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University of Malaya

SGES 1202 - Lecture

Rivers / Streams (running water)

Hydrological cycle Review


Drainage basins - divides
River systems & steep gradients (meandering,
braided rivers) - erosion & deposition balance
Shaping stream valleys landform change
Depositional landforms deltas, levees, alluvial
fans
Dr. Masatoshi Sone

Review: Surface Runoffs (Overland Flow)

Splash Erosion : Dispersal of fine particles


due to impact of rain drops
Unconcentrated (Sheet) Wash : Thin layer of
water moving over slopes during rainfall.
Concentrated Wash : Flow of water on slope
during rainfall in small & narrow channels
(Rills) or broad & deep channels (Gullys).
Overland flow can detach & transport fine
grained sediments (silt & clay sizes) on
slopes.
Most overland flow reaches the foots of
slopes in valleys where streams are found.

Note: On the oceans evaporation exceeds precipitation, whereas


on the lands precipitation exceeds evaporation. Thus, Surface
Runoff is an excess (36K km) from land. It is added to the ocean,
then the cycles are blanced.

Saline
groundwater

Groundwater
flow
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A summary of the principal surface environments


Today, Streams and rivers, etc.

STREAMS & RIVERS


1. Bodies of water that flow from highland to
lowland areas along well defined channels
located in valleys;
2. only difference being that streams carry small
volumes of water.
3. Most flow to the sea or oceans, except for those
in inter-montane basins that often flow into
lakes.
4. Found in all areas of the world, though having
more active roles as agents of erosion &
deposition in areas with humid climates,
particularly in the humid tropics.

Drainage basin: An area influenced by a river & its


tributary streams. Limited by drainage divide.
Drainage basin analysis

1st order streams from


headwaters

Drainage basin: An area influenced by a river & its


tributary streams. Limited by drainage divide.
Two drainage basins separated by the divide

How to define/delimit/outline a drainage basin?

Identify dividing points of opposite 1st order streams and


trace them It is the dividing range of two basins.

Geological map of Peninsular Malaysia

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Q.
Where are
drainage dividing
ranges for major
river basins in the
peninsula.

Pahang River Drainage


Basin

The longest river in Peninsular


Malaysia?
Two river systems (Sg. Jelai
and Sg. Tembeling sub-basins)
join at Kuala Tembeling to
become Sg. Pahang (Pahang
River).
Kuala river junction in Malay
The Main Range granite
massif forms the divide
between the Pahang R Basin
(East) and the Perak R Basin
(West).

Sg. Tembeling

Kuala Tembeling

Sg. Jelai

Kuala Tembeling Jetty


(entrance to Taman
Negara)

South

Sg. Pahang
(flowing down from Kuala Tembeling
towards Jerantut then Temerloh)

LONGITUDINAL PROFILE
Changes from Upstream to Downstream

A longitudinal profile is a
cross-section along the
length of a stream (red line
in the figure).
Note the concaveupward curve of the profile
A steeper gradient
upstream from the
headwaters and a gentler
gradient downstream.

STREAM CHANNEL
WIDTH (W) : Width of channel between river banks
measured along the surface.
DEPTH (D) : Difference in height between surface of
water and channel floor or bed. Depth usually
variable along cross-section between river banks.
CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA (A) : Area of cross-section
between river banks - measured perpendicular to the
banks.
WETTED PERIMETER (P) : That part of the crosssection that is in direct contact with the water.

Stream Discharge

The discharge of a stream is the


volume of water flowing past a
certain point in a given unit of
time.
Determined by multiplying a
streams cross-sectional area by
its velocity.
Discharge (m / sec) =
channel width (meters) x
channel depth (meters) x
velocity (m/sec)
1.
2.
3.
?

Amazon River 212,400 m/sec


Congo River
39,650
Yangtze
21,800
Sg. Pahang max 4~5,000 m/sec
# The Amazon R is responsible for about
20% of all the water reaching the ocean
via rivers.

River types
Four types of river channel recognised
Braided and meandering are most common in geological record

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Nichols (1999)

Note: Vegetation cover & flat relief

Meandering river

Braided river

only from Silurian to the recent

Pre-Cambrian to the recent

Because of vegetation
Common in rain-forest tropics

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The Baram River a Meandering River System

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The Baram River

Gunung Mulu
Indonesia

A photo taken from


the airplane of Miri
- Kota Kinabalu line.

A typical
meandering
river form
Miri

Brunei

Numerous
oxbow lakes
Mt. Mulu near
top left corner
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Aerial Photo by Masa

Formation of a meandering river

Oxbow
lake

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The Bramahputra
A long river system changing from
braided to meandering types, flowing
from the Himalayas through Assam
and Bangladesh to the Bengal Bay.
Wikipedia

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LONGITUDINAL PROFILE
- Variations in gradient & velocity
- Changing from Straight to braided to meandering
- Graded profile Equilibrium between erosion & deposition
Erosion
predominant

Deposition
predominant

River Evolution Valley Widening to form a floodplain

Time

INCREASED DISCHARGE FLOODS


Coarse sediments deposited close to channel (levees),
while finer sediment deposited further away (Backswamp deposits)

Flood Plain
= Fertile Soil

Now flooded.
Will repeat this later.

Development of
natural levees over
flooding episodes

Development of natural levees

The Baram Delta

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Stages of development in an ideal delta


system development
A. Radially decreasing current
velocities from jet mouth, deposit
concentric arcs of sand, silt and
clay.
B. Delta protrudes, forcing a
channel through marginal
levees.

C. Channel mouth chokes, levee


ruptures and a new delta builds
out from the crevasse.
May eventually overlap one
after another (see Mississippi R.)
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Selley, 2000

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Many lobes over time

The overlap distribution of the postPleistocene lobes forming the modern


Mississippi delta
Since some 7,500 years ago.

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Marshak

Different types of deltas

The Niger in W Africa Arc-shaped delta

The Nile Triangle shaped delta

The Mississippi A birds foot delta

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SUMMARY
Streams drain land areas & transport sediment from
highland to lowland areas.
In highland areas, down-cutting of channels (linear
erosion) is dominant, whilst in lowland areas, lateral
movement of river channels is dominant.
Variations in velocity due to environmental factors
(especially rainfall), give rise to different sites of
erosion or deposition (i.e. different sizes of particles,
etc).
At river mouths, deposition predominates, giving
rise to deltas.

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