River valley. Meandering river valley with a large deposit of gravel on the bank (lower centre). As a river flows round a bend, the water flowing on t

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River valley. Meandering river valley with a large deposit of gravel on the bank (lower centre). As a river flows round a bend, the water flowing on the outside of the bend flows faster than the water on the inside. The faster water will erode the river bank more quickly, while the slower water deposits the sediment that it is carrying, in this case gravel. This is the Rio Pastaza at the base of the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Ecuador.

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Size: 3443px × 5138px
Photo credit: © DR MORLEY READ/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: amazonian, america, american, andes, bank, deposit, deposited, deposits, ecuador, ecuadorian, environment, eroded, erosion, geography, gorge, gravel, meander, meandering, palora, pastaza, rio, river, south, valley