Question

Suppose you are a small rock on a riverbank that has been swept into the river. Describe how erosion and deposition affects you, including where you might go and how you would get there.

Answer 1

The smaller rocks on the river banks are often affected by the water. During a flood or due to the occurrence of heavy rainfall, the rock particles (sediments) are carried from those places and flows along with the stream, either by the mode of rolling, sliding, saltation or suspension.

During this transportation of sediments undergo the process of abrasion and attrition. Abrasion refers to the destruction of the rock surface that commonly takes place when a rock strikes the surface of other rock or materials. On the other hand, attrition refers to the considerable reduction of the whole particulate matter.

Both this process occurs during the time of transportation of sediments.

These smaller sediments are then deposited in a region where the flow energy of the river decreases and where the slope of the river is almost horizontal. This normally deposits the sediments in the delta type of environment. The sediments that are deposited here are fine-grained in nature.

Thus, the sediments are broken down into smaller particles as they are transported from one place to another by the river and are deposited in an area where the river's energy flow is fairly low.