How does the River Tees change from source to mouth? [30 marks]
The River Tees is located in Northern England and travels 120km from its source in Cross Fell (700 metres above sea level) to its mouth in the Northern Sea. The river is broken down into the upper, middle and lower courses, all of which have different types of environments and land use due the variety of erosion, transportation and depositional processes.
The upper course of the river has a steep-sided V shaped valley with a narrow channel and interlocking spurs. Material in this section of the river is transported by traction; the rocks are large and jagged due to not having travelled far meaning little erosion has taken place. There is more erosion than deposition due to rocks being heavy, causing them to be dragged along the river bed rather than dropped at the side. This erosion is vertical because of the downward pull of gravity which also causes a high velocity for the river. The majority of the landscape is moorland, still very high up and therefore difficult to use for crop growing, however it does not prevent farmers using for sheep. The land has also been used to store water at Cow Green Reservoir for the villages further down the river and a quarry built for building roads, using the whinstone grit which is an igneous rock. The geology of the upper course includes two layers of rock, whinstone which is hard rock and below this is milstone grit, a soft rock. This means that a waterfall (High Force) has been formed, as water has eroded and undercut the weaker soft rock. The waterfall retreats when the hard rock above collapses, it then moves upstream and a gorge is formed.
The Term Paper on Sedimentary Rock 2
... sedimentary and earlier metamorphic rock units are subjected to this new metamorphic event. Accelerated erosion The high mountain ranges produced by ... silicic and volatile rich fraction of the crustal or upper mantle material. This lower density material tends to stay ... weathering. Running water carries vast amounts of sediment in rivers back to the ocean and inland basins. The accumulated ...
In the middle course the land is slightly flatter, less gravitational pull on the water causes it to move slower and therefore less erosion takes place vertically. This means some of the waters energy is used laterally, widening the river. The landscape is also slightly drier; this means it can be used for pasteur and ploughed fields as well as the building of some towns leading to industry, schools and transport being introduced to the area. Erosion is still on-going at this point in the river, but there is also some deposition due the velocity of the water decreasing slightly with the gradient. This erosion and deposition means that meanders form, creating a natural moat for sites such as Yarm. This was the first place a bridge could be built, leading to a port and the Tees first point of industry.
The lower course of the river Tees has a much wider river, a slower velocity and nearly all energy devoted to lateral erosion. A wide floodplain is also formed, meaning that landforms such as levees are created due to more friction and a lack of energy as well as the river overflowing and depositing sediment on the banks as the water returns to the river. At the mouth of the river, an estuary has formed and this has been very important to the industry of the area, coal and salt deposits, iron and steel works, and an oil refinery all contribute to the economy of the area. They have all been easily built due to the land being flat and close to the sea, allowing easy import and export for large ships. In the past boats had to travel down meanders (which have since been cut off to decrease the distance needed to be travelled) meaning it limited the amount of good that’s could be traded.
Overall, rivers are important because they can allow a variety of human activities to occur depending on the type of surrounding landscape. Rivers have many advantages, they give access to towns and villages via boats meaning people overseas can trade, increasing the economy of the area due to higher income and employment. Reservoirs can be built to store and supply water to local people as well as creating a natural habitat for wildlife. They can be used as a power source, to provide electricity to local towns and villages. A disadvantage of rivers is that they have the potential to flood, heavy or prolonged rainfall, steep valley sides or a small river channel can all cause a river to overflow easily and this means that surrounding areas will flood. This can limit the land use if buildings and industries are put at risk.
The Term Paper on Kaveri River water dispute
Kaveri river flows in South Karnataka and then to Tamil Nadu. The sharing of waters of the river Kaveri has been the source of a serious conflict between the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The genesis of this conflict, rests in two controversial agreements—one signed in 1892 and another in 1924—between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and Princely State of Mysore. The 802 km Kaveri ...
