Course synopsis
The course will introduce the topic by means of a study of hydrological principles and look at the cycling of water through the hydrological system. The course will then progress through study of river erosion, transport and depositional processes and the landforms produced. River flooding case studies will then be studied with the use of case studies from around the world as well as the river management strategies.
Week1
The drainage basin system Outputs: evaporation, evapotranspiration and river discharge. Stores: interception, soil water, surface water, ground water, and channel storage. Flows: above ground – throughfall, stemflow, overland flow, and channel flow. below ground – infiltration, percolation, throughflow, groundwater, and baseflow. Underground water: water tables, ground water, recharge, and springs.
Weeks 2 and 3
Discharge relationships within drainage basins Components of hydrographs (storm and annual). Influences on hydrographs. Climate: precipitation type and intensity, temperature, evaporation, transpiration, evapotranspiration, and antecedent moisture. Drainage basin characteristics: size and shape, drainage density, porosity and permeability of soils, rock type, slopes, vegetation type, and land use.
Weeks 4 and 5
River channel processes and landforms Channel processes Erosion: abrasion/corrasion, solution, cavitation, and hydraulic action. Load transport: traction, saltation, suspension, and solution. Deposition and sedimentation: the Hjülstrom curve.
River flow: velocity and discharge, patterns of flow (laminar, turbulent and helicoidal), and thalweg. Erosional landforms , v shaped valleys, waterfalls . Channel types: straight, braided, and meandering
Landforms: meander (river cliffs, point bars, oxbow lakes), riffle and pool sequences, waterfalls, gorges, bluffs, floodplains, levées, and deltas.
Week 6
The human impact Modifications to catchment flows and stores and to channel flows by land-use changes (deforestation, afforestation, urbanisation), abstraction and water storage. The causes and impacts of river floods; prediction of flood risk and recurrence intervals.
Weeks 7 and 8
The prevention and amelioration of river floods to include: • forecasts and warnings • hard engineering – dams, straightening, levées and diversion spillways • soft engineering – floodplain and drainage basin management, wetland and river bank conservation and river restoration.
Weeks 9 and 10
Case Studies: contrast the River Severn floods with Bangladesh.
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About the teacher
John King
I am a semi retired Head of Geography who has taught in Secondary Education for 32 years at 4 different schools. I established a keen interest in weather forecasting...
