Come on friends, today we will talk about one more interesting topic. You must have seen some river near you, have you ever paid attention to it? Why is the pattern of river crooked? If such a question has ever come to your mind, then let us know about today’s topic. Whenever any river is flowing in a plain or flat land, it does not flow in a straight line. Its flow either takes a zig-zag or a meandering pattern. Why does this happen? Because there are some natural reasons behind it, about which we will look at the age.
1. Erosion and Deposition
We all know that the flow of river water is not the same everywhere. Sometimes the flow of water stops, sometimes the flow of water becomes fast, sometimes water spills over a large area, sometimes water collects in a speed. In the same way, when the outlet of water bends at a slight turn, the flow of water becomes fast, due to which the soil that comes in contact with water at the outlet bend starts getting eroded. The river turns its direction.
Similarly, at the inner bend, the flow of river water slows down, soil, gravel or silt gets deposited there, i.e. deposition takes place, due to which silt is formed on that side. You must have seen in the nearby river that deposition of sand or mud always happens on the inner side.
Due to these bends, the river slowly starts moving towards the side, and a meander is created.
A natural river meander showcasing the winding curves formed over time due to erosion and deposition. This beautiful landscape illustrates how rivers change their path in soft terrain, creating loops and bends. pic.twitter.com/bKyymtWCHC
— legendknows (@legendknows_com) April 12, 2025
2.Balance of Flow Energy
Any river always tries to balance its energy. Whenever it is passing through a flat or flat land, the effect of gravity is less at that time. Due to which the river does not flow in a straight path and follows a zig-zag or meandering path.
The energy of the river gets divided in two different places due to the zig-zag path or zig zag pattern of river. Due to this, there is not much erosion at any one place. Soil erosion takes place at the outer side bend (outer bank) and soil deposition takes place at the inner side bend (inner bank).
Due to this process, the flow of the river remains stable, its speed remains manageable, and the balance of the sediment is also maintained. The zig-zag path is a natural way for the river to control its energy, which keeps both the environment and the river bank safe.
3.Soil and bank composition
You must have noticed that whenever the soil on the river bank is soft or loose, the flow of water in the river is fast therefore the flow of water cuts it easily and this process is called erosion.
Soft soil cannot bear this pressure for long and therefore the river keeps moving ahead breaking that area. This erosion gradually weakens the banks, due to which the river changes its path and takes a zig zag form. In such places, the risk of floods is also higher. The curves or bends of the river also develop in this way, which we call meandering. This is a natural process which gives a zig zag pattern of river or shape to the river pattern.
4.Natural balance or dynamic equilibrium
What happens in this condition is that a river develops a natural balance i.e. dynamic equilibrium in its flow over time. This means that the river erodes soil at one place, and at another place at some distance, it also deposits the same soil.
Therefore, when erosion and deposition both become equal, the river is able to keep itself stable. To maintain this balance, the flow pattern of the river must be a zig-zag or meandering pattern(zig zag pattern of river). That is why at every turn the river adjusts the pressure of its flow so that it maintains balance in its course so that the natural landscape is not disturbed.
5.Earth rotation
We know that the earth rotates on its axis during day and night and when it rotates around the sun, it is cold and hot. In this way, when the earth rotates, a force acts on whatever falls on it – like air and water. This force slightly changes the flow of water. Its effect is slow, but it can influence the bends (meanders) of the river in the long term. But its effect is so small that we can neglect it.
In all the above we discussed about pattern of river and below the content we show some pictures related to pattern of river meandering or pattern of river flow in mountains.
If you like our content “reson behind pattern of river flow” please share your friends of comment on this post thanks.
— legendknows (@legendknows_com) April 13, 2025
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All Topic Covered
Civil
Engineering Notes
Cover all topics such as building material, surveying, soil mechanics Hydraulics, RCC, SOM, transport engineering steel engineering, irrigation engineering etc. These all subject are important for all civil engineering AE/JE exams
| SUBJECT | |
|---|---|
| SURVEYING | Surveying |
| BUILDING MATERIAL | Building Material & Construction |
| HYDRAULIC | Hydraulics Engineering |
| IRRIGATION ENGINEERING | Irrigation Engineering |
| GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING | Geotechnical Engineering |
| ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING | click here to read notes subject wise |
| RCC | RCC Engineering |
