Geographical Theory.

1. To what extent does the channel profile of the Wildbour Clough River follow the Bradshaw model? I predict that the river will follow the Bradshaw model and that the Width and Depth of the river will increase as it travels downstream. I predict this, because the Tributaries which attach to the river, and the water added from the drainage basin will increase the rivers discharge. With all this extra water added, when the river travels downstream, increasing its velocity, the river’s banks and beds will become eroded; therefore making it deeper and wider. This process is called Hydraulic action. The width and depth will also be affected because of abrasion. Abrasion is where stones carried downstream with the river bash against the river bed and banks, causing them to become worn-down.

2. To what extent is there a relationship between the velocity of the Wildbour Clough River and erosional processes acting on bed load size and shape? I predict that as the rivers velocity increases, the bed load size and shape will decrease and become smoother. I predict this because I noticed that upstream the rivers velocity was slower, and the bed load was much larger and rougher. And downstream the velocity had increased, and the bed load was much smaller and a lot smoother. As the velocity down stream was much faster than upstream, as the stones were washed down river they picked up more momentum and began to move faster, this caused the stones to bash into each and were broken down into smaller pieces, this is called attrition. Another contributing factor, is something called hydraulic action. This is where the power of the water itself, constantly smashing against the stones caused them to become smaller and smoother.