The main parts of a river are the upper, middle and lower course. A river is a constant flow of water that runs through a land surface until it reaches its destination, which is usually a larger body of water, such as the ocean or some lake.
They start from the highest parts of the earth to the lowest parts and are created from streams of water that intersect and unify. The formation of a river requires many small streams of water.
Rivers adapt to the environment and the territory that surrounds them, they can grow a lot with rains but also with pollution they can dry up. Global warming, for example, has caused several small streams that feed rivers to dry up.
These water formations have been for many years an important part in the development of the human being, since thanks to them many ancient civilizations were maintained. There are still peoples and communities that feed and depend on them.
Rivers have always been sources of water. Thanks to the animals that inhabit it, it has also been a source of food.
With hydroelectric power, it has become a source of electricity and also represents a way to transport between cities and places, by boats, boats and canoes.
Parts of the river
The anatomy of a river consists of three segments, which in turn have several parts that make it up.
High Course
Called "young river", the course of a river begins in the hills or mountains. Depending on the environment where it is located, the beginning of its life can be derived from two factors: water filtration and thawing.
In very cold places, melting snow or glaciers can create a river. In hot places, the basins located on the slopes of the mountains can suffer seepage of their waters, when this happens the waters form streams.
The streams of various slopes create streams and the streams in turn create the upper part of the river. Due to being in a steep place, this current will derive in very fast, turbulent and considered narrow waters, unlike the other lower parts of the river.
Due to its speed, the river can pass through rocks and modify the surface through which it passes, causing erosion. Due to the strong current, this part of the river erodes looking for depth.
It is characterized by most of the time having large rocks in its channel and by having small waterfalls in its course.
Middle course
The moment the river leaves its fast flow and reaches a less steep place, the river water calms down. Here it becomes a "mature river", eroding sideways to cover more land area.
It follows its course slowly and as it settles it becomes wider. It is in this course of the river where meanders are formed.
The meanders are the curvatures of the river. At the time of the river's birth and in its early stages, these meanders may have been influenced by the local wind causing the current of the river to follow the current of the wind and create its channel.
From the middle course of the river, tributaries can be produced. The union of the river with another stream of water. This segment of the river is where life in the water is more noticeable, with a calmer current, there are more animals and more vegetation.
Unlike the salty water of the seas, rivers have fresh water that is why where a river passes the flora around it is formed.
As this is one of the widest and deepest parts, it has more water. Sometimes, due to rains or other factors, the river can experience a growth that causes it to overflow in some parts usually carrying mud and sediment, which produces the so-called “alluvial plains” in its vicinity.
Although most of the time they are dry, they retain the water of the river when it overflows preventing it from doing much damage in floods.
It is also in these segments of the river, where due to its amount of water, reservoirs and hydroelectric dams are built.
Low course
Called "old river", this is the widest and slowest part of the river, since it is on the lower surface and less steep, in fact in most cases the lower course is on a flat surface. It no longer has the strength to have a fast current and reaches its mouth.
Usually in this segment of the river you can see the accumulation of sediments that brings the flow of water from the upper course and deposits it at the end of its journey.
This last segment does not follow to the letter, the "parts" that it should have, each river has a different lower course. Some flow into lakes and others mix with the salty water of the sea.
Due to the surface through which they have passed, they can also have meanders as in the middle course of the river. Depending on the type of tide it encounters, the river can form estuaries or deltas.
Estuaries are formed when the current of the river flows somewhat faster than normal and meets a strong tide, the river only carries one direction and the mixing of the water creates estuaries.
Usually there is a variety of mollusks, fish and marine life. Many cities and ports have been created near this type of mouth.
The deltas, on the other hand, occur when the main stream of water branches out creating a division of several streams or streams.
These become narrow and shallow. Some of the most famous rivers have this low course time, as is the case of the Nile River and the Amazon River.
When old rivers are not divided into deltas, they are often used by communities and farms, since this part of the river is the best for agricultural production and where it is easier to extract water and fish.
References
- Woodford, C (2016) Rivers: A simple introduction. Extracted from explainthatstuff.com.
- Barrow, M. The stages of a river. Extracted from primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk.
- Barrow, M. Facts about rivers. Extracted from primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk.
- The Nature Conservancy (2007). Anatomy of a river. (PDF). Extracted from nature.org.
- Gruenefeld, G (2013) The anatomy of a river. Extracted from outdoorcanada.ca.
- Jacobs, J. Rivers, a major world. Extracted from waterencyclopedia.com.