FLUVIAL LANDFORMS

BY MD. RIZWAN AHMED

Fluvial erosion is the detachment of material of the river bed and the sides. Erosion starts when the
flow energy of the water exceeds the resistance of the material of the river bed and banks. Fluvial
erosion proceeds in two ways: vertical erosion: a river erodes its river bed, i.e. it is depend.

Fluvial erosion is the natural process of the wearing away from soil, vegetation, sediment, and rock
from the river channel bed and banks by the action of water. When river channels are altered by
humans or nature, the river must readjust to reach its former balance.

Stream-related processes are called fluvial (from the Latin word fluvius = river). Water dislodges,
dissolves, or removes surface material in the process called erosion. Streams produce fluvial
erosion, in which weathered sediment is picked up for transport, and movement to new locations.

Erosion is the process by which the surface of the Earth gets worn down. Erosion can be caused by
natural elements such as wind and glacial ice. The key to erosion is something called “fluid flow.”
Water, air, and even ice are fluids because they tend to flow from one place to another due to the
force of gravity.

• Fluvial landforms are those generated by running water, mainly rivers. The term fluvial
derives from the Latin word ‘fluvius’ that means river.
• Fluvial landforms cover an enormous range of dimensions, from small features like rills to
major continental-scale morpho-hydrological units like large rivers and their drainage basins.
• Rivers flowing to the oceans drain about 68 % of the Earth’s land surface.
• The source of the river is generally found in an upland region with a slope down for the run-
offs.
• Hence, the uplands form the catchment areas of the rivers & the crest of mountains becomes
the divide or watershed from which the streams flow down the slope.
• The initial stream that exists as a consequence of the slope is called the consequent stream
• As the consequent stream wears down the surface, it is joined by several tributaries from
either side.
• The drainage basin or watershed is a fundamental landscape unit in fluvial geomorphology.
A Drainage basin contains a primary, or trunk, river and its tributaries.

Various aspects of fluvial erosive action include:

• Hydration: the force of running water wearing down rocks.

• Corrosion/Solution: chemical action that leads to weathering.
Page | 1
 • Attrition: It involves wear & tear of transported material among them when they roll
and collide into one another.
• Corrasion or abrasion: solid river load striking against rocks and wearing them down.
• Downcutting (vertical erosion): the erosion of the base of a stream (downcutting
leads to valley deepening).
• Lateral erosion: the erosion of the walls of a stream (leads to valley widening).
• Headward erosion: erosion at the origin of a stream channel, which causes the origin
to move back away from the direction of the stream flow, and so causes the stream
channel to lengthen.
• Hydraulic Action: It involves Mechanical loosening & sweeping away of materials by
river water. It occurs mainly by surging into the crevices & cracks of rocks &
disintegrating them.
• Braiding: the main water channel splitting into multiple, narrower channel. A braided
river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small,
and often temporary, islands called braid bars. Braided streams occur in rivers with
low slope and/or large sediment load.

River course
Youth - A few consequent streams exist and a few subsequent streams are trying to develop
valleys by random headward erosion. These valleys may be “V shaped. The depth of these valleys
depends on the height above sea level. The inter- stream divides are broad, extensive, irregular and
may have lakes. Rapids, water-falls, gorges, river capture are characteristic features. Floodplain is
generally absent, but may exist along the trunk stream. Overall, a highly uneven relief exists.

• Streams are few during this stage with poor integration and flow over original slopes
• The valley developed is thus deep, narrow and distinctly V-shaped with no floodplains or with
very narrow floodplains.
• Downcutting predominates over lateral corrasion
• Streams divides are broad and flat with marshes, swamp and lakes.
• Some of the outstanding features which are developed in this stage are gorges, canyons
waterfalls, rapids and river capture etc.

Mature - This stage is marked by well- integrated drainage system with a few streams trying to
adjust through softer beds. Broad valleys result from continuous horizontal erosion. Meanders are

Page | 2
a characteristic feature and valley floor width is more than the meander belt width. The inter-stream
divides are sharp and the upland is reduced. Rapids and waterfalls are absent.

Floodplain development is a prominent feature. Maximum relief exists overall.

• During this stage, streams are plenty with good integration.

• Lateral corrasion tends to replace vertical corrasion
• The valleys are still V-shaped but wide and deep due to an active erosion of the banks;
• Trunk streams are broad enough to have wider floodplains within which streams may flow in
meanders confined within the valley.
• Swamps and marshes of youth stage, as well as flat and broad inter-stream areas, disappear.
The stream divides turn sharp.
• Waterfalls and rapids disappear.
• Meander and slip off slopes are the characteristic features of this stage

Old - The streams are more numerous than in youth but less as compared to maturity. With
increasing deposition valley broadening dominates. Meanders are highly developed with ox-bow
lakes, and floor width is more than the meander belt width. The inter-stream divides are highly
reduced. Lakes and marshes may be present. The successive floodplains join to form a pen plain.
Delta formation is characteristic of old age at the mouth of the river. Mass wasting is dominant and,
overall, minimum relief is evident.

• The river moving downstream across a broad level plain is heavy with sediments.
• Vertical corrasion almost ceases in this stage though lateral corrasion still goes on to erode
its banks further
• Smaller tributaries during old age are few with gentle gradients.

Page | 3
 • Streams meander freely over vast floodplains. Divides are broad and flat with lakes, swamps
and marshes.
• Depositional features predominate in this stage
• Most of the landscape is at or slightly above sea level
• Characteristic features of this stage are floodplains, oxbow lakes, natural levees and Delta
etc.

Fluvial Landforms – Erosional

Splash Erosion

• Splash erosion or rain drop impact represents the first stage in the erosion process. Splash
erosion results from the bombardment of the soil surface by rain drops.
• Rain drops behave as little bombs when falling on exposed or bare soil, displacing soil
particles and destroying soil structure.

Sheet Erosion

• Sheet erosion occurs as a

shallow ‘sheet’ of water
flowing over the ground
surface, resulting in the
removal of a uniform layer of
soil from the soil surface.
• Water moving fairly
uniformly with a similar

Page | 4
 thickness over a surface is called sheet flow, and is the cause of sheet erosion.

Rills, and Gully

Gulley is an incised water- worn channel, which is particularly common in semi-arid areas. It is
formed when water from overland-flows down a slope, especially following heavy rainfall, is
concentrated into rills, which merge and enlarge into a gulley. The ravines of Chambal Valley in
Central India.

• A rill is a shallow channel in some soil, created by the erosion of flowing water. Rills can
generally be easily removed by tilling the soil. When rills get large enough that they cannot
easily be removed, they’re known as gullies.

Nala or Rivulet - A rivulet is a small stream.

Ravine

• A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank
erosion.
• Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys.

River Valleys

• The extended depression on the ground through which a stream flows throughout its course
is called a river valley.
• At different stages of the erosional cycle, the valley acquires different profiles
• Valleys start as small and narrow rills

Page | 5
 • The rills will gradually develop into long and wide gullies
• The gullies will further deepen, widen and lengthen to give rise to valleys.
• Depending upon dimensions, shape, types and structure of rocks in which they are formed,
many types of valleys like the V-shaped valley, gorge, canyon, etc. can be recognised.

I-shaped valley/Gorge

• When the sides of the valley are almost

parallel to each other, they form an ‘I’
shape and hence, these valleys are
known as I-shaped valley.
• A gorge is a deep and narrow valley with
very steep to straight sides
• A gorge is almost equal in width at its top
as well as its bottom.
• Gorges are formed in hard rocks.
• Example- Indus Gorge in Kashmir

CANYON
• A canyon is a variant of the gorge.
• Unlike Gorge, a canyon is wider at its top than at its bottom.
• A canyon is characterised by steep step-like side slopes
• Canyons commonly form in horizontal bedded sedimentary rocks
• Example Grand Canyon carved by Colorado River, USA

V-shape valley
• The river is very swift as it descends
the steep slope, and the predominant
action of the river is vertical corrasion
• The valley developed is thus deep,
narrow and distinctly V-shaped

Page | 6
 Interlocking spurs
• Interlocking spurs are projections of high land that alternate from either side of a V-
shaped valley.

Waterfalls & Rapid

• When rivers plunge down in a sudden fall of some height, they are called waterfalls
• Their great force usually wears out a plunge pool beneath

Page | 7
 • Waterfalls are formed because of several factors like the relative resistance of rocks lying
across the river, the relative difference in topographic reliefs e.g.in Plateau etc.
• A rapid is similarly formed due to an abrupt
change in gradient of a river due to
variation in resistance of hard and soft
rocks traversed by a river
• Waterfalls are also transitory like any other
landform and will recede gradually and
bring the floor of the valley above waterfalls
to the level below.

Potholes & Plunge Pool

The kettle-like small depressions in the rocky beds of the river valleys are called pot holes which are
usually cylindrical in shape. Pot holes are generally formed in coarse-grained rocks such as
sandstones and granites. Potholing or pothole-drilling is the mechanism through which the grinding
tools (fragments of rocks, e.g. boulders
and angular rock fragments) when
caught in the water eddies or swirling
water start dancing in a circular manner
and grind and drill the rock beds of the
valleys like a drilling machine. They
thus form small holes which are
gradually enlarged by the repetition of
the said mechanism. The potholes go
on increasing in both diameter and
depth.

• Potholes are more or less

circular depressions formed
over the rocky beds of hill-
streams, because of stream
erosion aided by the abrasion of rock fragments.

Page | 8
• Once a small and shallow depression forms, pebbles and boulders get collected in those
depressions and get rotated by flowing water and consequently the depressions grow in
dimensions.
• Eventually, such depressions are joined leading to deepening of the stream valley.
• At the foot of waterfalls also, large potholes, quite deep and wide, form because of the sheer
impact of water and rotation of boulders. These deep and large holes at the base of waterfalls
are referred to as plunge pools.
• These pools also help in the deepening of valleys

CATARACT
• Cataracts are waterfalls on very large rivers.
• The term cataract is usually applied to that section of a rapidly flowing river where the running
water falls suddenly in a sheer drop. When the drop is less steep, the fall is known as
a cascade.
• A cataract is a powerful, even dangerous, waterfall.

AIT / EYOT
• An ait or eyot is a small island.
• It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries
in England.
• Aits are typically formed by the deposit of sediment in the water, which accumulates over a
period of time.
• An ait is characteristically long and narrow, and may become a permanent island should it
become secured and protected by growing vegetation.
• However, aits may also be eroded: the resulting sediment is deposited further downstream
and could result in another ait. A channel with numerous aits is called a braided channel.

Incised or Entrenched Meanders

• Incised or entrenched meanders are found

cut in hard rocks. They are very deep and
wide.
• In streams that flow rapidly over steep
gradients, normally erosion is
concentrated on the bottom of the stream
channel.
• Entrenched meander normally occurs where there is a rapid cutting of the river bed such that
the river does not get to erode the lateral sides.

Page | 9
 • Meander loops are developed over original gentle surfaces in the initial stages of
development of streams and the same loops get entrenched into the rocks normally due to
erosion or gradual uplift of the land over which they started.
• They are widened and deepened over a long period of time and can be found as deep gorges
and canyons in the areas where hard rocks are found.
• They give an indication of the status of original land surfaces over which streams have
developed.
• Incised meanders are said to be an impact of river rejuvenation.

Structural Benches

• Step like sequence of geomorphic surfaces

• Differential erosion of alternately arranged hard and soft rocks forming step-like valleys
known as structural benches
• The benches formed due to differential erosion of alternate bands of hard and soft rock beds
are called structural benches or terraces because of lithological control in the rate of erosion
and consequent development of benches.

River Terraces - Stepped benches along the river course in a flood plain are called
terraces.
Page | 10
 • River terraces refer to surfaces relating to old valley floor or floodplain levels.
• They may be bedrock surfaces without any alluvial cover or alluvial terraces consisting of
stream deposits.
• River terraces are basically products of erosion as they result due to vertical erosion by the
stream into its own depositional floodplain.
• There can be a number of such terraces. They are found at different heights indicating former
river bed levels.
• The river terraces may occur at the same elevation on either side of the rivers in which case
they are called paired terraces

Peneplain - This refers to an undulating featureless plain punctuated with low- lying residual hills of
resistant rocks. According to W.M. Davis, it is the end product of an erosional cycle.

• A peneplain (an almost plain) is a low-relief plain which is formed as a result of stream erosion
• The peneplain is meant to imply the representation of a near-final (or penultimate) stage of
fluvial erosion during times of extended tectonic stability.

Drainage Basin
• Other terms that are used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment area,
catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, and water basin.
• The drainage basin includes both the streams and rivers and the land surface.
• The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the area covered by the
basin and channelling it to a single point.
• In closed (endorheic) drainage basins the water converges to a single point inside the basin,
known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake (e.g. Lake Aral, also known Aral Sea, Dead
Sea), dry lake (some desert lakes like Lake Chad, Africa), or a point where surface water is
lost underground (sinkholes in Karst landforms).

Page | 11
Drainage Divide

• Adjacent drainage basins are separated from one another by a drainage divide.
• Drainage divide is usually a ridge or a high platform.
• Drainage divide is conspicuous in case of youthful topography (Himalayas), and it is not well
marked in plains and senile topography.

Drainage Patterns

• The drainage pattern of a stream refers to the typical shape of a river course as it completes
its erosional cycle
• They are governed by the topography of the land, resistance and strength of base rocks and
the gradient of the land
• There are various types of drainage patterns which are described briefly as below:

Dendritic drainage pattern

• It is the most common form of drainage system.

• The drainage pattern resembling the branches of a tree is known as dendritic in a
dendritic system, there are many contributing streams, which are then joined together
into the tributaries of the main river
• The examples of Dendritic Pattern include the rivers of northern plain such Indus.

Trellis drainage pattern

• In the trellis drainage pattern, the primary tributaries of rivers flow parallel to each other
and they are joined by secondary tributaries at the right angle.
• The geometry of a trellis drainage system is similar to that of a common garden trellis
used to grow vines.
• Trellis drainage is characteristic of folded mountains,
• Examples of trellis pattern include the drainage system of the Appalachian Mountains
in North America and Seine and its tributaries in Paris basin (France) etc.

Parallel drainage pattern

Page | 12
 • A parallel drainage system is a pattern of rivers caused by steep slopes with some
relief.
• The parallel drainage pattern is observed in a uniformly sloping region where the
tributaries seem to be running parallel to each other.
• A parallel pattern sometimes indicates the presence of a major fault that cuts across
an area of steeply folded bedrock.
• Examples of this system include the rivers of Lesser Himalaya

Rectangular drainage pattern

• Rectangular drainage develops on rocks that are of approximately uniform resistance

to erosion, but which have two directions of joining at approximately right angles.
• In the rectangular drainage pattern, the mainstream curve at right angles and the
tributaries joins the mainstream at right angles.
• Example Colorado river the USA

Angular drainage pattern

• Angular drainage pattern is commonly observed in foothill regions.

• Angular drainage patterns form where bedrock joints and faults intersect at more acute
angles than rectangular drainage patterns. Angles are both more and less than 90
degrees
• the mainstream is joined by the tributaries at acute angles.

Radial drainage pattern

• When the rivers originate from a hill and flow in all directions, the drainage pattern is
known as radial.
• Volcanoes usually display excellent radial drainage. Other geological features on
which radial drainage commonly develops are domes and laccoliths.
• The rivers originating from the Amarkantak range present a good example of it.

Centripetal drainage pattern

• When the rivers discharge their waters from all directions in a lake or depression, the
pattern is known as centripetal.
• Examples – streams of Ladakh, Tibet and Loktak Lake in Manipur (India)

Annular drainage pattern

• In an annular drainage pattern streams follow a roughly circular or concentric path

along a belt of weak rock, resembling in plan a ring-like pattern.
• Example of such system include Black Hill streams of South Dakota, USA

Page | 13
 Fluvial Landforms – Depositional
The depositional action of a stream is influenced by stream velocity and the volume of river load. The
decrease in stream velocity reduces the transporting power of the streams which are forced to leave
additional load to settle down. Increase in river load is affected through -

1. Accelerated rate of erosion in the source catchment areas consequent

upon deforestation and hence increase in the sediment load in the
downstream sections of the rivers.
2. Supply of glacio-fluvial materials.
3. Supply of additional sediment load by tributary streams.
4. Gradual increase in the sediment load of the streams due to rill and gully
erosion.

Fluvial Depositional landforms are made by river sediments brought down by extensive
erosion in the upper course of the rivers.
Rocks and cliffs are continually weathered and eroded in the youth stage or upper course of
the river.
Page | 14
 The river moving downstream on a level plain brings down a heavy load of sediments from
the upper course.
The decrease in stream velocity in the lower course of the river reduces the transporting
power of the streams which leads to deposition of this sediment load.
Coarser materials are dropped first and finer silt is carried down towards the mouth of the
river
This depositional process leads to the formation of various depositional landforms through
fluvial action such as Delta, Levees and Flood Plain etc.

Alluvial Fans and Cones

When a stream leaves the mountains and comes down to the plains, its velocity decreases due to a
lower gradient. As a result, it sheds a lot of material, which it had been carrying from the mountains,
at the foothills. This deposited material acquires a conical shape and appears as a series of
continuous fans. These are called alluvial fans. Such fans appear throughout the Himalayan foothills
in the north Indian plains.

• An alluvial fan is a cone-shaped depositional landform built up by streams, heavy with

sediment load.
• Alluvial fans are formed when streams flowing from mountains break into foot slope plains of
low gradient.
• Normally very coarse load is carried by streams flowing over mountain slopes. This load gets
dumped as it becomes too heavy to be carried over gentler gradients by the streams
• Furthermore, this load spreads as a broad low to a high cone-shaped deposit called an
alluvial fan that appears as a series of continuous fans.
• Alluvial fans in humid areas show normally low cones with a gentle slope from head to toe
and they appear as high cones with a steep slope in arid and semi-arid climates.

Page | 15
 FLOODPLAINS
❖ Floodplain is a major landform of river deposition.
❖ Deposition develops a floodplain just as erosion makes valleys.
❖ Rivers in the lower course carry large quantities of sediments
❖ Large sized materials are deposited first when stream channel breaks into a gentle slope.
❖ Sand, silt and clay and other fine sized sediments are carried over gentler channels by
relatively slow-moving waters.
❖ During annual or sporadic floods, these materials are spread over the low lying adjacent
areas. A layer of sediments is thus deposited during each flood, gradually building up a
floodplain
❖ In plains, channels shift laterally and change their courses occasionally leaving cut-off
courses which get filled up gradually by
relatively coarse deposits.
❖ The flood deposits of spilt waters carry
relatively finer materials like silt and clay.
❖ Active Floodplain – A riverbed made of
river deposits is the active floodplain.
❖ Inactive Floodplain – The floodplain
above the bank is an inactive floodplain.
Inactive floodplain above the banks
basically contains two types of deposits
flood deposits and channel deposits.
Page | 16
❖ Delta plains – The floodplains in a delta are called delta plains.

Doab

• Doab is the tract of land between two converging rivers.

• Doab is a term used in South Asia particularly in India and Pakistan to refer to ‘tongue” or
tract of land lying between two converging rivers.

Natural Levees

This is an important landform associated with floodplains.

They are found along the banks of large rivers.
They are low, linear and parallel ridges of coarse deposits along the banks of rivers on both
sides due to deposition action of the stream, appearing as natural embankments.
At the time of flooding, the water is spilt over the bank. As the speed of flow of the water
comes down, large sized sediments with high specific gravity are dumped along the bank as
ridges.
They are high nearer the banks and slope gently away from the river.
Generally, the levee deposits are coarser
When rivers shift laterally, a series of natural levees can form.
Artificial embankments are formed on the levees to minimize the risk of the floods.
But sudden bursts in the banks due to the pressure of water can cause disastrous floods.
An example of such flood can be seen in Hwang Ho river which is also called China s sorrow.

Point Bars & Cut Banks

• Point Bar is also associated with floodplain

• Point bars are also known as meander bars.
• A point bar is a depositional feature
• It is formed by alluvium that accumulates in a
linear fashion on the inside bends of streams and
rivers below the slip-off slope.
• They are found on the convex side of meanders
of large rivers.
• They are almost uniform in profile and in width
and contain mixed sizes of sediments.

Page | 17
 • Long and narrow depressions can be found in between the point bars where there is more
than one ridge
• Rivers build a series of them depending upon the water flow and supply of sediment.
• As the point bars are built by the rivers on the convex side, erosion takes place on the
concave side of the bank.
• Cut banks are found on the outside of a bend in a river. Cut banks are caused by the moving
water of the river wearing away the earth.

Meanders

A meander is defined as a pronounced curve or loop in the course of a river channel. The outer bend
of the loop in a meander is characterised by intensive erosion and vertical cliffs and is called the cliff-
slope side. This side has a concave slope. The inner side of the loop is characterised by deposition,
a gentle convex slope, arid is called the slip-off side. Morphologically, the meanders may be wavy,
horse-shoe type or ox-bow/ bracelet type.

• In large flood and delta plains, rivers rarely flow

in straight courses. Loop-like channel patterns
called meanders develop over flood and delta
plains
• Normally, in meanders of large rivers, there is
active deposition along the convex bank and
undercutting along the concave bank.
• If there is no deposition and no erosion or undercutting, the tendency to meander is reduced.
• The concave bank is known as a cut-off bank which shows up as a steep scarp and the
convex bank presents a long, gentle profile and is known as the slip-off bank

Oxbow Lake

Sometimes, because of intensive erosion action, the outer curve of a meander gets accentuated to
such an extent that the inner ends of the loop come close enough to get disconnected from the main
channel and exist as independent water bodies. These water bodies are converted into swamps in
due course of time. In the Indo-Gangetic plains, southwards shifting of Ganga has left many ox-bow
lakes to the north of the present course of the Ganga.

Page | 18
• As meanders grow into deep loops, the same may get cut-off due to erosion at the inflexion
points and are left as independent water bodies, known as ox-bow lakes.
• Through subsequent floods that may silt up the lake, oxbow lakes are converted into swamps
in due course of time. It becomes marshy and eventually dries up

Riffle and Pool

• Pools: An area of the stream characterized by deep depths and slow current. Pools are
typically created by the vertical force of water falling down over logs or boulders. The
movement of the water carves a deeper indentation in the stream bed. Pools are important
because they can provide depth and still water.
• Riffles: An area of stream characterized by shallow depths with fast, turbulent water. The
riffles are short segments of the stream where water flow is agitated by rocks. The rocky
bottom provides protection from predators, food deposition, and shelter. Riffle depths vary
depending upon stream size but can be as shallow as 1 inch or deep as 1 meter. The
turbulence and streamflow result in high dissolved oxygen concentration.
Page | 19
 Bluff

• A bluff is a small, rounded cliff that usually overlooks a body of water, or where a body of
water once stood.
• Bluff is a ridge of land that extends into the air.

Braided Channels

A braided channel consists of a network of river channels divided into multiple threads and
separated by small and often temporary islands called eyots.
Braided channels are commonly found where water velocity is low and the river is heavy with
sediment load
Deposition and lateral erosion of banks are essential for the formation of the braided pattern.
There is the formation of central bars due to selective deposition of coarser material which
diverts the flow towards the banks causing extensive lateral erosion
As the valley widens due to continuous lateral erosion, the water column is reduced and more
and more materials get deposited as islands and lateral bars developing a number of
separate channels of water flow.

Page | 20
 DELTA
❖ Deltas are fan-shaped alluvial areas, resembling an alluvial fan
❖ This alluvial tract is, in fact, a seaward extension of the floodplain
❖ The load carried by the rivers is dumped and spread into the mouth of the river at sea. Further,
this load spreads and piles up as a low cone
❖ Unlike in alluvial fans, the deposits making up deltas are very well sorted with clear
stratification. The coarsest sediments are deposited first and the finer sediments are carried
out further, into the sea.
❖ Deltas extend sideways and seaward at an amazing rate
❖ As the delta grows, the river distributaries continue to increase in length and Delta continues
to build up into the sea.
❖ Some deltas are extremely large. For example, the Ganges delta is as big as the whole west
of Malaysia
❖ Types of Deltas: There are great variations in size, shape, growth, and importance of Deltas.
A great number of factors influence the eventual formation of deltas such as depth of the
river, sedimentation, sea-bed, character of tides, waves, and currents, etc. owing to these
factors several types of deltas can be found.
➢ Birds foot delta – It’s a kind of delta featuring long, stretching distributary channels,
which branch outwards resembling the foot of a bird. Deltas that are less subjected to
wave or tidal action culminates to a bird s foot delta. Example the Mississippi River
has a bird s foot delta extending into the Gulf of Mexico
➢ Arcuate delta - Arcuate is the most common type of delta. This is a fan-shaped delta.
It’s a curved or bowed delta with a convex margin facing the sea. Arcuate deltas have
a smooth coastline due to the action of the waves and the way they are formed.
Examples – The Nile, Ganges, and Mekong River deltas
➢ Cuspate delta - A few rivers have tooth-like projections at their mouth, known as the
cuspate delta. Cuspate deltas are formed where the river flows into a stable water
body (sea or ocean). The sediments brought down by the rivers collide with the waves.
As a result, Sediments are spread evenly on either side of its channel. Example - Ebro
River delta in Spain
➢ Estuarine delta - some rivers have their deltas partly submerged in the coastal waters
to form an estuarine delta. This may be due to a drowned valley because of a rise in
sea level. Example - Amazon River delta

Page | 21
❖ Conditions favourable for the formation of delta
➢ Active vertical and lateral erosion in the upper course of the river to provide extensive
sediments to be eventually deposited as deltas.
➢ The coast should be sheltered preferable tideless.
➢ The sea adjoining the delta should be shallow or else the load will disappear in the
deep waters.
➢ There should be no large lakes in the river to filter off the sediments.
➢ There should be no strong current running at right angles to the river mouth, washing
away the sediments.

Page | 22