The termsriver morphology and its synonymstream morphology are used to describe the shapes ofriver channels and how they change in shape and direction over time. The morphology of a riverchannel is a function of a number of processes and environmental conditions, including the composition anderodibility of thebed andbanks (e.g., sand, clay, bedrock);erosion comes from the power and consistency of the current, and can affect the formation of the river's path. It also can be affected byvegetation and the rate of plant growth; the availability ofsediment; the size and composition of the sediment moving through the channel; the rate ofsediment transport through the channel and the rate of deposition on thefloodplain, banks,bars, and bed; and regionalaggradation ordegradation due tosubsidence oruplift. River morphology can also be affected by human interaction. An example of human-induced change in river morphology is dam construction, which alters the ebb flow of fluvial water and sediment, therefore creating or shrinkingestuarine channels.[1] Ariver regime is a dynamic equilibrium system, which is a way of classifying rivers into different categories. The four categories of river regimes are sinuous canali-form rivers, sinuous point bar rivers, sinuous braided rivers, and non-sinuous braided rivers.
The study of river morphology is accomplished in the field offluvialgeomorphology, the scientific term.
| Large-scale features | |
|---|---|
| Alluvial rivers | |
| Bedrock river | |
| Bedforms | |
| Regional processes | |
| Mechanics | |
