13.3.4 How does water shape landforms? Water changes landscapes through erosion and deposition. Torrents of gushing water can shift rocks, strip away topsoil and carve river valleys. Gentle rain chemically alters surface material, sculpting impressive coastal landforms. In cold climates, glaciers work like slow-moving bulldozers, eroding the land and creating unique features.
FIGURE3 Horseshoe Bend is a meander in the Colorado River, created over millions of years as the river flowed through the Grand Canyon, eroding softer rock, and transporting the material downstream. (a) The Colorado River meandering through the Grand Canyon and (b) water flow changing the landscape.
(a)
(b)
At the coast, the power of waves can carve through rock, reducing once mighty cliffs to lowly sea-stacks. Through deposition, water creates beaches, spits and sand dunes. You can see the power of water as it rushes over a rock face, creating rock pools ( FIGURE2 ) or carving coastal features ( FIGURE4 ).
FIGURE4 Water constantly moves over and through the earth, and through the air.
Glaciers of frozen water slowly flow from permanent snowfields, eroding mountain slopes.
Waterfalls form when water quickly pours over hard rock, eroding the weaker rock underneath.
Condensation
Water is always part of the water cycle.
Precipitation
Evaporation
Transpiration
Precipitation
Run-off
Groundwater
Evaporation
Caves form by water flowing underground.
On flatter land, rivers slow down, often meandering, depositing material around the banks and on floodplains.
A coastal estuary can form where a river meets the sea and deposits its sediment load.
TOPIC13 Landforms and landscapes – diversity, significance and management 289
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