Differentiate between river rejuvenation and river capture.

KCSE Geography Paper 1 2010 Section B Question 9.

(a) Differentiate between river rejuvenation and river capture.

• River rejuvenation is the renewal of the river’s erosive activity while river captures is the diversion of the head waters/beheading of one river into the system of an adjacent more powerful river.

(b) Give three features resulting from:

(i) river rejuvenation; 

• ​Knick point/waterfall
• River terraces
• incised meanders/entrenched/ingrown meanders
• Rejuvenation gorges
• Valley within a valley
• meander score
• Abandoned meander (cut off meander)

​(ii)river capture.

• Wind gap .
• Elbow of capture/knick point
• Pirate stream
• Beheaded stream/misfit/captured river.

​(c) Explain the four ways through which a river transports its load.

• The fine particles such as silt are carried in suspension because they are light and can be maintained within the turbulence of the water. Some of the light materials float on the surface of the water.
• The fairly heavy particles/pebbles are lifted and bounce over short distances by the turbulence of the water. This process is known as saltation/hydraulic lift.
• The large and heavy particles are rolled/slide along the river bed. The process is known as traction.
• Soluble materials are dissolved in water and carried in form of solution.

​(d) You are planning to carry out a field study on the lower course of a river.
(i) Give three reasons why you would require a route map.  

• to help identify the direction to follow
• to help prepare a work schedule
• to help identify location of features for study
• to help estimate distances to be covered
• To help estimate the time the field study is likely to take.

​(ii) State three characteristics of a river at the old stage that you are likely to observe during the field study.

• the river flowing at a low speed
• the river carrying silt in suspension/the water is brown
• river has braids
• the river meandering in the flood plain
• river has distributaries
• river has deferred tributaries/deferred junctions. 

​(iii) Give three follow-up activities you would be involved in after the field study.

• Reaching more on the top
• Displaying photographs/items collected
• Asking/answering questions
• Writing reports
• Discussing with the rest of the class
• Analyzing/Assessing the information collected against the hypothesis.
• Drawing diagrams
• Modeling the flood plain. 

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