How much water flows through a river has little influence over long-term changes to its course and the surrounding landscape, a study of waterfalls shows.
How much water flows through a river has little influence over long-term changes to its course and the surrounding landscape, a study of waterfalls shows.
Instead, the type of rock on a river bed has a greater impact on how rivers change over time, researchers found.
The key insight will help scientists understand how rivers evolve and influence their surrounds, when for instance sea level changes or tectonic plates move.
Lab tests were conducted on a scale model of a river. This included a waterfall feature, to examine how real-life waterfalls – which tend to migrate upstream over time, disrupting the landscape – are influenced by water flow and material forming the river bed.
Read more at University of Edinburgh
Image: Research into waterfalls has shown that the amount of water flowing through a river has little influence over long-term changes to its course and the surrounding landscape. (Credit: Mikael Attal)
