Theory:

A drainage basin is an area of land where all precipitation that falls will drain or
flow downhill into a specific stream. Based on where rain falls, and in what
drainage basin, determines
which way the water will travel.
Drainage basins often have
well-defined boundaries. The
line that separates two adjacent
drainage basins is called a
drainage divide or watershed.
Drainage divides are often
steep mountain ranges or hills.
When rain falls on one side of
the divide, it will flow into a certain drainage basin, and if the water falls on the
opposite side of the divide, it will flow into a different drainage basin. Within a
drainage basin, sometimes water that is moving downhill is stopped due to a
depression in the land. This process creates ponds, which are small bodies of
standing water, and lakes, which are much larger bodies of standing water.
A source of a river is the starting point of which the river begins. Sources can
also springs, lakes and streams. Where a river is fed by more than one source, it
is usual to regard the highest as its source.
A tributary is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem river
or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and
the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water
and groundwater, leading the water out into an ocean. The opposite of a
tributary is a distributary, a river or stream that branches off from and flows
away from the main stream. Distributaries are most often found in river deltas.
A confluence is where a tributary feeds into the larger stream. At other times, a
confluence can be the location where two smaller streams or rivers merge to
become the source for a new river. As tributaries join main stems at confluence
after confluence, rivers become larger. Eventually, nearly all rivers do lead to
another body of water, usually an ocean, a bay (mouth), or a large lake.
The mouth of the river is

The Bradshaw model is a theoretical model that helps describe the changes
we would expect as a river travels from its source regions in its upper course
towards its mouth downstream. The table below describes the characteristic
changes that the river goes through from source to mouth:

Characteristic
Width (distance from one bank to the
other)
Depth (distance from the surface of the
water to the bed)
Channel Shape (
Velocity (how fast the water is flowing)
Discharge (volume of water moving
through at a given time)
Gradient (the steepness of the river bed)
Load (the material carried by water)

Change from source to mouth

Increases
Increases
Broader and shallower
Increases
Increases
Decreases
Smaller and rounder

These changes happen because of water erosion this, occurs from the
chemicals in the water, and the force of the flow of water in the river. There are
many chemicals in the water of a river, and those chemicals can break down
certain rocks, such as limestone or chalk. This eroded rock is carried down the
river. Sometimes, a crack or crevice develops. When the force of the flowing river
smashes into that crack, the rock can break away, and again be carried down the
river.
As you can see, erosion creates a load in the river. When rocks, pebbles or even
boulders smack the riverbed, or side, this can cause further erosion. Also, if a
boulder is stuck in an eddy, it can create a pothole in the riverbed. Rivers can
wind around, but that will be looked at in the next section.
Wind erosion, though it may be small where you live, can take quite a toll on
areas of the world covered in desert. Wind erosion is simple... light objects, such
as rocks and pebbles are carried by the wind and can hit landforms, eroding
materials off them, that are carried off in the wind.
Ice erosion, besides that of hail, comes mostly in the form of glacier erosion.
Glaciers are giant bodies of ice that can pick up huge pieces of rock, some even
as big as houses. A combination of the water, ice, and picked up sediment,
create a powerful eroding machine.
The more sediment that's picked up, the greater the force of erosion. The
erosion can smooth out areas that were once rugged and rocky. Glaciers can
carry almost anything, and like sandpaper, the sediment just keeps increasing.
Glaciers are such a powerful force that they can carve valleys, deposit moraines,
or lead to the creation of landforms such as delta's (discussed later).
Erosion in the Sea also occurs. The salts and other chemicals can erode weak
rocks on the coast, such as limestone and chalk. The eroded materials are
carried up the shore by the means of a longshore drift
Waves crashing against the shore can create air pressure inside cracked rocks,
that can eventually break them. Furthermore, if rocks, pebbles or sediment is
carried in the waves, they can smash up against the shore and erode it even
more.
Soil erosion pays the biggest price to farmers. Flooding, wind etc. can carry the
topsoil away from farmlands, and make the soil unfertile. I will have more
information in the pages ahead.