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Geomorphology Lecture: 5 Notes part 1
LANDFORMS
Weathering is invariably followed by Erosion & Deposition. Each of these geomorphic processes lead to the
development of distinctive landforms.
Running water, groundwater, glaciers, wind and waves are powerful erosional and depositional agents shaping and
changing the surface of the earth aided by weathering and mass wasting processes.
Factors affecting Development and evolution of landforms:
• Structure of rocks – level of hardness, permeability, presence of folds/faults/fractures etc.
• Stability of sea level;
• Tectonic stability of landmasses;
• Climate
River erosion take place in following ways
• Headward erosion it is a process by which a river increases its upstream length. This is achieved by a river cutting
back at its source
• Lateral erosion it is a process through which river channel is extended in its width due to sideways erosion at the
outside banks of the rivers
• Vertical erosion Vertical erosion takes place at the base of the river. The channel of the river gets deepened
through vertical erosion
Various aspects of fluvial erosive action include:
▪ Hydraulic action: the force of running water wearing down
rocks.
▪ Corrosion: chemical action that leads to weathering.
▪ Attrition: river load particles striking, colliding against each
other and breaking down in the process.
▪ Abrasion: solid river load striking against rocks and wearing
them down.
Course of a river: Fluvial Landforms or landforms made by river
depend on the stage that a river course is in. The course a river takes is split into three stages – the upper, middle and
lower stage.
• In the upper stage, the river is close to its source and high above its base level (i.e. the lowest point the river can
erode to. Usually the base level is at the sea level on mouth of the river).
• In the lower stage the river is far away from its source, close to the mouth and not far above its base level. In the
middle stage, it’s somewhere in between.

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• The long profile shows how a river’s gradient changes as it flows from its source to its mouth. The long profile
shows how, in the upper stage of a river’s course, the river’s gradient is steep, but it gradually flattens out as the
river erodes

• The total energy that a river possesses varies from one stage to another because of changes in the river’s height,
gradient and speed. Processes that a river carries out changes throughout its course as it moves from one stage to
another.

In the upper course, the river has a lot of gravitational potential energy so it has a lot of energy to erode vertically.
The bed of the river is eroded greatly while the banks aren’t eroded as much. The river mainly transports large pieces
of rocks. This increases erosion of the bed by corrasion as a result of the load being dragged along the bed of the river.
Vertical erosion is further increased by water’s turbulence and high speed.

In the middle course, the river has less gravitational potential energy and more kinetic energy, so erosion shifts from
vertical to lateral erosion. As gradient becomes gentler, the speed of the river decreases. The average load size carried
by river also consequently decreases, and more load is being transported in suspension. It helps in lateral cutting of the
banks. In the middle course, the river can flood and in doing so, it deposits gravel and sand sized particles onto its
flood plain.

In the lower course, the river has next to no gravitational potential energy, so erosion is almost exclusively lateral.
There isn’t much erosion though because the channel is smoother and gentler resulting in less turbulent flow. Streams
meander freely over vast floodplains. The main place where erosion takes place is where the river Definition: Thalweg
A line running along a meanders. The average particle size is very small now, another reason for the reduction in
erosion. The river’s load is mainly composed of silts and clays and it is transported in suspension. Like in the middle
course, when the river floods it deposits its load, but deposition now also takes place at the mouth of the river where
the river meets the sea or a stationary body of water.

Thus, over time, the river channels over steep gradients turn gentler due to continued erosion, and as a consequence,
lose their velocity, facilitating active deposition. The gentler the river channels in gradient or slope, the greater is the
deposition. On other hand, most of the erosional landforms made by river are when the river is flowing with speed on
relatively steep gradients.

River cross profiles: show you a cross-section of a river’s channel and valley at certain points in the river’s course.
The cross profile of a river changes as it moves from the upper to lower course as a result of changes in the river’s
energy and the processes that the river carries out.

• In the upper course, the valley and channel are narrow and deep as a result of the large amount of vertical erosion
and little lateral erosion. The sides of a river’s valley in the upper course are very steep earning these valleys the
nickname ―V-Shaped Valley‖ since they look like a letter V.

• In the middle course, the valley has increased in width due to the increase in lateral erosion. Similarly, the
channel’s width has also increased. The land to either side of the channel in the valley is now the river’s floodplain
and the valley’s sides are much gentler.

• In the lower course the valley is now very wide (often several kilometres) and the floodplain has increased greatly
in size. The channel is a little wider but not much deeper.

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FLUVIAL CYCLE OF EROSION

YOUTH STAGE

• Streams are few during this stage with poor integration and flow over original slopes
• The valley developed is thus deep, narrow and distinctly V-shaped with no floodplains or with very narrow
floodplains.
• Downcutting predominates over lateral corrasion
• Streams divides are broad and flat with marshes, swamp and lakes.
• Some of the outstanding features which are developed in this stage are gorges, canyons waterfalls, rapids and river
capture etc.
MATURE STAGE

• During this stage, streams are plenty with good integration.

• Lateral corrasion tends to replace vertical corrasion
• The valleys are still V-shaped but wide and deep due to an active erosion of the banks;
• Trunk streams are broad enough to have wider floodplains within which streams may flow in meanders confined
within the valley.
• Swamps and marshes of youth stage, as well as flat and broad inter-stream areas, disappear.
• Waterfalls and rapids disappear.
• Meander and slip off slopes are the characteristic features of this stage
• Erosional Running Water Landforms
OLD STAGE

• The river moving downstream across a broad level plain is heavy with sediments.
• Vertical corrasion almost ceases in this stage though lateral corrasion still goes on.
• Smaller tributaries during old age are few with gentle gradients.
• Streams meander freely over vast floodplains. Divides are broad and flat with lakes, swamps and marshes.
Landscape is at or slightly above sea level
• Depositional features predominate in this stage
• Characteristic features of this stage are floodplains, oxbow lakes, natural levees and Delta etc.

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Fluvial Landforms by running water

a. Valleys
Valleys start as small and narrow rills; the rills will gradually
develop into long and wide gullies; the gullies will further
deepen, widen and lengthen to give rise to valleys. Depending
upon dimensions and shape, many types of valleys like V-
shaped valley, gorge, canyon, etc. can be recognized.
b. Gorge and Canyons
A gorge is a deep valley with very steep or vertical sides. A
canyon is also a deep valley but is characterized by steep
step-like side slopes. A gorge is almost equal in width at its
top as well as its bottom. In contrast, a canyon is wider at its
top than at its bottom. Gorges are formed in hard rocks while
Canyons are commonly formed in horizontal bedded
sedimentary rocks.

(Gandikota, Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh is known for

its spectacular gorge formed by river Pennar that cuts through
the Erramala hills. This handsome piece of Nature’s
architecture is known as the Hidden Grand Canyon of
India.)
Evolution = Rills --> Gully --> Valley
• A rill is a shallow channel in some soil, created by the erosion of flowing water.
• Rills can generally be easily removed by tilling the soil. When rills get large enough that they cannot easily be
removed, they're known as gullie.

WATERFALLS AND RAPIDS

• When rivers plunge down in a sudden fall of some height, they

are called waterfalls
• Their great force usually wears out a plunge pool beneath
• Waterfalls are formed because of several factors like the relative
resistance of rocks lying across the river, the relative difference
in topographic reliefs e.g. in Plateau etc.
• A rapid is similarly formed due to an abrupt change in gradient
of a river due to variation in resistance of hard and soft rocks
traversed by a river.
• Waterfalls are also transitory like any other landform and will
recede gradually and bring the floor of the valley above
waterfalls to the level below.

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c. Potholes and Plunge Pools

• Over the rocky beds of hill-streams more or less circular

depressions called potholes form because of stream erosion aided
by the abrasion of rock fragments. Once a small and shallow
depression forms, pebbles and boulders get collected in those
depressions and get rotated by flowing water and consequently
the depressions grow in dimensions.

• At the foot of waterfalls also, large potholes, quite deep and

wide, form because of the sheer impact of water and rotation of
boulders. Such large and deep holes at the base of waterfalls are
called plunge pools.
Interlocking spurs
An interlocking spur, also known as an overlapping spur,
is a projecting ridge that extends alternately from the
opposite sides of a V-shaped valley. A river with a winding
course flows down the interlocking spur.
d. River Terraces
Stepped benches along the river course in a flood plain are
called terraces. Terraces represent the level of former valley
floors and remnants of former (older) flood plains. River
terraces are basically products of erosion as they result due to
vertical erosion by the stream into its own depositional
floodplain.
There can be a number of such terraces at different heights
indicating former riverbed levels. The river terraces may
occur at the same elevation on either side of the rivers in
which case they are called paired terraces.
The terraces may result due to (i) receding water after a peak
flow; (ii) change in hydrological regime due to climatic changes; (iii) tectonic uplift of land; (iv) sea level changes in
case of rivers closer to the sea.

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e. Meanders & Ox-bow lakes

• Meander is not a landform but is only a type of channel pattern.

When the gradient of the channel becomes extremely low, water
flows leisurely and starts working laterally. Slight irregularities
along the banks slowly get transformed into a small curvature in
the banks; the curvature deepens due to deposition on the inside of
the curve and erosion along the bank on the outside. The outer
bend of the loop in a meander is characterized by vertical cliffs and
is called the cliff-slope side. This side has a concave slope. The
inner side of the loop is characterized by deposition, a gentle
convex slope, and is called the slip-off side.

• As meanders grow into deep loops, the same may get cut-off due
to erosion at the inflection points and are left as ox-bow lakes.
These water bodies are converted into swamps in due course of
time. In the Indo-Gangetic plains, southwards shifting of Ganga has left many ox- bow lakes to the north of the
present course of the Ganga.
f. Incised or Entrenched Meanders

• A meander is defined as a pronounced curve or

loop in the course of a river channel. Meanders
are usually found in middle and lower courses of
the rivers, where the gradient is gentler, and the
strata is softer to allow both erosion and
deposition.

• But very deep and wide meanders can also be

found cut in hard rocks. Such meanders are
called incised or entrenched meanders. These
have been cut abnormally deep into the
landscape because uplift of the land has led to
renewed downward erosion by the river.
Meander loops develop over original gentle surfaces in the initial stages of development of streams and the same
loops get entrenched into the rocks due to vertical erosion and continued uplift of the land over which they start.
They widen and deepen over time and can be found as deep gorges and canyons in hard rock areas. They give an
indication on the status of original land surfaces over which streams have developed. (see the image of canyon)
Depositional Running Water Landforms
a. Alluvial Fans
When a stream leaves the mountains and comes
down to the plains, its velocity decreases due to a
lower gradient. As a result, it sheds a lot of heavier
coarser material, which it had been carrying from
the mountains, at the foothills. This deposited
material acquires a conical shape and is known as
Alluvial fan. Such fans appear throughout the
Himalayan foothills in the north Indian plains.

b. Floodplains

• Deposition develops a floodplain just as erosion makes valleys. Floodplain is a major landform of river deposition.
A riverbed made of river deposits is the active floodplain. The floodplain above the bank is an inactive floodplain.

• Inactive floodplain above the banks basically contain two types of deposits — flood deposits and channel
deposits. In plains, channels shift laterally and change their courses occasionally leaving cut-off courses which get

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filled up gradually. Such areas over flood plains contain coarse deposits. The flood deposits of spilled waters carry
relatively finer materials like silt and clay.

c. Natural Levees and Point Bars

• These are some of the important landforms found associated with floodplains. Natural levees are found along the
banks of large rivers. They are low, linear and parallel ridges of coarse deposits along the banks of rivers. During
flooding as the water spills over the bank, the velocity of the water comes down and large sized heavier materials
get dumped in the immediate vicinity of the bank as ridges. They are high nearer the banks and slope gently away
from the river. The levee deposits are coarser than the deposits spread by flood waters away from the river.

• Point bars are also known as meander bars. They are found on the convex side of meanders of large rivers and are
sediments deposited in a linear fashion by flowing waters along the bank. They are almost uniform in profile and
in width. Narrow and elongated depressions are found in between the point bars. As the rivers build the point bars
on the convex side, the bank on the concave side will erode actively.

d. Braided Channels
Deposition and lateral erosion of banks are essential for the formation of braided pattern. When discharge is less and
sediment load is more in the valley, channel bars and islands of sand & gravel develop on the floor of the channel and
the water flow is divided into multiple threads. These thread-like streams of water rejoin and subdivide repeatedly to
give a typical braided pattern
e. Deltas
Deltas are like alluvial fans but develop at a different location – near its mouth. The load-bearing capacity of a river is
reduced as a result of the check to its speed as it enters a sea or lake. The load carried by the rivers is dumped and
spread into the sea. It spreads and accumulates as a low alluvial cone. But, unlike in alluvial fans, the deposits making
up deltas are very well sorted with clear stratification. The coarsest materials settle out first and the finer fractions like
silts and clays are carried out into the sea. As a result of delta formation, river channel is divided into various
distributaries. As the delta grows, the river distributaries continue to increase in length and delta continues to build up
into the sea.
Conditions favorable for the formation of delta

• Active vertical and lateral erosion in the upper course of the river to provide extensive sediments to be
eventually deposited as deltas

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• The coast should be sheltered preferable tide less

• The sea adjoining the delta should be shallow or else the load will disappear in the deep waters
• There should be no large lakes in the river to filter off the sediments
• There should be no strong current running at right angles to the river mouth, washing away the sediments
Types of delta:
1. Arcuate or fan-shaped delta: It’s a curved or bowed delta with the convex margin facing the sea. E.g. Nile,
Ganga, Indus
2. Bird’s foot Delta: It’s a kind of delta featuring long, stretching distributary channels, which branch outwards
like the toes or claws of a bird. Sediment-rich rivers are capable of forming this kind of delta. E.g. Mississippi
Delta
3. Cuspate Delta: This is a pointed delta formed generally along strong coasts and is subjected to strong wave
action. There are very few or no distributaries in a cuspate delta.
4. Estuarine Deltas: Those mouths of the rivers are called estuaries which are submerged under marine water
and sea waves and oceanic currents remove the sediments brought by the rivers. These are ideal sites for
fisheries, ports and industries because estuaries provide access to deep water, especially if protected from
currents and tides. Example: Hudson estuary. Whenever rivers succeed in depositing sediments at their
submerged mouths, long and narrow estuarine deltas are formed. E.g. Deltas of Narmada, Tapi, Siene

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