The river is a stream of natural water.origin, which flows through the channel, he also developed. You can measure the length of this watercourse, the number of its tributaries, the total catchment area, etc. One of the main hydrological indicators is river slope. How to calculate it correctly?
Any natural watercourse on our planet flowstop down. The reason for this is the Law of World Recognition known to all of us, which was discovered by Isaac Newton in the middle of the 17th century. All rivers, as a rule, start from underground springs or flow from large lakes. Then they carry their waters down (smoothly or swiftly) to the seas and oceans.
The fall of the river shows us how much it loses inthe height of a stream during its "journey" on the earth's surface. In other words, it is the difference in height between the source point and the mouth of the river. The fall can be complete or partial (when you need to calculate this figure for a certain segment of the channel).
Calculate the fall of the river is elementary.For this you need to know the height of its source and mouth. For example, we are given the river A with a total length of 2000 km, which begins its journey at 250 m and flows into the lake at an altitude of 50 m. The difference between these two marks will be 200 meters. This will be the fall of the river A.
Knowing the fall, you can calculate the slope of the river. How to do it right - read in the next section.
The slope of the river is the ratio of the value of the fall of the watercourse to its total length. This indicator can be expressed as a percentage, per mille (most often), degrees, or in m / km.
The slopes of the plains and mountain rivers differ significantly. In the first case, this indicator rarely exceeds 0.1 m / km. The slopes of mountain rivers can be tens or even hundreds of times greater.
Рассчитать этот показатель тоже несложно.Let us return to our river A, the fall of which is 200 meters. To calculate the slope, divide this value by the length of the river: 200 m / 2000 km = 0.1 m / km. Based on this, we can say that our river A is flat and differs in its insignificant speed.
The fall and slope of the river can be represented graphically.To do this, use the so-called longitudinal profiles. The axis “x” of such a schedule will be the length of the river, and the axis “y” will be the height of the terrain. This profile looks like this:
To solve such problems are taught in school, in geography lessons in grade 8. Take for example the largest watercourse in Europe - the Volga. Let's try to calculate the fall and slope of the river.
Volga flows in the European part of Russia, inwithin 15 subjects of the federation. She repeatedly changes its direction. This is the most important water artery of the country, the largest river in the world among the watercourses that do not flow into the sea or ocean.
Volga originates on Valdaielevation, at an altitude of 228 meters above sea level. Within the Astrakhan region, it flows into the Caspian Sea. At the same time, the mouth is located at an altitude of (–28) meters. Thus, the general fall of the Volga is 256 meters. Now we calculate the slope of the river.
Volga has a total length of 3530 km.However, it collects its waters from a vast area of 1.36 million square meters. km This is four times more than the area of Germany! To calculate the Volga slope, the following mathematical action should be performed: 256 meters / 3530 km = 0.07 m / km.
One of the main rivers of the Far East, flowingbetween two states (Russia and China), is Amur. Its source is considered to be the place of the confluence of Shilka and Argun. The height of this point above the sea level is 304 meters. Further, Amur flows mainly to the east and flows into the Sea of Okhotsk. The height of its mouth is 0 meters. Thus, the total fall of Cupid is 304 meters. Calculate the slope of the river.
Амур имеет общую протяженность 2824 км.The area of the river basin is 1.85 million square meters. km To calculate the Amur slope, the simplest mathematical action should be performed: 304 meters / 2824 km = 0.11 m / km.
This indicator tells us thatone kilometer long riverbed the Amur River “loses” 11 centimeters in height. It is important to note that the general bias of a watercourse is not very informative. After all, the geomorphological conditions (terrain conditions) in which the river bed is located may change significantly. Therefore, it is better to calculate this indicator for individual short sections of the river bed.
Pechora is a rather large Russian river,flowing within the Republic of Komi and the Nenets Autonomous District. It originates in the mountains of the Northern Urals, at an altitude of 630 meters above sea level. Pechora flows into the lip of the Barents Sea of the same name, forming a vast delta. The height of the mouth - 0 meters. Calculate the fall and slope of the river.
Pechora has a total length of 1809 km.The fall of the river is 630 meters. The area of the Pechora river basin in comparison with the Volga and Amur is small - only 330 thousand square meters. km To calculate the slope of the Pechora River, the following mathematical action should be performed: 630 meters / 1809 km = 0.35 m / km.
As we can see, among the three reviewed in thisArticle rivers the largest bias characteristic of the Pechora. In general, the definition of this indicator helps hydrologists to study the valley of a particular river, its water regime and channel processes.
