The Journey along Ganges River

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

**Some posts will not appear due the amount of posts we have posted. therefore, to view the posts individually, you would have to click on the navigation-s at the side.


The end of Our Trip...

After 2 months, we have finally completed our journey. and through this experience, we have learnt many many things.
As our first adventure of the river, it was natural for us to feel afraid. not only that, we were home-sick. therefore, through this adventure, we have learnt the importance of our family members. We have learnt to treasure them. that's because, during this adventure, we did not have anyone to tack care of us. we had to be very independent. Us, being pampered young adults, we were not used to doing stuffs by ourselves. we needed people to assist us, we need people to take care of our daily needs. but out in the sea, we only had ourselves and our friends, whom have to take care of themselves too. therefore, much stuffs have to be done on our own. that's why, we became more independent during this 2 month "vacation"
Not only that, we have learnt different life-saving skills which was essential, when out in the sea...
This adventure is a in describable experience where we fostered good relationships among all our friends, learnt the different values and the importance of everything where it made us so going to appreciate everything that's around us.
Most importantly, from the people living in india, we saw them bathing in the river and doing other things like brushing their teeth... To us, it was very gross. but to them, they didnt seem to mind it. in fact, they all looked very happy and contented with what they have. so, for us, whom are living in such developed countries, where we can have everything we want and need, we have to appreciate and help others as much as we can when they're in need. we have to show our support for others:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Thank you.
Angeline Heng(3)
Cha Cong Hao (4)
Dione Cheok (11)
Erica Ang (12)

A SUMMARY...

To summarise our blog, we have a video on river... We got this video from the yahoo website.
here's a screen shot of the video.

**go to this refer to view it:
http://sg.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=river&n=21&ei=utf-8&js=1&fr=yfp-t-web&fr2=tab-web&tnr=20&vid=00017525174 or
www.indiana.edu
Thank you.

At the middle course...

Middle course of river:
-gradient of slope=not as steep as upper course
-river channel wider
-other small rivers/streams may join river (tributaries)
From the picture above, we can see that:
-river channel has become much wider and deeper
because, channel has been eroded and the river has been fed by many tributaries upstream
-surrounding valley has also become wider and flatter
-in the middle course there are many meanders (bends)


Next, these are most of the features that we saw in the middle course...

*MEANDERS
-form due to the greater volume of water carried by the river in lowland areas
-results in lateral (sideways) erosion
-causing the channel to cut into its banks forming meanders



*STEEP SIDED RIVER SLOPE

-Water flows fastest on the outer bend of the river where the channel is deeper
-there is less friction
-causes greater erosion which deepens the channel
-results in the reduction in friction; increase in energy results in greater erosion -lateral erosion results in undercutting of the river bank; the formation of a steep sided river cliff.

*SLIP-OFF SLOPE
-on the inner bend water is slow flowing, due to it being a low energy
-deposition occurs resulting in a shallower channel
-thus, increases friction further; encouraging further deposition
-Over time, a small beach of material builds up on the inner bend
-this is called a slip-off slope.

*It is deeper on the outer bend (due to greater erosion) and shallower on the inside bend (an area of deposition).*

*Ox-bow Lake Formation


1. As the outer banks of a meander continue to be eroded through processes such as hydraulic action the neck of the meander becomes narrow and narrower.
2. Eventually, the two outer bends meet and the river cuts through the neck of the meander. The water now takes its shortest route rather than flowing around the bend.
3. Deposition gradually seals off the old meander bend forming a new straighter river channel.
4. Due to deposition the old meander bend is left isolated from the main channel as an ox-bow lake.
5. Over time this feature may fill up with sediment and may gradually dry up (except for periods of heavy rain). When the water dries up, the feature left behind is known as a meander scar.

A Video on the formation of the ox-bow lakes:


**http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=309/consultants_resources%2F_files%2Fmeander4.swf


A summary on what we actually saw:

1.)Meander - a bend in a river
2.)River Cliff - a small cliff formed on the outside of a meander bend due to erosion in this high energy zone.
3.)Slip off Slope - a small beach found on the inside of a meander bend where deposition has occured in the low energy zone.
4.)Ox-bow lake - a lake formed when the continued narrowing of a meander neck results in the eventual cut through of the neck as two outer bends join. This result in the straightening of the river channel and the old meander bend becomes cut off forming an ox-bow lake.
5.)Meander scar - feature left behind when the water in an ox-bow lake dries up.

Lower Course of the River - Floodplains and Levées

This is the view of the middle course and also the upper course of the view:


Beautiful.. isn't it?

At the lower course of the river:
-gradient is gentle
-river channel is wider than middle course
-volume of water flowing increases as more tributaries joined the river


FLOODPLAIN AND LEVEES
Know what I saw? People living on the floodplains! From the term floodplains we could see that flood occurs frequently there. I learned a lesson from the villagers about how floodplains and levees are formed:
-As the river continues its journey towards the sea, the valley cross section continues to become wider and flatter with an extensive floodplain either side of the channel. -The river erodes laterally and deposition also becomes important.
-The time it reaches the lower course the river is wider and deeper and may contain a large amount of suspended sediment.
-When the river floods over the surrounding land it loses energy and deposition of its suspended load occurs.
-Regular flooding results in the building up of layers of nutrient rich alluvium which forms a flat and fertile floodplain.
Interesting right?
Here's a picture of a floodplain I took:


BRAIDED STREAM
A network of converging and diverging streams separated from each other by narrow strips of sand and gravel.
A picture of the braided stream I took

I've learnt another lesson from the villagers:
Here are the conditions of the formation of a braided stream:

* an abundant supply of sediment
* high stream gradient
* rapid and frequent variations in water discharge
* erodible banks

Nature is so amazing~!


TRIBUTARY

Where two streams (or rivers) join, the smaller one is called the tributary. The place where the two streams join is called the confluence.

In the midst of our journey...

After weeks,we have gone through a tough journey in the upper course. From fast flowing water, that made us giddy and nauseous. Then to the waterfall, that scared us out of our wits. But all these were rather meaningful. After all, it was the experience that we were hunting for and we have earned that.
Thus, we are looking forward to our "part 2 adventure" along the middle course of the Ganges river.
Some pictures of the middle course or different rivers:

At the middle course...