vegetation and concrete before
it reaches the soil.
• Interception storage is only temporary as it is often quickly evaporated.
• Vegetation storage – this is water taken up by vegetation. It is all the moisture in vegetation
at any one time.
• Surface storage – the total volume of water held on the Earth’s surface in lakes, ponds and
puddles.
• Groundwater storage – the storage of water underground in permeable rock strata.
• Channel storage -the water held in a river or stream channel.

Flows

• Flows and Processes – water moving from one place to another.

 • Baseflow – water that reaches the channel largely through slow throughflow and from
permeable rock below the water table.
• Channel flow – the movement of water within the river channel. This is also called a river’s
discharge.
• Groundwater flow – the deeper movement of water through underlying permeable rock
strata below the water table. Limestone is highly permeable with lots of joints and can lead to
faster groundwater flow.
• Infiltration – the downward movement of water into the soil surface.
• Interflow – water flowing downhill through permeable rock above the water table.
• Percolation – the gravity flow of water within soil.
• Stemflow – water running down a plant stem or tree trunk.
• Surface Runoff – the movement of water over the surface of the land, usually when the
ground is saturated or frozen or when precipitation is too intense from infiltration to occur.
• Throughflow– the movement of water downslope within the soil layer. Throughflow is fast
through pipes (cracks int he soil or animal burrows).

Output

• Outputs – water leaving the system.

• Evaporation – the transformation of water droplets into water vapour by heating.
• Evapotranspiration – the loss of water from a drainage basin into the atmosphere from the
leaves of plants plus loss from evaporation.
• Transpiration – evaporation from plant leaves.
• River discharge – the amount of water that passes a given point, in a given amount of time.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Surface Water Flow and the Origin of rivers

Surface water flow and origin of rivers

• Rain falling down on land flows down the slope as sheet flow, rill flow and gully flow all of
which contribute to stream discharge.
• Underground water oozes at certain points called springs and also contributes stream
discharge.

Sheet flow

• It is a type of overland flow or downslope movement of water which takes the form of a thin,
continuous film over relatively smooth soil or rock surfaces
• is generated when rain falling onto the earth ’
layer of water.
• It commonly occurs at the head of the watershed where the slope is gentle and the surface flat
e.g. artificial surfaces, rocks etc.

Rill flow

• Rills are shallow channels (no more than a few tens of centimetres deep) cut into soil by the
erosive action of flowing water.
 • As the slope steepens,the amount of water increases and sheet flow encounters surface
irregularities sheet flow turns into small shallow channels or rivulets known as rills.

Gulley flow

• Rills in turn join up with other rills and form gullies.

• A gully is a landform created by running water, eroding sharply into soil, typically on a
hillside.
• Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and
width.
• The process by which gullies are formed is called gullying.
• A gully may grow in length by means of headward erosion at a knickpoint.
• Gullies are sometimes known as dongas.
• Gullies empty into streams which are perennial rivers.

The results of water erosion

• Sheet flow results in sheet erosion

• This results in the washing away of fertile top soils and shallow soils.
• Rock surfaces and plant roots are also exposed by sheet wash.
• Rill flow results in rill erosion.
• Gully flow results in gullies also known as dongas.
• Both Rill and gully erosions results in the formation of dongas and ravines.

The problems of dongas.

• Can lead to some areas becoming inaccessible as they are difficult to cross especially when it
comes to carts and motor vehicles.
• Disrupts communication lines such as roads.
• Reduces the area available for crops pastures and settlements.
• Can lead to the uprooting of trees.
• Contribute to siltation.
• Humans and animals can fall into these ravines leading to injuries.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Drainage Patterns.

• Drainage pattern is a term that refers to the way in which a river and its tributaries arrange
themselves in the drainage basin.
• The drainage pattern evolves over a long period of time and is affected by such factors as the
underlying rock, the slope of the land, the existence or nonexistence of faultlines and tectonic
movements.
• The most common drainage patterns are: trellis, dendritic, radial, centripetal and parallel.

Trellis

• Sometimes known as rectangular drainage pattern.

• It is formed where streams join the main river at right angles.
 • The trellis pattern develops in areas of alternate hard and soft rocks.
• The main river (also known as the consequent stream) follows the dip of the rocks down the
slope after an initial uplift.
• The tributaries (also known as the subsequent streams) which develop along the soft rock join
the main stream at right angles.
• These tributaries are at times joined by their own tributaries at more or less right angles.
• Streams that flow against the dip of the rock strata are called obsequent streams.
• In Zimbabwe Trellis drainage is found in the Chimanimani mounts.
• Trellis drainage also occurs along fault lines and rectangular joints.
• In eroded fold mount areas.
• Due to headward erosion by streams.

Dendritic

• The word dendritic comes from the Greek dendron meaning tree.
• In dendritic drainage patterns the streams join one another in a shape that looks like the
branches of a tree.
• These streams eventually end up as one big river (the trunk).
• The tributaries join each other at acute angles.
• It is commonly found in areas with a uniform rock structure resulting in uniform erosion.
• It is also found in areas which have gentle slopes.

Radial

• Is formed where streams drain from a central highland in all directions.

• It is also known as centrifugal and divergent drainage.
• It is common in areas with conical hills and/or domes for example volcanic cones and other
conical landforms.
• Streams radiating from these areas can later end up forming other patterns as the flow
downstream and meet up with other tributaries.
• In Zimbabwe these type of drainage pattern is found in areas that have granite domes still
covered by soil.

Centripetal or convergent drainage

Convergent Drainage

• Is found in areas where rivers drain towards a central inland lake, swamp or depression.
• It is in essence an inland drainage system e.g. as in the case of the Dead Sea.
• It is common in inland depressions such as faulted intermontane (between mountains) basins,
calderas as well as in arid and semi-arid areas.

Parallel.

• Rivers and tributaries flow downhill together in a more or less parallel pattern.
 • It is the simplest and most basic drainage pattern.
• It occurs on newly uplifted land or land that is gently sloping allowing rivers and tributaries to
flow in parallel channels.
• Examples include the Zambezi and its tributaries.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River Regime

• A river regime is the term used to describe the annual variations in a specified river ’s
discharge.
• A river ’s discharge is the
• This is the total volume of water flowing through a channel at any given point and is
measured in cubic metres per second.
• Sometimes these measure/unit is known as cumecs.
• A river ’s regime is shown on a graph called a
hydrograph.
• A hydrograph shows the discharge of a river as well as total rainfall in the river ’s
basin/catchment area over a period of time, before, during and after the storm.
• It allows for a relationship between the rainfall falling in a river ’s c
river ’s discharge.
• Such information can be used to, for example, predict the risk of flooding in a given area after
a storm event.

Hydrograph

• As already said a river ’s regime is shown on a stor

• During a storm most of the rain falls onto the land rather than directly into the river.
• The water then will make its way into the river and you can use a hydrograph to see how
quickly this occurs.
• By looking at the peak rainfall and comparing it with the peak discharge you can work out the
lag-time (the time between the two peaks).
• Different catchment areas will have different flood hydrographs.
• A river ’s
on regime is shown
an annual hydrograph with all the months listed.

Characteristics of a hydrograph

• Peak discharge-shows the maximum amount of flow in the river.

• Peak rainfall-the maximum amount of rainfall and when it fell.
• Lag time-the difference between the peak rainfall and the peak discharge i.e the time it takes
for the rain to reach the river.
• A rising limp which shows a rise in discharge.
• A falling limp which shows a fall in discharge.

Factors affecting a river ’s r egime.

 • Seasons- there will be a rise in discharge during summer/rain months and a fall in discharge
in the dry months when there is little rainfall. There will be a lag time as water moves through
the ground and from storages into the stream.
• Climate-rivers that pass through Mediterranean climates tend to have more than one peak
period as they have another surge in discharge during the winter months when these regions
receive their rains. The same is also true of rivers that pass through areas that experience
snow for example the Nile e’stofamed floods are
snow melting in du
the Kilimanjaro
mountains resulting in peak discharge even in the hot dry months as water moves from snow
storage e.g. glaciers into the streams.
• Geology for example rivers that flow through porous and pervious rocks tend to have smaller
peaks/small changes in discharge as opposed to rivers in granite (non-porous and impervious)
rocks.
• Human activities for example urbanisation results in more impervious surfaces and very high
peaks, short lag time and higher peaks (differences between the lowest and highest discharge.)

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River Rejuvination

• Rejuvenation-occurs when there is a negative change in a river ’s b

river ’s
it tobase level
revive itsfalls
erosive energy in the processes.
• A river ’s base level is the lowest p
• A negative change in a river ’s base l
example isostatic uplift) or by a fall in the level of the sea for example due to tides.
• This change renews a river ’s ability to erode d
• A rejuvenated river erodes vertically into the floodplain to produce new features that are
different from those typically found in the flood plain.

Landforms resulting from rejuvenation

• Rejuvenation produces several features including: incised meanders, terraces and

waterfalls/knickpoints.

River terraces and incised meanders

• River terraces are remnants of former floodplains

• Which following vertical erosion brought about by rejuvenation have been left high and dry
above the current and present-day flood plain.
• If a river quickly erodes and cuts quickly into the floodplain a pair of terraces of equal height
may be seen flanking the flood plain creating a valley into a valley feature known
as paired terraces.
• Sometimes the river does quickly cut into the flood plain, allowing it to meander, resulting in
one terrace being removed as the meander migrates downstream.
• This results in the formation of unpaired terraces.
• If uplift continues for sometime, incised meanders may form.
• These are meanders that have been cut deeply into the valley floor.
• Incised meanders are also known as entrenched meanders.
Knickpoint, rapids and waterfalls.

• Sometimes the point where the uplift occurs can be visible especially when the uplift or fall in
base level is rapid.
• The point where the river crosses from the old plain into the new plain is known as
knickpoint.
• A river may have to descent this knickpoint as either a rapid or waterfall.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: River capture

• This is a process where one River captures the headwaters on a nearby stream.
• This can occur due to several reasons viz:
• Tectonic earth movements, where the slope of the land changes, and the stream is tipped out
of its former course.
• Natural damming, such as by a landslide or ice sheet.
• Erosion, either:
• Headward erosion of one stream valley upwards into another,
• Lateral erosion of a meander through the higher ground dividing the adjacent streams.
• In an area of karst topography, where streams may sink, or flow underground (a sinking or
losing stream) and then reappear in a nearby stream valley.

The process.

• The diagram above shows how river capture can occur.

• There are two consequent rivers: Stream A and B and Stream B has a tributary (subsequent
A)
• Stream B has higher discharge and thus higher erosional activity than stream A.
• Stream B might also have a lower base level and thus increasing its ability to erode.
• Subsequent A migrates upstream (headward erosion) until it reaches Stream A ’s ch
• Through a process known as watershed migration Subsequent A enlarges its own drainage
basin at the expense of Stream A.
• In time because Subsequent A and Stream B have a lower base level the headwaters of
Stream A will be captured and diverted into Subsequent A.
• The point at which the headwaters of the minor river change direction is known as the elbow
of capture.
• Below this point a wind gap marks the former course of the now beheaded stream or misfit
stream.
• A misfit stream is a river whose headwaters were captured resulting in the stream flowing in
a valley that is too large to be accounted for by the low discharge.
• A knickpoint and waterfall might form at the elbow of capture especially if the base level of
the capturing river is far lower than that of the beheaded stream.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes:Characteristics and Location of Hot deser

NB:It is important to note that the Ordinary Level syllabus confines our study to hot deserts that are
otherwise known as tropical deserts. Other deserts such as the cold deserts of Siberia are beyond the
scope of the syllabus and thus we will limit our notes to hot deserts.
Characteristics of hot deserts

• A desert is an area that receives little precipitation and is characterised by aridity or semi-
aridity.
• Most hot deserts rarely ever receive more than 250mm of rainfall per annum.
• Such deserts are referred to as arid deserts for example some parts of the Sahara are referred
to as being hyper-arid i.e. they receive less than 50 mm of rainfall per annum.
• Some hot deserts are referred to as being semi-arid which means they receive at least 500
mm of rainfall per annum.
• The Kalahari Desert is an example of a semi-arid hot desert.
• However this rainfall may fall in one big storm followed by extended dry periods.
• Deserts are mostly dry throughout the year except during freak storms that fall in some
deserts e.g. the Namid Desert.
• It is the shortage of moisture or the deficit in the water balance of desert areas that gives them
most of their characteristics.
• They have sandy soils.
• They have experience heavy winds for example Harmattans and dust storms.
• They have scant vegetation cover most of which is adaptive for example cacti (plural of
cactus) or is confined to or near oases.
• The shortage of wind means there is little cover to protect the soil from the effects of wind
and thus wind erosion tends to be prevalent.
• They have very large diurnal temperature ranges i.e. they are very hot during the day with
some parts of the Sahara just approaching 50°C and very cold at night with temperatures
often falling below freezing point.
• Sometimes the temperature range is as high as 20°C or more.
• Due to lack of shade and minimal cloud cover deserts have high evapotranspiration rates.
• As has been already said above: precipitation in the form of rain is infrequent and unreliable
in deserts.
• These sporadic rains tend to come result in flash floods and can be associated with short
periods of vegetative growth.
• The flash floods may also create steep walled scarps and gulleys.
• Landforms tend to have angular features because the lack of rain results in minimal chemical
weathering.
• Examples of tropical deserts are the Sahara desert which covers about a quarter of Africa ’s
surface, the Namib Desert in Namibia, the Kalahari Desert, the Gobi desert in China and the
Mojave Desert in Nevada, USA.

Types of Deserts

• Despite the belief of many people deserts are not composed of homogeneous sand dune
covered boundless plains.
• They do have diverse landscapes.
• Deserts/landscapes are described according to the characteristics of their landscape.
• There are three common types of hot deserts:

1. Stony or reg deserts.

 2. Rocky or Hamada deserts
3. Sandy or erg deserts.

1 Reg deserts

• The landscape of reg deserts consists of mostly pebbles, stones and grave which cannot be
blown away by the wind.
• These landscapes are also known as desert pavements.
• The surfaces of such desert landscapes are covered with closely packed, interlocking angular
or rounded rock fragments of pebble and cobble size.
• Some Western parts of the Sahara Desert have such landscapes.
• The terms Reg (in the western Sahara), or Serir (in the eastern Sahara) or Gibber Plain
(Australia), or Saï (Tarim Desert, central Asia), apply to a sandy plain or broad depression
largely covered by lag gravels or angular boulders, from which the finer soil and sediment has
been stripped by eolian ablation.

2 Hamada Desert

• This is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard, rocky plateaus, with
very little sand because this has been removed by deflation.
• The difference between Hamada and Reg is that Reg occurs as stony plains or depressions
covered with gravels or boulders, rather than as highland plateaus( Hamada).
• Hamada or hammada therefore is a desert high plain or plateau where deflation has removed
the fine grained surface materials and left behind a surface of sand-scoured bedrock with or
without a veneer of pebbles or boulders.
• The word hamada is Arabic for “rock plain.”

3 Erg or Sandy deserts

• An erg is a broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative
cover.
• The word erg is Arabic for “dune
ing fields” mean
a landscape covered by sand dunes.
• They are a result of wind deposited sand piling up into sand dunes.
• The landscape is hardly fixed nor is it stationary as the sand dunes and ridges are constantly
moving as a result of wind action.
• The Sahara Desert is the largest Erg desert in the world.
• Erg deserts are sometimes known as Sand seas.
• This owing to their undulating plains of sand the surface of which is blown into ripples and
sand dunes.

N.B. As has already been said most deserts have all of the landscapes above within their
boundaries. For example while the Sahara desert is for the most part an Erg desert some parts of it
have both Hamada and Reg landscapes.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Location of Hot Deserts.

 • The largest arid and semi-arid deserts occur between latitudes 15° and 30° North and South of
the equator.
• Most of these deserts are located on the western sides of the continental masses on which they
lie.
• They occur within the Trade wind belt where the winds are off-shore.
• Off-shore winds are those winds that blow from the shore towards the ocean.
• These winds (Trade winds) tend to be dry after loosing their moisture as they journey across
the eastern side of contents.
• Although west coasts have on-shore winds (winds from the ocean towards the land) blowing
towards them, they rarely bring rain.
• This is because the onshore winds meet with cold currents that blow parallel to coast lines
(e.g. the Cold Benguela current in the case of the Kalahari and the Cold Angola current in the
case of the Namib desert) this causes the moisture within the on-shore winds to condense and
form mist, fog and light rain before the winds reach the coast.
• Most of the winds that blow across deserts are land winds which are dry/contain little
moisture and therefore do not result in any form of precipitation.
• Some deserts as the Arizona desert are far from oceans, moisture from oceans is exhausted in
the form of rainfall in other areas before it reaches these deserts since they are further in the
interior.
• Some deserts such as the Gobi Desert, are located in rain shadow areas because they are in
depressions or basins.
• Since they are on the leeward side of mountains where warm dry air is sinking they tend to
receive little to no rainfall.
• In addition to this the relative humidity of the air mass falls resulting in high
evapotranspiration rates thus exacerbating the aridity of deserts while increasing their
temperature.
• The Kalahari and Sahara deserts are also located on the rain shadow side of major mountains.
• In Zimbabwe areas like Save valley and major parts of Matabeleland are hot and receive very
little rainfall, droughts are frequent and may eventually become deserts.
• Some deserts are located in the sub-tropical high pressure zone 30° North and South of the
equator which means winds tend to blow from these areas and dry warm air is sinking
creating permanent High pressure belts.
• In some areas as the Patagonian Desert cool off-shore currents prevent local on-shore winds
from bringing in rain.
• Most Hot Deserts are increasing in area in a process called desertification.
• Human action sometimes contribute to desertification so in some ways deserts are a man
made feature.
• Climate change has also resulted in changes in local rainfall patterns with increased incidence
of droughts in places like Somalia where rainfall might not fall for years on end.
• This topic will be looked at separately later.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Wind Action in Deserts

• Wind is a process where the wind detaches soil particles from the land surface and transports
them by its force.
 • It occurs when forces exerted by wind overcome the gravitational and cohesive forces of soil
particles on the surface of the ground.

Important notice

• A common misconception is that wind erosion is the most dominant form of erosion in
deserts.
• That is not true as water action and other forms of denudation are just as important.
• Although wind action is not the most important agent of change in deserts, its effect are far
more important here than in other areas.
• You should also note that chemical weathering also occurs in deserts.
• The importance of wind action therefore varies from desert landscape to desert landscape and
cannot thus be generalised.

Wind Action

• Wind action in deserts are also known as aeolian processes.

• These processes include erosion, transportation and deposition.

Erosion

• Wind erosion involves three main processes: deflation, abrasion and attrition.

1. Deflation

• This is the progressive removal of fine material by wind leaving reg landscapes behind.
• By blowing away sand and other rock waste, the wind lowers the desert surface producing
depressions known as closed depressions or deflation hollows.
• Because the finer material is composed of smaller particles, it is lifted off and carried away by
the force of the wind.
• The deflation process provides the supply of sand used to build up sand dunes in other parts
of the desert.

2. Abrasion

• is the sandblasting action produced by materials during saltation as they are transported by
wind.
• This process smooths,pits, polishes and wears away rocks that are close to the ground.
• Since sand particles cannot be lifted up very high off the ground the zone of maximum
erosion tends to be within about 1 meter from the desert surface.
• This sometimes results in undercutting of effects on rocks.
• Large rocks are polished on their windward sides and rocks that are not uniform like granite
are turned into spongy, pitted, rough surfaces due to some minerals being softer than others.
• Pebbles and small rocks are shaped into ventifacts with polished windward sides. see diagram
above.

3 Attrition
 • Is the process by which large rock particles roll and rub against each other and wear away.
• This happens during the wind transportation processes.
• This process produces sand particles that are rounded into particles about the size of millet
seeds.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Wind Action in Deserts: Wind Transport

• Wind is able to transport (move) sand and dust particles depending on its speed and flow.
• The effectiveness of wind erosion and transport depend on a number of factors:
• Aeolian movement is greatest where the winds are strong (20km/hr or more), turbulent, come
from a constant direction and blows steadily for a length of time.
• The effectiveness and nature of wind transport also depends on the nature of the regolith (
weathered material).
• It is also more effective in areas where there is less vegetation cover which tend to act as wind
breaks by absorbing some of the wind ’s energy.
• It also depends on the material being transported for example if the material is dry and
unconsolidated it can better be transported.
• Optimum wind erosion and transportation occurs in semi-arid parts of deserts.

Wind transport

• Wind moves material by three processes:

• Suspension, saltation and surface creep.
• It is important to note that each of these methods of transportation do not happen in isolation
but, often all three take place simultaneous at any given time.

Suspension

• Happens when materials are very fine i.e. less than 0.15 mm in diameter.
• This means that they can be easily picked up by the wind,
• They are then raised to considerable height and carried, in the air, for great distances.
• Sand particles have been on occasion carried from the Sahara desert and deposited in Britain a
great distance away.
• Suspension creates dust storms that often reduce visibility in deserts to less than a kilometer.

Saltation

• When wind speeds exceed the threshhold velocity (that is the speed required to move grain
particles),
• fine and coarse-grained sand particles are lifted and rise almost vertically for several
centimeters before falling again to the ground.
• When they return to the ground they follow a flat trajectory that sees them fall a short distance
from where they were picked up but not in the same place.
• The particles are moved by the wind in a leap-frogging and bouncing manner.
• Even in the most severe storms the particles are rarely lifted to more than 2 meters in height
thus differentiating this method of wind transportation from suspension.
Surface creep

• As particles are transported by saltation and suspension they may dislodge and push forward
larger particles (i.e. those that are more than 0.25 mm in diameter).
• These are too heavy to be lifted from the ground by the wind ’s energy.
• However due to continued bombardment by the smaller particles being transport by the other
modes of transport they roll and gradually move over the surface of the desert.

Deposition

• Due to the occurrence of obstacles and impediments suchs as vegetation, rocks, dead animal
carcases and settlements
• Materials transported by wind are eventually deposited.
• Deposition can also occur due to a reduction in wind energy.
• Wind deposition forms landforms such as barchan and seif dunes.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Deflation Hollows

• Are also known as closed hollows or blowouts.

• These are enclosed depressions caused by wind erosion.
• In deserts the wind erodes loose material from flat areas which have, uncemented sediments
such as those occurring in tropical deserts.
• Deflation hollows develop in areas where the transported materials is deposited.
• As already mentioned deposition occurs when the wind meets with an impediment.
• Deflation hollows are usually formed on surfaces patches where the protective vegetative
cover has been lost for example due to human activities or periods of extended droughts.
• Since that portion becomes unprotected the the wind deflates and scours continuously at
relatively unconsolidated material,
• The material is deposited on the edges of the hollow that are still protected by vegetation such
as marram grass.
• The removal of the fine particles the lowering of the landform leads to the formation of a
depression.
• An example is the Qattara Depression

• Sometimes water that falls in these depression hollows during freak storms collects to form
pools in the midst of deserts providing an essential source of water for local ecosystems,
animals and humans and their activities.
• If an area is eroded down to the water table, further deflation is prevented unless the water
table is also lowered by evaporation.

• Some oases in the Sahara were formed in this manner and may be below sea level.
• Dunes are made from sand that is deposited at the leeward side of the wind.
• Some deflation hollows may be formed in part due to the presence of faults within the rocks
which are exploited and widened by weathering and the regolith removed by wind erosion.
 • Note note all oasis are formed by deflation some are naturally occurring springs and some
result as a result of freak storms and the underlying geological rocks limiting the amount of
infiltration.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Sand Dunes

• As soon as wind velocity drops wind deposition occurs.

• The heaviest material is deposited first while the finer material and dust is carried further
before being dropped.
• As a result loess (which consists of fine particles) is sometimes deposited thousands of
kilometers from deserts.
• Large mounds of sand result from sand depositions within the desert.
• These result in the formation of erg landscapes such as those found in the Sahara.
• Three major types of features result from wind deposition and form part of the erg landscape:
• sand ripples, barchan dunes and seif dunes.

Sand ripples

• These are small wave-like features which develop on sand which move easily.
• They range from a few centimeters to about a meter in height
• They are often temporary and suffer destruction when the wind changes direction.

Sand Dunes

• These are hills of sand which are found in a variety of shape,size and direction.
• Dunes develop when sand grains moved by saltation and surface creep are deposited
(remember suspension material forms loess which is deposited outside deserts).
• Some dunes, but not all, form around obstacles such as trees, bushes, rocks, a small hill or
even a dead animal.
• Most dunes form on areas that are flat and sandy rather than those areas that are rocky and
uneven.
• Dunes vary in size from a few meters to over a 100 meters in height.
• Although they take many shapes, there are two common types of dunes:
• Barchan and Seif dunes.

Barchan Dunes

• A barchan dune is a small crescent shaped dune.

• It has a height can range from a few meters to about 30 meters in height and it can be 400
meters wide..
• They lie at right angles to the prevailing wind.
• It has its “horns” pointing downwind.
• They usually form around an obstacle such as a rock, piece of vegetation or even a dead
animal.
• As the mound, which is wind ward grows due to continued sand depositions,
• Its leading edges are slowly carried forward in a downwind direction.
• The windward slope of the dune is gentle.
 • The downwind side is steep and slightly curved.
• This is caused by eddies that are set up by the prevailing wind.
• A barchan dune moves as grains of sand are moved up the windward slope to fall onto the
leeward side.
• They can occur both singly or in groups.

Sief Dunes

• Are also known as transverse dunes, linear dunes or draa.

• They are ridge-shaped with steep sides and lie parallel to the prevailing wind.
• They are also formed and appear parallel to each other.
• A seif dune has a sharp crest which may be a 100 meters in height and they can stretch for up
to 150 kilometers in length.
• They are separated by flat corridors which are between 25 and 400 meters wide.
• These corridors are swept clear of sand by the prevailing wind.
• Eddies blow up against the sides of dunes and drop deposit sand that is added to the dunes.
• They usually develop from small sand ridges.
• They slowly move forward in the direction of the prevailing wind as they move forward.
• They feature in parts of the Namib Desert and the Sahara Deserts as well as other deserts.

Yardangs, Zeugens and Rock Pedestals

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Hot Deserts: Yardangs

Zeugens

• Pictured in the diagram above.

• Zeugens are the ridges in “ridge and furrow”
• These ridge and furrow landscapes sculpted found in hot deserts are a result of wind erosion.
• Wind abrasion turns a desert surface which has a layer of resistant rock underlain by a layer
of weak rock into ridges and furrows.
• The wind usually takes advantage of joints and cracks created by dew and frost as part of
weathering processes.
• Zeugens may be as high as 30 meters in height.
• With time the furrows are widened and the zeugens lowered and consequently they are
undercut and worn away as the wind erosion and other denudation processes continue to act
on them.

Yardang

• Yardangs are ridges made of resistant rock which are developed and lie parallel to the
direction of the prevailing wind.
• When bands of resistant and weak rocks lie parallel to the prevailing wind,
• Wind abrasion produces another form of “
are readily eroded to leave the more resistant bands of hard rocks to stand as yardangs.
• These yardang ridges vary in height from 5 to 15 meters and can be as long as a kilometer.
• These landforms are usually undercut on their windward sides.
 • Yardangs can be found in Algeria and Egypt.

Rock Pedestal.

• These are mushroom/tower-like shaped features formed as a result of wind abrasion.

• Since the sand blasting of wind in deserts is mostly confined to a meter and below from the
ground,
• Rocks are undercut.
• These rocks are usually made up layers with differing hardness resulting in the softer parts
being worn away at a more rapid rate resulting in the formation of pedestals.
• Continued erosion leads to the eventual collapse of the pedestal.
• An example is Mukarob ( “The
before its eventual collapse in 1988.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Hot Deserts: Inselbergs

• These are round topped mounds of rock found in deserts as a result of persistant wind erosion
over long periods of time.
• In some deserts such as the Namib desert, wind erosion has removed all the original surface
leaving isolated pieces of rock that stand up as round-topped masses.
• Some of these inselbergs may be a result combined wind and water erosion for example
remains of plateau edges may be cut back by weathering after they are exposed by sheet
wash.
• Talus (scree/loose rocks resulting from weathering and mass-wasting) accumulated at the
base of the slope as shown on the right hand of the photograph)

The diagrams below show the formation of an inselberg and kopje in desert conditions.

Inselberg

• In most deserts no rain does not fall for several years.

• When it does it comes in the form of unexpected and infrequent downpours.
• Therefore despite the low rainfall totals (about 250mm per annum), water is still a dominant
agent of erosion and deposition.
• This is especially true in semi-arid deserts like the Kalahari where rain falls more frequently.
• Dew also forms in deserts where temperatures, due to relatively little cover resulting in
temperatures falling below dew point, is also found in deserts where it plays an important role
in chemical weathering.
• The infrequent but violent thunderstorms result in rushing torrents in steep slopes and to sheet
floods on gentle slopes.
• The run-off is more pronounced due to the relative lack of vegetation in desert landscapes.
• The run-off on steep slopes is usually in the form of rills/shallow grooves which link up to
form gullies.
• These lead in turn to wadis/chebkas
 • During these storms water may flow in these wadis as flash floods and as they progress and
carry more and more materials they may turn into mud flows.
• The mud is later deposited and forms features known as alluvial fans.

Past pluvial periods

• Even though some places in deserts do not receive rain at all for years on end,
• There is evidence for example, paleolithic marks on some desert rocks,
• This evidence proves that deserts had more pluvial (humid) conditions that current arid
conditions in the past.
• Some wadis, dry river channels and gullies may have been formed during these pluvial
periods.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Wadis and Bahadas

Wadis/Canyons

• As already pointed out freak storms occur in deserts characterised by excessive precipitation
over short periods of time.
• Due to infiltration excess flow and even saturation excess flow there is significant run off in
the form of sheet floods,
• This flow occurs in the form of rills which later join to form gullies which in turn form into
wadis,
• These are deep canyons resulting from sustained erosion, the have steep banks and flat floors.
• At times the floor may have material deposited by stream floods.
• Wadis may also be formed by stream floods which erode valley sides although some wadis
can be dry and only have water during and in the immediate aftermath of these storms.
• An example is the Grand Canyon in the United States.

Alluvial fans/Bahadas/Bajadas

• During the sudden rain storms

• Flash floods rush down the wadis,
• They carry large amounts of materials including a lot of silt (all this material is referred
alluvium) forming a mud flow
• As the water dissipates after the end of the storm and when its looses its energy upon reaching
less steep slopes the alluvium is deposited to form fan shaped features at the base of the
piedmont zone.

Desert piedmont zone

• Is made up of water landforms formed by erosion, transportation and deposition.

• The landforms found on the piedmont zone include: mountain front, bahada, peri pediment,
playa and rock pediment.

Features of a piedmont zone.

Mountain Front

• It is formed as a result of erosion along a steep slope and sometimes as a result of headward
erosion.
• It may also be a made up of large rock boulders resulting from weathering.

Bahada

• A depositional feature see above.

Knickpoint

• A sharp change in profile that marks the transition from the mountain front into a pediment.

Rock pediment

• It is the gentle slope that starts at the knickpoint at the foot of the mountain.
• This may be made out of bare rock or it can be covered in alluvium deposited during floods.

Peripediment

• It is made up of deposited material washed across the pediment.

• The peri pediment is a depositional feature that is formed in the same way as bajadas but it is
larger.

Playa

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Mesa and Butte

• Mesas and buttes are flat topped uplands with steep sides and often capped by hard resistant
rocks.
• Mesas and buttes are desert features created primarily by river erosion in deserts but carved
away further by desert weathering processes as well as wind (aeolian) processes.
• They are formed from what are originally plateaus that are cut into two by rivers.
• These features can be quickly formed because desert rivers have a lot of erosive power owing
to the lack of vegetation, the sudden and heavy storms that result in violent downpours and
ferocious runoff and the abrasive material that is readily available in deserts.
• Messas have a broader top compared to buttes.
• They are usually dissected by wadis.
• Weathering processes pile up scree/talus at their bases.
• Buttes can be formed by mesas that have been carved by erosion.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Playas

• These are sometimes known as inland drainage basins.

• Due to the fact that there are no permanent drainage patterns in deserts any rain that falls
either evaporates or infiltrates into the soil or runs off and drains into basins.
• Basins are depressions.
 • When rain falls temporary rivers that flow in canyons/bahadas are formed and these may
eventually drain in a basin/depression.
• These rives form lakes in these depressions.
• When these lakes dry up due to evaporation they are turned into salt flats.
• These temporary lakes and salt flats are known as playas or sebkhas.
• Examples of these can be found in the Sahara desert.
• When alluvium is deposited at the edge and overlies the edge of the pediment around the
playa it is known as a peri-pediment.
• Most deserts are characterised by inland drainage basins as few rivers e.g. the Nile have
enough water supply to flow and persist through the deserts.
• Most form inland drainage basins/lakes/playas.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Human Activities in Deserts

• In spite of their hostile enviroments brought about by aridity leading to shortage of water,
pasture, wood fuel and other wood resources, remoteness, infertile and salty soils, disruptive
dust storms and temperature extremes most people still choose to settle there and engage in
various economic and agricultural activities.
• These activities include nomadic pastoralism and other forms of agriculture, oil drilling and
other forms of mineral exploitation.

Human activities

• Human settlements at aquifers and oasis.

• An aquifer is a place where the water table is higher and intersects with the surface thus
allowing people to utilise the water in the form of irrigation, domestic and industrial use.
• Most desert settlement are usually near water sources.
• Activities usually involve the growing of palm trees or pastoralism for example the people of
Sahel and the Beja people of the Sahara desert.
• There are also some perennial rivers that transverse deserts and people tend to settle along
their banks as the rivers acts as a lifeline.
• An example is the Nile River around which civilisations have existed for millennia with
activities such as irrigation using the shaduf and archimedes screw have been practiced for
centuries and continue even today.
• Cotton is grown in the semi-arid and inhospitable Awash valley in Ethiopia something made
possible by irrigation schemes.
• Dams can also be constructed to ease water shortages, provide Hydro-electic power and
control flooding an example is the Aswan Dam in Egypt.
• Various roads and railway lines have been constructed across deserts allowing for the fast
transportation of goods across deserts without relying on camels. A highway links Ethiopian
regions with Egypt and is used to transport cotton from the Ethiopian fields to Egyptian
markets.
• The development of satellite technologies such allows people in remote parts of the deserts
e.g. Oil fieds to use these devices to communicate with other parts of the world thus reducing
the remoteness of the region and improving the flow of information.
 • A good portion of the world ’s oilinfields
ound desertareregions
also f and countries like
Saudi Arabia, Libya and the United Arab Emirates can make a living and have even thrived as
a result of the Oil boom leading some to refer to Oil as the black gold.
• Large amounts of income derived from minerals are used to develop these nations ’
infrastructure.
• Settlements have also formed around large oil fields with some even evolving into permanent
towns and cities.
• Other minerals such as opals can also be found in deserts and can lead to settlements for
example Coober Pedy in Australia.
• Towns and cities that originate from the influx of people as a result of mineral discovery are
known as Boom towns.
• Settlements often include specialised houses such as those made from mud which makes
cooler and more hospitable than the traditional designs found in other parts of the world.
• Deserts also offer clear skies that can be ideal for filming, military exercises and weapons
testing, solar power generation and wind power generation.
• Motor sporting activities are also held in deserts.
• Places like the Valley of Kings are popular tourist sports.
• Archeological sites also abound in deserts.
• Using money from Oil recreational facilities, modern roads, railway lines, cities and other
infrastructure has been built in the midst of deserts for example Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates.
• The Bedouin nomads also engage in cross desert trading activities with various tribal groups.
• Desalination plants have also been set up to purify water from the sea and make fit for
industrial and domestic use.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Desertification

The meaning of desertification

• Desertification literary means the making of deserts and several definitions have been offered
for the term all expressing this idea.
• Desertification refers to the spread of desert conditions for example resulting in aridity or
semi-arid conditions and scant vegetation cover in the encroached area.
• Desertification is therefore the spread of deserts as well as a reduction in the biological
productivity of a given piece of land.
• It is also attributed to a process by which previously productive land turns into a desert like
land and its agricultural productiveness drops by ten percent or more due to natural and
human factors.
• A more comprehensive definition might define desertification as an environmental
degradation process brought about by both natural causes (e.g. chronic droughts) and
excessive human activities (such as climate change and deforestation) resulting in the fall in
productivity of a given piece of land and the spread of desert like conditions to the affected
piece of land.

Natural factors that lead to desertification

 • Climate change for example a reduction in the amount of rainfall received at a given area or
increases in evapotranspiration rates can lead to desertification.
• The El Nino effect resulting in droughts.
• Acid rain leads to the reduction of land productivity.
• A land ’s distance from the sea.
• Continental drift for example most of the Sahara desert enjoyed pluvial periods during the so
called Quaternary era when the African plate was further south that it currently is and the
Sahara region occupied the latitudes currently occupied by the present day Savannah regions.

Human factors

• Deforestation as people cut down trees for use as firewood, thatching, making furniture and
other industrial and domestic uses.
• The clearing of land for agricultural use.
• Overgrazing for example in the Sahel region.
• Overpopulation as more population increases are not matched with increases in resources.
• Expansion of human settlements such as towns and land is cleared for industrial and
residential use.
• Mining activities for example open cast mining and oil mining which leads to oil spills and
destruction of vegetation.
• Salinisation which makes soils less fertile and makes vegetation growth impossible.

NB Human factors and Natural (Physical factors) often combine to produce desserts during the
desertification process.

Effects of desertification

• A reduction in vegetative cover due to deforestation and drought.

• Barren sandy soils and sometimes soil hardening.
• Increased surface runoff due to reduced vegetative cover resulting in the formation of gullies
and dongas.
• Reduced soil fertility.
• Reduced productive capacity of agricultural land.
• Reduced land carrying capacity.
• Death of livestock as a result of water and pasture shortage.
• Water and pasture shortages.
• Famine and starvation.
• Reduction in annual rainfall and persistent droughts.

Example of desertification (Sahel Region)

• The Sahel is the semi-arid transition region between the Sahara desert to the north and wetter
regions of equatorial Africa to the south.
• It extends from the Atlantic in the west to the Indian ocean in the east.
• Its annual rainfall varies widely from year to year, and the land consists of stabilized ancient
sand seas is one of the poorest and most environmentally degraded areas of the world.
• It forms a boundary between the Sahara and the more wetter parts of Africa.
 • The Sahara desert is slowly encroaching on Sahel land due to overpopulation and
overgrazing, persistent droughts, erratic rainfall and climate change.
• The area has been plagued by persistent droughts.
• The drought was partly caused by natural causes in the form of climate change.
• The harmattan winds that affect the area are dry because they come from the Atlas mountains.
• Human activities have also contributed to the desertification in the area.
• The people of the region practice Nomadic pastoralism, moving from place to place looking
for fresh pastures.
• This movement has caused deforestation and overgrazing as more and more animals grazed
repeadley on the same piece of land.
• This resulted in the degradation of the land whose productivity decreased.
• This meant that less productive land would be available while the number of animals keept
and keeps increasing worsening the situation.

Effects of desertification in the Sahel

• Drying up of wells and springs

• Destruction of pastures.
• Loss of life due to droughts and famine. A quarter of the people in the region died in the
droughts of the 1970s.
• A massive influx of refugees into the adjacent countries of Mali and Niger resulting in semi-
permanent camps which usually have unsanitary living conditions.
• Loss of livelihood as animals died.

Reaction

• UNESCO held a meeting in Nairobi Kenya to alert the world about the disaster.
• They also provided food and water to the affected people.
• Other international relief agencies such as UNICEF and the Red Cross were involved.
• Concerted efforts have also been made to educate the people of Sahel on the effects

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Methods of preventing desertification.

The following methods can be used to prevent and slow down the rate of desertification:

• Afforestation that is planting trees where none previously existed.

• Fallowing-allowing fields to fallow instead of growing crops on them continuously.
• Legislation-passing laws that favour conservative farming methods and practices and
penalises those who do not follow the practices.
• Educating people about the impact of poor farming methods and schooling them on the best
farming methods available to them.
• Planting trees lines for example gum trees to act as wind breaks and lessen the impact of wind
erosion.
• Dam construction-for use in irrigation schemes and to provide alternative hydro-electric
energy instead of relying on firewood.
• Practice irrigation for example using oases and rivers such as the Nile River.
• Limit settlements near water sources such as oases.
 • Construct contours to conserve land and lessen the effects of erosion.
• Terracing to lessen the impact of erosion.
• Paddocking to implement controlled grazing and prevent overgrazing.
• Practice crop rotation.
• Create sand embankments.
• Fencing to protect forests.
• Grow drought resistant crops such as sorghum or practice activities such as extensive cattle
ranching that put less pressure on pastures.
• Use alternative sources of fuel instead of firewood for example LP Gas.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Introduction to Weather and Climate

Weather-the state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time as regards heat, cloudiness,
dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc. The weather is all around us, all the time. It is an important part
of our lives and one that we cannot control.

Climate- meanwhile is defined as the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a
long period. It is the long term weather pattern of a given area. It is especially important in activities
such as agriculture. It is measured by assessing the patterns of variation in temperature, humidity,
atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological
variables in a given region over long periods of time.

Differences between weather and climate

Climate Weather
Describes the average conditions Describes the atmospheric conditions at a specific place at a
expected at a specific place at a specific point in time. Weather generally refers to day-to-day
given time. temperature and precipitation activity (e.g rain or snow)
Measured over a long period
Measured for short term e.g on a day to day basis
typically 30 years.
The study of the climate is called
The study of weather is called meteorology.
climatology.

Elements of weather and their instruments and units of measurement

Zimbabweans typically use the metric system of measurement for example meters for distance and
kilograms for weight. Weather is made up of several elements such as temperature which are
measured using various specilized instruments and expressed in their units. While the metric units is
common in most areas of our lives, weather elements are sometimes measured in imperial units for
example wind speed is measured in knots. In other instances different countries use different units.
For example the United States uses Degrees Fahrenheit to measure temperature. In the real world
you should study the unit used to express weather carefully before making comparisons for example
a temperature of 45 °F (around 7 °C )could be described as cool which is not what you would think
if you just thought of it as 45 °C “hot” which is a temperature associated with hot deserts.

The following elements are some of the most commonly used to express weather.
 • Temperature- Six ’s thermom
thermometer. It is expressed in Degrees Celsius.
• Humidity-Hydrometer/psychrometer/satellites-Humidity is measured as a percentage. See
Humidity for more details.
• Pressure-is measured using a Barometer and expressed in millibars.
• Wind direction-Wind Vane- it is expressed using the cardinal points of a campus e.g SE.
• Wind speed-Cup anemometer and expressed in knots.
• Sunshine-sunshine recorder and it is express in hours and minutes.
• Cloud cover-observed using the eyes and is measured in Oktas.

Weather report

• a systematic statement of the existing and usually the predicted meteorological conditions
over a particular area.
• The information is obtained from a weather station e.g Kutsaga.

Weather forecast

• Is a prediction of weather phenomena, trend and events.

• Weather forecasts are made by collecting as much data as possible about the current state of
the atmosphere (particularly the temperature, humidity and wind) and using understanding of
atmospheric processes (through meteorology) to determine how the atmosphere evolves in the
future.
• the chaotic nature of the atmosphere and incomplete understanding of the processes mean that
forecasts become less accurate as the range of the forecast increases.
• Information gained from the observations is used in conjunction with complicated models and
computer simulations are used to predict future weather.

Importance of weather to people

• People can be made aware of looming weather hazards such as thunderstorms and cyclones
and take precautionary measures such as evacuating the areas that will be affected.
• So that people can know which type of clothes to wear for example whether to carry a rain
coat or umbrella or not.
• Farmers can make more informed planning decisions e.g. when to spray, plant or harvest.
• Pilots know which routes to take when flying and how to land and take off.
• When making sporting calenders for example games like cricket are hugely affected by
weather so we can choose to play indoor sports instead.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Weather Station

-A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring
atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and
climate.

• Most instruments used in measuring weather elements are found in a weather station.
 • This is a place where weather events are recorded for example Kutsaga research station near
Harare International Airport.
• It is situated in an open space away from buildings and trees.
• Trees can affect weather phenomena for example by acting as wind-breaks thus affecting the
winspeed and direction readings.
• Building act as thermal sinks i.e they store heat energy thus distorting heat readings.

Instruments and items found in a weather station

1. Stevenson screen.
2. Six ’s thermometer.
3. Hygrometer.
4. Barometer.
5. Sunshine recorder.
6. Anemometer.
7. Rain gauge.
8. Evaporation dish.

For a long time technicians had to go to the weather station at a fixed time every day and record
various measurements shown by the instruments, reset the instruments and feed the data into
computers manually. This is becoming less common as Automated Weather stations become more
and more popular. These save on the human energy required to man them, can provide up to date
data via the internet and can be deployed in harsh remote areas such as the Arctics and Polar
regions.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Stevenson Screen

A Stevenson screen is a prominent feature on most weather stations.

• It is used to house weather instruments, for example the six ’s

• It is painted white in order to reflect excessive heat.
• It is 1.2 meters above the ground to avoid ground weather conditions from affecting the
readings yielded by the housed instruments.
• It has louvered sides to allow for free circulation of air.
• It has a double roof to reduce excessive heat from solar irradiation.
• It is made of wood to reduce excessive heat.
• It has metal legs to avoid attacks by termites. Sometimes the legs are made of treated wood
for the same reason.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Temperature

• The daily maximum and minimum temperatures are measured using Six ’s the
(pictured above).
• It was invented by James Six a British scientist hence the name Six ’s thermom
• It is also known as the Maximum and Minimum thermometer.
• It is housed in a Stevenson .’s screen
• Diurnal range is the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures.
How it works

• When temperature rises it pushes the alcohol in the left hand limp down and forces mercury
in the right hand limp up.
• The alcohol heats up and part of it is vaporized to occupy the conical bulb.
• The reading is taken on the right hand limp which is in the left hand limp contracts and some
of the alcohol in the conical bulb liquefies so that the mercury flows in the opposite direction.
• The minimum temperature is read just above the metal index on the right hand limp.

Common problems encountered when using the instrument

• Failing to identify mercury or alcohol.

• Failure to identify the maximum and minimum thermometer.
• Reading errors for example taking the measurement of the maximum thermometer above the
metal index and that of the minimum thermometer below the index.

Digital thermometers are becoming more and more common. They are not necessarily more
accurate than the traditional mercury and alcohol thermometers but they are easier to read.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Humidity

-a quantity representing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.

• It is measured using a hydrometer.

• The wet and dry bulb thermometer is also known as a psychrometer.
• Weather satellites can also measure the amount of humidity in the atmosphere.
• A hygrometer measures the humidity in the atmosphere using two thermometers: dry and wet
bulb thermometers.
• The wet bulb thermometer is wrapped in thin muslin and dipped in a container of water to
keep the muslin cloth wet.
• If the air is dry water evaporates from the muslin and cools such that the mercury contracts.
• The dry bulb is not affected hence the two show different readings.
• The wet bulb shows a low reading whilst the dry bulb shows a higher reading.
• Depression/Difference=the reading of the dry bulb less the reading of the wet bulb
thermometer.
• The humidity is then found by reading humidity tables. For example if there is no difference
between the two readings the humidity is 100%
• Electronic hygrometers are also used. These are easier to read.
• Relative humidity is measured in percentage terms.

Types of humidity
There are several ways to measure and express humidity:

1. Absolute Humidity-the total mass of water vapor present in a given volume of air.
2. Relative Humidity-the amount of water vapor in a given volume of air at a given temperature.
3. Specific Humidity-the ration of the mass of water vapor to the mass of the parcel of air.
ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Pressure.

-is the pressure exerted by the weight of air in the atmosphere of Earth. It is measured in millibars.
It is measured using an instrument known as a barometer. There are two different types of
barometers: the mercury and aneroid barometers.

Mercury barometer

• It is very large, the glass tube is typically almost 1m in height.

• It gives very accurate readings.
• It has a bulb that is dipped in a container of mercury.
• When the atmospheric pressure rises, it exerts force its force on the mercury which becomes
compressed.
• The mercury is pushed up the bulb to a height of 760 mm.
• When pressure decreases the mercury contracts and moves down the thermometer.

Advantages

• It gives accurate readings.

• It is simple to construct and maintain.

Disadvantages

• It is very large and cumbersome.

• Mercury must be at least a meter long.
• They break easily.
• They cannot produce a continuous reading, so readings have to be taken regularly.
• Mercury is a dangerous poison.

Aneroid Barometer

• These are portable and can be safely used at homes and schools as they do not contain
mercury.
• They are made up of an air-tight metal box.
• If pressure increases the box is squashed inwards.
• Conversely if pressure decreases the box expands outwards.
• A complex series of springs is attached to the box.
• The other end of the spring is connected to a point which has a calibrated dial on the other end
to record the various pressure readings.
• The spring amplifies the expansions and contractions of the box in accordance to atmospheric
pressure.

Advantages
 • It is portable.
• It can be safely used in the home or at school since it does not rely on mercury which is
poisonous.
• It is easier to read since it comes with a calibrated dial.
• Can make continuous readings.
• Can be attached to a computer to make automated continuous readings.

Disadvantages

• It is less accurate.
• Requires great skill and expertise to make.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Wind direction and speed.

Wind is the movement of air across the earth ’

regions. Air moves from high pressure regions to low pressure regions. The differences in pressure
can be caused by differential heating of the earth r’s
bysurface o sea breezes.
earth and

Two aspects of wind are measured at weather stations:

1. Wind direction- this is done using a wind wane-the red-tailed instrument in the picture and the
information is plotted given in terms of the cardinal points of a compass.
2. Wind speed- this is done using an cup anemometer and the speed is given in knots or as is
increasingly becoming the case in km/hr.

Points of a compass

• The four points N,S,E and W are referred to as the cardinal points.
• The additional four points SW,SE,NE and NW are referred to as the inter-cardinal or ordinal
points.
• The additional points e.g. SSW are called the secondary-inter-cardinal points.
• Wind direction is typically given in using either the cardinal points or sometimes in terms of
the ordinal points.

Knots

• A note is a speed equal to 1.852 Km/hr.

• It used to be the most popular unit to measure air speed and ZIMSEC examinations and
textbooks still use it.
• It has largely been superseded in most reports by the more familiar metric unit km/hr.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Clouds

Refers to the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds when observed from a particular location. Okta
is the usual unit of measurement of the cloud cover. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how
many eighths of the sky are covered in cloud, ranging from 0 oktas (completely clear sky) through
to 8 oktas (completely overcast).
Cloud cover symbols and measurements.

The diagram above shows how cloud cover can be estimated. An eye observer makes the necessary
estimates at a given point of measurement. 3D cameras and computing software can also be used to
make more accurate estimates of cloud cover nowadays.

Classification of clouds.

Clouds are classified according to height and form of appearance. There are high level, middle level
and low level clouds. Various adjectives are used to denote height and form (shape).

High Level clouds

• Cirro is latin for high/crest.

• The adjectives are used to describe high level clouds.
• It is used for clouds found between 6 000m to 12 000m.
• Examples include cirrus, cirrostatus and cirro-cumulous clouds.

Middle Level Clouds.

• Alto means middle.

• These range between 2 100m and 6 000m.
• Examples include alto-cumulus, altostratus and strato-cumulous.

Low level clouds

• Nimbus means water bearing.

• These are below 2 100m.
• Examples include cumulonimbus, cumulous, nimbostratus and stratus clouds.

NB. Some clouds transverse all heights. These are refered to as clouds of great-vertical extent for
example cumulonimbus clouds.

Adjectives used to describe form.

• Cumulus means heaped.

• Stratus means layered.
• Cirrus means curly.

Common types of clouds.

Common/important cloud types.

Cirrus.

Cirrus clouds.

• Wispy white clouds with a feathery and patchy cover.

 • Have a silky sheen appearance.
• Are composed of ice crystals.
• They hardly block sunlight.
• They give the sun a red or yellow color during sunset and sunrise.

Cumulonimbus

Cumulonimbus clouds

• They are usually anvil shaped at the top.

• Extend of great vertical distance.
• They are black or white, heaped.
• Are associated with torrential rainfall and thunderstorms.

Nimbostratus clouds

Nimbostratus clouds

• They are dark grey.

• Dense, shapeless.
• Are associated with rain.

Altocumulus

Altocumulus clouds.

• White or grey and patched.

• Are made up of laminae (plates)
• When the sun passes over them they form a corona.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Sunshine

• It has a glass sphere surrounded by a metal frame.

• On the frame is attached a sensitive card.
• The sphere focuses the sun ’s rays onto the card.
• As the sun moves across the sky it burns a trace on the card.
• At the end of the day the card is taken out and the length is measured in hours and minutes.
• There are digital versions that continually record the amount of sunlight.
• Sunshine is important for various activities for example solar drying of crops or solar energy
generation.

Air masses

Air Masses

• An air mass is a large body of air, whose properties –t

and lapse rate – aresame)
(the largely uniform
over an area several hundred kilometers
across.
 • The regions where air masses form are referred to as air mass source regions.
• An air mass acquires its distinctive characteristics in a source region where there is a large
and fairly uniform surface, either water or land, over which air remains fairly stagnant for a
period of at least a few days.
• If air remains over a source region long enough, it will acquire the properties of the surface
below it.
• Examples of ideal source regions for air masses include Siberia, Oceans like the Indian
Ocean and large deserts like Sahara.
• The air stagnates to form a high pressure system (region).
• Air masses are classified according to their temperature and moisture characteristics.
• The properties of an air mass that it acquires from the source region depend on a number of
factors for example the time of the year (summer, winter, autumn), the nature of the
underlying surface (ocean, land or desert), and the length of time the air mass remains over its
source region.
• Air masses are grouped into four categories based on their source region.
• Air masses that originate in the cold, polar regions are designated with a capital “P”
polar.
• Air masses that originate in the warm, tropical regions are designated with a capital “
tropical.
• Air masses that originate over land will be dry and are designated with a lowercase “c
continental.
• Air masses that originate over water will be moist and are designated with a lowercase “
for maritime
• These letters are combined to indicate the type of air mass for example Tropical Maritime,
Tropical Continental etc.
• In moving away from their source regions, air masses will be modified by the surface over
which they pass and thus their later properties will depend not only on their source region but
also on the nature of the surface they pass over and their age since being formed.
• The southern pole is completely surrounded by the Antarctic and therefore the two (pole and
Antarctic) are treated as one origin.
• Two major air masses reach Zimbabwe i.e polar maritime and tropical maritime.
• The tropical continental air mass is resident to Zimbabwe.

Types of air masses

Africa is affected almost exclusively by tropical and equatorial air masses,with tropical
continental(cT) air masses dominant in the northern third of the continent and in other
smaller patches, tropical maritime(mT) and equatorial (E) air masses most influential in
coastal and equatorial Africa

1) Tropical continental

• Originate over North Africa and the Sahara desert.

• Characteristically hot and very dry.
• Very unstable, yet clear conditions predominate due to a lack of water vapor.
2. Tropical Maritime

• Form over low latitude oceans and as such are very warm, humid, and unstable.
• The tropical maritime air mass that reaches Zimbabwe is the NE trades originating from the
northern hemisphere subtropical anticyclone usually centered over central Indian ocean (over
the equator).

3. Polar maritime

• The SE trades originating from the southern hemisphere subtropical anticyclonic cells and
whose fetch begins from Antarctic, constitute the polar maritime air mass.
• The South Easterly trade winds are a winter feature in Zimbabwe.
• They are cooler and moister than the resident tropical continental air during winter.
• When they prevail over the country during the summer season, they still remain cooler but are
drier than the local air.

Air masses affecting Zimbabwe

1. South East Trade Winds

• are cool moist prevailing winds which blow through out the year.
• They are usually associated with continuous light showers and drizzle especially on windward
slopes.
• They often give rise to guti conditions immediately after the rainy season.
• When they blow strongly from the south east they often give clear weather in summer and
cloudy weather in winter.

2. Zaire Air ( North West Monsoons)

• These only blow in summer.

• They are actually the re-curved South East trades which upon approaching Angola get drawn
into Zimbabwe via DRC by the intense low pressure of the ITCZ.
• They bring a lot rain to Zimbabwe and Central Africa as they collect moisture from bot the
Atlantic Ocean and the Congo rain forest.

3. North East Monsoons

• Only blow in the summer and cause rain to fall in the Northern parts of Zimbabwe especially
in late December to early January.
• They are not as moist as the North West Monsoons.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Pressure

Pressure

• Air has weight and therefore exerts pressure, called atmospheric pressure onto the earth ’s
surface.
 • The pressure is not the same for all regions nor is it the same for any one region all the time
that is pressure is higher for one part of the year than other times of the year.
• Atmospheric pressure is affected by: altitude, temperature and the earth ’s rotation.

Altitude

• Altitude refers to height above sea level.

• Air pressure is higher at sea level than it is at the top of a mountain.
• This is because at sea level air has to support greater weight of air than air at the top of the
mountain.
• The molecules of air at sea level push outwards with a force equal to that exerted by the air
above it whereas air at the top of a mountain pushes outwards with much less force because
the weight of the air bove it is less.
• This explains why air pressure increases when air descends.
• When air descends its volume decreases but the number of molecules remain the same in
number resulting in more molecules occupying a smaller volume.
• Conversely when air rises its volume increases and its outward force is spread over a larger
area thus its pressure decreases.

Temperature

• The temperature of air rises when its pressure rises.

• The temperature of air falls when its pressure falls.
• The pressure of air falls when its temperature rises.
• The pressure of air rises when its temperature falls.
• If only temperature affected pressure there would be a belt of low pressure around the earth at
the equator, two belts of high pressure one over both the North and South Poles.
• Because all because altitude and the earth ’
is not as simple as this.

The influence of the earth ’s rotation on pressure.

• The rotation of the earth causes the air at the poles to be “ thrown ” away t
equator.
• In theory this would result in air piling at the equator creating a region of High pressure at the
equator.
• The reality is much more complicated as other factors like temperature also affect pressure.

Pressure belts

• Low temperatures at the poles cause the air to contract and high pressure develops as a result.
• High temperatures along the equator cause the air to expand and low pressure, called the
doldrum low pressure (the ITCZ),develops.
• Air blowing away from the poles crosses parallels and creates low pressure belts along 60°N
and 60°S.
• As air moves in from the poles more air moves in from higher levels to take its place.
• Some of this comes from the rising low pressure air along 60°S and 60°N.
 • Air rising at the equator spreads out and moves towards the poles.
• As it does so it crosses parallels that are getting shorter and has to occupy less space resulting
in an increase in pressure as it contracts.
• This happens near 30°N and 30°S and the air begins to sink where it builds up sub-tropical
high pressure belts called horse latitudes.
• Some of the High pressure air in latitudes 30°N and 30°S moves over the surface towards the
equator and some of it towards the poles.
• The air that moves towards the equator replaces the air that rises there.
• The air moving towards the poles reaches latitudes 60°N and 60°S where it replaces the air
that rises there.
• Winds blow over the surface blow from high pressure to low pressure areas.
• At high levels blow from low pressure systems to high pressure systems.
• In each hemisphere there are three pressure systems: Polar High Pressure, Temperate Low
pressure and Sub-Tropical High pressure and in the midst of both poles is the Equatorial Low
pressure.
• This is all assuming the earth ’suniform
d sur facei.e.
wasifflat
the an
earth was an
isotropic plane.
• See the diagram below for a simplified view of the earth ’s major press

Actual pressure systems

• The earth ’
sizes.
• The earth ’s
cool at different rates.

Pressure belts and winds

• The earth ’s
outlined above.
• The pressure patterns and winds are shown in the two diagrams below.
• These patterns in pressure and winds change seasonally according to changes in temperature.
• Due to the rotation of the earth winds are deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and
to the left in the southern hemisphere.
• Planetary winds are sometimes known as prevailing winds because they blow more
frequently than most winds.
• Winds are named after the direction which they blow.
• There are 3 major wind systems in each hemisphere:
• In the Northern Hemisphere:

1. North East Polar winds: blow from the polar high pressure towards the temperature low
pressure in latitude 60°N (temperate low).
2. South West Winds: blow from the sub-tropical high pressure regions in latitude 30°N towards
the temperate low pressure zone.
3. North East Trade Winds: blow from the sub-tropical high pressure towards the doldrums
along the equator.
 • In the Southern Hemisphere:

1. South East Polar winds: blow from the polar high pressure towards the low temperate
pressure regions in latitude 60°S.
2. North East Winds: blow from the sub-tropical high pressure in latitude 30°S towards the
temperate low pressure.
3. South East Trade Winds: blow from the sub-tropical high pressure regions towards the
doldrums.

Pressure belts in diagrams

Pressure belts and associated wind patterns if without ’s the earth

The earth ’s
taken into account.

Conditions-November to March

• High temperatures occur over central and southern Africa.

• This results in low pressure developing over this part of the continent.
• At the same time temperatures are lower over the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans and
pressure over these oceans is relatively high.
• North Africa is much cooler than the rest of Africa and high pressure therefore develops.
• Winds blow out from the tropical continental high pressure arr mass over northern Africa.
• Some of these winds blow towards the low pressure area to the south.
• The winds blow from the north east over West Africa.
• Because they originate from the desert the winds are dry and dusty.
• They are called harmattan winds.
• They are prevented from going further south by winds blowing form the South Atlantic
Ocean.
• The North-East Trade Winds affect the east cost of Africa , while the South-East trade winds
operate along the South-East coast.
• Both winds make for the low pressure over Central Africa.
• During this period, south-west winds blow across the south-west tip of the continent.

Conditions from May to September.

• High temperatures over northern Africa give rise to the development of a low pressure
system.
• High pressure lies over southern Africa and over the Indian Ocean to the east.
• Winds blow from the tropical maritime air mass over the South Atlantic Ocean, towards the
continental low pressure air mass over the Sahara.
• These winds start as South-East trade winds but as they move north of the equator they are
drawn across the coast of West Africa towards the Sahara low pressure.
• They now blow from the south west and become the south west monsoonal winds.
 • They are warm and moist.
• During this period areas South of the Sahara are warm and dry.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Rainfall.

• Rainfall is just one form of precipitation.

• Precipitation occurs when warm moist air rises or is forced to rise.
• Water vapor in the air parcel cools and condenses to form clouds.
• This is because temperature falls with increase in altitude.
• When condensation occurs it produces minute droplets of less than 0.05mm in diameter.
• When these droplets join together and grow to fall of their own weight it is called rain.
• There are other forms of precipitation besides rain such as sleet, hail, dew, hoar frost, fog and
rime and snow.

Types of rain

• There are various types of rain depeding on how the air rises/ is forced to rise these are:

Frontal/Cyclonic

Occurs along fronts when air e.g S.Western Cape in South Africa.

Relief/Orographic

Occurs when warm air is forced to rise by mountains.

Convectional

Occurs when the air adjacent to an excessively heated ground rises.

Convergence

Occurs along the ITCZ.

Other types of precipitation

1. Sleet

• A mixture of snow and rain.

• Usually formed by snow melting as it falls.
2. Hail

• A solid form of precipitation.

• It consists of balls of irregular lumps of ice falling from the sky each of which is called a
hailstone.
• When large chunks of ice falling from the sky it is referred to as a hailstorm.

3. Dew

• Dew is the small droplets of water that appear on objects such as leaves or grass in the
morning or evening due to processes of condensation.
• Dew forms when the temperature of a surface cools down to a temperature that is cooler than
the dew point of the air next to it.
• The temperature at which droplets form is called the dew point.

4. Hoar Frost

• Frost is the coating or deposit of ice that may form in humid air in cold conditions, usually
overnight.
• Is common in places like Nyanga, Marondera and some parts of Harare in winter.

5. Fog/Mist

• It is a visible mass consisting of cloud water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or
near the Earth ’s surface.
• Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud, and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies
of water, topography, wind conditions, and even human activities.
• Fog reduces visibility to less than 1 km while in a mist visibility is reduced to between 1 and
2 km.

6. Rime

• is a white ice that forms when the water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects.
• Often seen on trees.

7. Snow

• is precipitation in the form of flakes of ice particles that fall from the clouds.
• Snow does not occur in Zimbabwe although it is common in countries like the UK during
winter.

8. Drizzle

• Very fine rain.

• Usually falls from layers of cloud that have very limited vertical development e.g stratus
clouds.

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Relief rainfall

• Results when near saturated, warm maritime air is forced to rise by a coastal mountain barrier.
• Mountains reduce the water holding capacity of the rising air by enforced cooling.
• In Zimbabwe it mostly occurs in the Eastern Highlands in areas like Chimanimani, Honde
Valley and Nyanga.
• Warm South East Trades pick up moist from the Indian Ocean.
• They encounter a barrier mountain that is parallel to the coastline for example Mt Inyangani
and the Chimanimani Mountains.
• The SE Trades are forced to rise by the mountain, cool and condense and rain occurs on the
South Eastern slopes or the windward slopes of the mountain.
• On the leeward side of the mountain it is dry.
• The descending SE trades are dry and warm resulting in little to no rainfall.
• The leeward side is sometimes known as a rain shadow area. Examples include Save valley
and Marange area.
• Relief rainfall occurs in all altitudes

• Most of the rain occurs on the East side of the slope.