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Besides carrying water in a straight current or a braided current, a river also meanders. This image shows a river channel which twists and turns as the river meanders across a valley. A river will carve a sizeable valley for itself as it wanders. This shallow valley, or plain as shown in the image to the left, is called a floodplain.
A river carrys water and sediments downstream on its way to its final destination, the ocean. As it flows downstream it will carve a large channel for itself into the ground. During certain stages, such as during a flood, it will have to carry more water downstream. Then it will overflow the original channel which is carved into the ground, and may carve a completely new channel into the ground which takes a shorter path downstream. In the image to the left, the river could potentially cut the corners of the "bow-shaped" section in the middle of the picture, and seems to have done so in the past. A river does not always take the shortest path downstream, however. There seems to be little logic in how the waters will move.
Return to the
Water Cycle
Besides carrying water in a straight current or a braided current, a river also meanders. This image shows a river channel which twists and turns as the river meanders across a valley. A river will carve a sizeable valley for itself as it wanders. This shallow valley, or plain as shown in the image to the left, is called a floodplain.
A river carrys water and sediments downstream on its way to its final destination, the ocean. As it flows downstream it will carve a large channel for itself into the ground. During certain stages, such as during a flood, it will have to carry more water downstream. Then it will overflow the original channel which is carved into the ground, and may carve a completely new channel into the ground which takes a shorter path downstream. In the image to the left, the river could potentially cut the corners of the "bow-shaped" section in the middle of the picture, and seems to have done so in the past. A river does not always take the shortest path downstream, however. There seems to be little logic in how the waters will move.
Return to the
Water Cycle
This image shows a river channel which twists and turns as the river meanders across a valley. A river will carve a sizeable valley for itself as it wanders. This shallow valley, or plain as shown in the image to the left, is called a floodplain.
A river carrys water and sediments downstream on its way to its final destination, the ocean. As it flows downstream it will carve a large channel for itself into the ground. During certain stages, such as during a flood, it will have to carry more water downstream. Then it will overflow the original channel which is carved into the ground, and may carve a completely new channel into the ground which takes a shorter path downstream. In the image to the left, the river could potentially cut the corners of the "bow-shaped" section in the middle of the picture. A river does not always take the shortest path downstream, however. There seems to be little logic in how the waters will move.
Return to the
Water Cycle
