PROJECT OF GEOGRAPHY

AGENTS
MADE BY
OF EROSION
•AASTHA
•SHRUTI
-1
•RACHANA
•VASUNDHARA
•MOHINI
•AISHWARYA
•MRUNAL
•ASHMITA
•VAISHNAVI
•REVATI
WATER
is the most important erosional agent and erodes most commonly
as running water in streams. However, water in all its forms is
erosional. Raindrops (especially in dry environments) create
splash erosion that moves tiny particles of soil. Water collecting on
the surface of the soil collects as it moves towards tiny rivulets and
streams and creates sheet erosion.
In streams, water is a very powerful erosional agent. The faster
water moves in streams the larger objects it can pick up and
transport. This is known as critical erosion velocity. Fine sand can
be moved by streams flowing as slowly as three-quarters of a mile
per hour.
Streams erode their banks in three different ways: 1) the hydraulic
action of the water itself moves the sediments, 2) water acts to
corrode sediments by removing ions and dissolving them, and 3)
particles in the water strike bedrock and erode it.
The water of streams can erode in three different places: 1) lateral
erosion erodes the sediment on the sides of the stream channel, 2)
down cutting erodes the stream bed deeper, and 3) headward
erosion erodes the channel upslope.
 AGENTS OF EROSION-
1
RIVER
River at its young age that is
near the source is very strong
and it cuts down the soil and rock
along its course. Picture to the
right gives a good example of
river erosion .River, glacier &
wind are main agents of erosion.
In this we will see the erosion of
river.
EROSION
The beds of the river as well as its
banks are cut by the speedily
flowing stream of water as well as
the load moving with it.
Moreover, the sand, stone, etc in the
flow also break as they collide. The
following landforms are formed due
to these processes of erosion.
 GORGE
In mountainous areas, a river
flows with a great speed.
Therefore, the bed of the river
gets eroded more than its
banks. This gives rise to a gorge
that has steep banks and
narrow bed. For example, the
gorges of river vaitarna in thane
district and the river ulhas in
raigad district.
 ‘V’ SHAPED VALLEY

1 2 3
A V-shaped valley, on land or in the
ocean, is just as it sounds: a valley in 1.The river cuts down
the shape of a V, with steep sides and and deepens its
short tributaries entering into the valley.
main valley. They are formed by
2.The river widens its
streams or ocean currents that cut in a
downward motion, narrowing the valley as it deepens it.
valley into its characteristic shape. 3.The river continues
Over time, the V-shape may become to widen its valley.
broader, forming a V-shaped valley.
 POTHOLES
This is about river potholes, bowl-
shaped features that have been scoured
out of river beds by swirling pebbles in a
fast-flowing river. (These are not related
to the kind of potholes (really called
swallow holes) found in areas of
limestone and which are the entrances
to caves.)
Large potholes are rather rare, although
many mountain rivers, or those with
very steep courses, do have examples of
medium sized potholes.
Potholes are best seen when the river is
low. You will find many valleys in
western ghats.
 WATERFALL
A waterfall is a natural formation which is
formed when a water body such as a river breaks the
rocks underneath it and causes them to erode. The
erosion will then break the elevation of the river
causing the river to fall from a height. The elevation
keeps breaking as the years go by which makes the
waterfall. Ultimately, the soft rock collapses and only
the hardrock remains causing the water to fall from a
height. There are many different types of waterfalls
and all depends upon the flow of the current and the
type of the river. Some of the types of waterfalls are
block, cascade, tiered, horsetail, plunge and many
more.

Waterfalls are usually found in mountain regions or

places where the elevation is quite high such as hills,
plains etc. Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's
highest waterfall at more than 3000 feet.eg
dhunwadhar falls on the Narmada river.
 TRANSPORT AND DEPOSITION
PROCESSES of RIVER
TRANSPORT
A river moves its load by :- RIVER DEPOSITION
(1) - rolling large stones and
A river drops some of its load
boulders.
when either its volume or its
(2) - carrying sand, mud and
speed decreases e.g. when it
silt in suspension.
enters an arid (dry) region,
(3) - carrying minerals in
crosses an area of porous rock
solution
(e.g. limestone), enters a flat or
gently sloping plain or enters a
lake or the sea.
Material transported or
deposited by a river is called
alluvium.
In river meanders, the channel curves MEANDERS
alternately right and left about the down-
valley direction. Banks are steep on the
outside of the bend, where erosion
generally takes place, and are gently
sloping on the inside where deposition
normally occurs. Sediment deposited on
the inside of the bend forms a point bar.
The channel also varies in cross-sectional
and longitudinal form through a
meander: there is usually a swallowing
(riffle) at the entrance or inflexion point
of the loop and a deeper part (pool) on
the outside of the bend in the apex. The
plan form of a meander is frequently
characterized as a smooth, symmetrical
loop, often as a sine-generated form.
 OXBOW LAKES
An oxbow is a crescent-shaped lake lying
alongside a winding river. The oxbow lake is
created over time as erosion and deposits of soil
change the river's course. You can see how an
oxbow lake takes shape below:
(1) On the inside of the loop, the river travels
more slowly leading to deposition of silt.
(2) Meanwhile ,water on the outside edges tends
to flow faster, which erodes the banks making the
meander even wider.
(3) Over time the loop of the meander
widens until the neck vanishes altoget-
her.
(4) Then the meander is removed from
the river's current and the horse
Shoe shaped oxbow lake is formed.
Without a current to move the water
along, sediment builds up along the banks
and fills in the lake.
 FLOOD PLAINS AND FLOOD LEVEES
A Flood Plain is a piece of land near a
river that floods periodically. There are two
parts to a flood plain: the floodway and the
flood fringe. The floodway contains the
stream channel and nearby areas through
which flood flows run; the flood fringe
includes areas covered by the flood without
a strong current.
Flood plains are created by the phenomenon
of meander erosion, which is sideways
erosion affecting a riverbank. Flood waters
leave sediments, rocks, and mud behind.
These accumulations gradually form a flood
plain.
Levees can be natural or man-made. A
natural levee is formed when sediment
settles on the river bank, raising the level of
the land around the river.
The elevation along the bank increases due
to the deposition of coarser material. This
gives rise to hillock-like forms parallel to
riverbanks. These are called flood levees.
Levees are natural embankments of silt
along the banks of a river, which are often
several meters higher than the flood plain.
Deltas 
DELTA
A delta is a flat area of sand and silt built
into the sea. When a river enters the sea
carrying large volumes of fine material,
the velocity slows and causes the load to
be deposited in layers .Over time,
deposition material forms small islands
separated by river channels called
distributaries. A delta is a landform that
is formed at the mouth of a river where
that river flows into an ocean, sea,
estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or
another river. Deltas are formed from
the deposition of the sediment carried
by the river as the flow leaves the mouth
of the river. Over long periods of time,
this deposition builds the characteristic
geographic pattern of a river delta.
.