Can you explain one way a river erodes its beds and banks?
The speed and volume of the water versus the type of rock or soil ( composition ) lining the river, will determine the speed with which erosion of the river banks will occur. A perfect example would be the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s a smallish river when compared to the size of the rim of the canyon, but “ate” its way into the river banks for hundreds of years to form the canyon as we see it today. Niagara Falls is another example. The rim of the falls loses about six inches per year just because of the sheer volume of millions of gallons of water per second that rush over the edge. They now divert the water flowing down the Niagara River towards the falls at night, to power a hydro electric power plant. The falls are nearly devoid of water at night which stops erosion of the rim.They use the river at night for power, and then allow the water to flow over the falls during the daylight for the tourist attraction. Hope this helps!
