What does water flow consist of? The river bed - what is it?

Each river has a source - the place where it originates, and the mouth - the area of its confluence with another watercourse. Water streams that connect with oceans, seas or lakes are the main ones, and those that directly flow into the river are called tributaries.

They flow in valleys, that is places, the relief of which is extended and lowered. The point of maximum decrease is the river bed. The part of the valley, which is constantly flooded with river water, is called the catch.

The river - what is it?

A river is a water stream, often formed in a natural way. Flows in a certain direction from its source to the mouth; Feeds in various ways: snow, glacial, underground and other waters.

Formation of waterways due to the accumulation of water in the valley. As a rule, the reason for their formation is abundant and regular precipitation, melting of snow, ice, etc. When dams or dams are built, reservoirs are formed that can be lakes or even seas. However, in this case they will have no current, and also they are created most often by artificial means.

Basically, all the watercourses flow through the faults in the terrain, there is no resistance and tension.

Channel

As already mentioned above, the river bed is a place in the valley, the level of its lowering reaches its maximum. It is divided into several types. One of them is the main channel. This is the name of a certain area on the river, in which there is a large part of the watercourse.

Depending on the size of the river bed can reach a huge width, which varies from one meter to several tens of kilometers. The depth increases not simultaneously with the expansion of the watercourse. And very often it happens that in the place of a large spill - shallow water. In mountain rivers, river beds can have rapids, as well as waterfalls. On its trajectory distinguish the meandering lower part of the valley - in the flat rivers, and straight - in the mountain.

The former bed of the river is called an old man. As a rule, it is presented in the form of a sickle, a loop or a straight line. It is formed after the water flow pierces a new path due to the strong current. After that, most of the water does not fall into the old channel and the so-called old man is formed. In the end, it either dries up, or completely overgrown with aquatic plants.

The change in the riverbed often occurs artificially. In this case, it leads to irreversible consequences, which then are difficult to eliminate.

The floodplain of the river

The part of the river that is constantly subject to flooding during floods or high water is called the floodplain. Often its size depends on the width of the channel, but not always. It can vary by a few meters, and sometimes - and kilometers.

The soils of the floodplains are fertile only if the waters of the flood, flooding a piece of land, bring mud. Typically, this place is great for fishing.

Terraces are the areas of former floodplains, the water level in which is several times higher than in the channel, even during floods and floods.

The source and mouth of the river

The source of the river is the place where it begins. Often these are small swamps or streams. If the river system has a lot of sources, the main one will be considered one that is either the most volatile or the maximum distance from the mouth of the watercourse. Very often the beginning of the river can be considered the place of confluence of water bodies or water streams.

The mouth is the place into which the watercourse flows. It can be any lake, the sea, a reservoir, another river. In its structure, it is different. For example, sometimes at the point of confluence of a river with a reservoir, delta or lip may form.

The river bed , the floodplain, the source and the mouth are not all that characterizes the river. In addition to these, there are also banks (watercourse boundaries), reaches (places with the greatest depth), rifts (areas with the least depth). And those sections of the river, in which the strongest flow velocity, were called the core.