geo 4

3 . River Transportation

Introduction

River transportation cannot occur without the presence of sediments Normally , the sediments result from exogenetic or endogenetic sources Exogenetic sediments refer to the ones gotten from outside the river and it results from gully erosion , mass movement , sheet erosion and rill erosion . Endogenetic sources include materials within the river , which includes sediments from banks and stream beds . This is influenced by the resistance of the material to erosion and the strength of the erosion (Cool U .K , 2000 .The transportation of a load downstream is through several

processes and sub processes , which ensures that the load is finally deposited

The load : Bedload , Suspended load and Dissolved load

There are terms which are essential for an effective understanding of the geographical process of river transportation . The first one is the load , which is used to refer to all the rock particles that the rivers carry . The load is divided into three , bed load , which are large particles , and can only be transported when the river has got enough energy . Bed load can either be endogenic or exogenic , and moves by saltating , sliding or rolling . Ordinarily , the bedload is larger than the suspended load . Suspended load refers to the small particles carried by water , and therefore makes the water look muddy (Slide Share , 2009 The load is carried with the river current body , and can include suspended bed material . This material includes medium and fine sands Clay and silt are examples of materials which can be held in...