River Transportation

—A river uses its energy to carry or transport eroded materials such as mud, sand, boulders and dissolved materials. These materials are called its load.

—River transport their load by 4 processes.

Types of River Transport

• Traction
• Saltation
• Suspension
• Solution

Traction

—Large particles such as pebbles and boulders roll and slide along the river bed.

Saltation

—Large particles such as gravel are lifted and then dropped again so that they bounce along the river bed in a series of hops.

Suspension

—Smaller particles such as clay, silt and fine sand are carried along without touching the river bed.

Solution

—Dissolved materials containing minerals such as calcium and sodium are carried in the water.

—They cannot be seen by our naked eye.

Exercise: Please draw and label all the River Processes

Since we have learned all the River Erosion and River Transportation, click here to get the summary of all the types of River Processes.