River Profile: Changing Features of River Wandle
Introduction
Introduction:
Aim: How do channel characteristics change with the long profile in the River Wandle?
Background: In south – east England the River Wandle lies as a tributary to the river Thames running through south west London at 9 miles long. The names of the river and of wandsworth have been seen to derive from old the old English “Wendlesworth” meaning “Wendle’s settlement.” Rain falls on the North Downs, filters through the chalk and emerges on the spring line at the wandles two main sources.
The river has been used since roman times and was heavily industrialised in the 17th and 18th century. At one big point it was one of the most polluted rivers in England. The main industry was tobacco and textiles. The original course of the river still runs underground beneath Liberty Avenue, surfacing at Runnymede as the pickle ditch and re-joining the modern river outside sainburies. Since the industrial revolution there has been a massive clean-up of the river which has led to a dramatic improvement in the cleanliness of the river which has seen the return of the famous brown trout and other fish.
On 17th September 2007, a chemical was accidently flushed into the Wandle from Thames water’s Beddington sewage works. This resulted in the death of over 2,000 fish of various species. The company was fined £125,000 for the incident on 26th January 2009, with the costs of £21,335. The river is very influenced by human activity. Man – made wooden barriers have been constructed on the banks to avoid flooding and more downstream there is a section on the river which is separated into two parts.
Theory: For GCSE geography I have been studying water on the land and the long profile of a river. The theory of a river profile is that the gradient will become less steep as you get towards the river’s mouth. The average depth, channel velocity, load quality and discharge will all increase as the river gets closer to the mouth. However the load particle size and
Introduction:
Aim: How do channel characteristics change with the long profile in the River Wandle?
Background: In south – east England the River Wandle lies as a tributary to the river Thames running through south west London at 9 miles long. The names of the river and of wandsworth have been seen to derive from old the old English “Wendlesworth” meaning “Wendle’s settlement.” Rain falls on the North Downs, filters through the chalk and emerges on the spring line at the wandles two main sources.
The river has been used since roman times and was heavily industrialised in the 17th and 18th century. At one big point it was one of the most polluted rivers in England. The main industry was tobacco and textiles. The original course of the river still runs underground beneath Liberty Avenue, surfacing at Runnymede as the pickle ditch and re-joining the modern river outside sainburies. Since the industrial revolution there has been a massive clean-up of the river which has led to a dramatic improvement in the cleanliness of the river which has seen the return of the famous brown trout and other fish.
On 17th September 2007, a chemical was accidently flushed into the Wandle from Thames water’s Beddington sewage works. This resulted in the death of over 2,000 fish of various species. The company was fined £125,000 for the incident on 26th January 2009, with the costs of £21,335. The river is very influenced by human activity. Man – made wooden barriers have been constructed on the banks to avoid flooding and more downstream there is a section on the river which is separated into two parts.
Theory: For GCSE geography I have been studying water on the land and the long profile of a river. The theory of a river profile is that the gradient will become less steep as you get towards the river’s mouth. The average depth, channel velocity, load quality and discharge will all increase as the river gets closer to the mouth. However the load particle size and