Deposition can occur:

• where a river enters a shallow area (this could be when it floods and comes into contact with the flood plain)
• at the base of a waterfall
• on the inside bend of a meander
• towards its mouth where it meets another body of water.

Find out more about river deposition.

Rapids form when there is vertical bedding which is when alternate bands of hard and soft rock cross the channel. Differential erosion will occur as the soft rock is more easily eroded than hard rock. This makes the riverbed uneven and river’s flow becomes turbulent leading to white water sections typical of rapids.

Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.

Abrasion or corrasion, attrition, hydraulic action and solution or corrosion.

Find out more about river erosion.

Characteristics of a gorge include:

• very narrow valley
• very steep, high valley sides is
• located immediately downstream of a waterfall
• river channel takes up most, if not all, of the valley floor
• boulders litter the river bed
• turbulent, fast-flowing whitewater

Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.

Waterfalls and gorges are typically found in the upper course of the river.

Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.