The deepest part of a river channel depends on several factors, primarily the speed of the water, the resistence of the bedrock and the volume of flow.
In general, rivers will be deeper upstream, when the water runs straighter and has greater erosion power. However, if the river depends on many tributaries, the lower waters have much greater volume.
The areas near the banks are usually comparatively shallow, since material keeps eroding into the river; however, where the river makes a pronounced curve, the water on the outside of the curve is likely to be deeper than on the inside. The reason again is that there the water flows faster.
A limited deep area is often found just beyond the base of a cataract or waterfall.
Yes, the gradient of a river or stream is typically steepest near the mouth. This is because the mouth is where the water flow slows down as it approaches a larger body of water, leading to a greater accumulation of sediment and a decrease in gradient. However, the steepest gradient is usually found upstream, closer to the source, where the elevation changes are more pronounced. Overall, while the mouth may have a noticeable gradient, it is not the steepest compared to upstream areas.
..decreasing from top to bot..
..decreasing from top to bot..
Steepest Road in the UK, Ffordd Penllech, Harlech
18cm/km
The steepest incline plane in the world is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in China, which features a railway line with a gradient of 38 degrees. However, the steepest railway incline is often cited as the Gelmerbahn in Switzerland, which has a maximum gradient of 106%. These inclines are used for different purposes, with the Gelmerbahn primarily serving tourists and the Nanjing Bridge facilitating transportation.
A river beginning high up in the mountains will fall sharply until the gradient levels out in the valleys. A river beginning in lower hills will naturally have a less steep gradient over all. Therefore, each river's longitudinal gradient will be different and there is no definitive answer.
Obviously rivers must flow downhill. The type of terrain it flows through will always vary. The river is always at its steepest descent in mountainous areas, and of course, that's where the rainfall is highest.
Baldwin Street in New Zealand holds the Guinness World Record for the steepest street. It has a gradient of 35% at its steepest point, making it quite a challenging climb for visitors.
An object that is placed vertically on a plane will have the steepest pressure gradient. Placing an object on an inclined plane will reduce the pressure it applies downwards.
Danube river gradient
The steepest descent method is an iterative optimization technique used to find the minimum of a differentiable function. It involves taking steps proportional to the negative of the gradient of the function at the current point, effectively moving in the direction of the steepest decrease. This process continues until convergence is achieved, indicated by either a sufficiently small gradient or a predefined number of iterations. It is particularly useful for functions where the gradient can be easily computed.