Water, ice and land relief

How water affects the landscape?

The water cycle is due to external energy provided by the Sun and gravity.

Water is so important because it's one of the most abundant erosive force with the erosion, transportation and sedimentation. However, it affects the way it erodes depending in which state or form water is.

Rainwater

Rainwater or streams are surface waters, produced by rain, which flow without a fixed course. They may have a big erosive power where rocky materials are soft and where there is no vegetation to hold them in place. Gullies are typical landscapes formed by this kind of water.

Torrents

Torrents are short water courses on the sides of mountains. The water does not flow through them all the time, but only when the ice melts or when there is a lot of rain. Valleys and ravines are formed through the action of torrents.

Rivers

Rivers are permanent water courses. Their most significant action on relief s the formation of fluvial valleys.

Sea

The action of the sea, due to the forces of the waves and currents, modifies the landscape of the coast. Cliffs and beaches are examples of landscapes formed by the sea.

Glaciers

Glaciers are actually rivers of ice which can only be found in high mountain or in the Polar regions. the ice moves very slowly from the highest point to the lowest areas. As they move, glaciers drag many stones with them which erode the materials they pass over. The most visible result of this action is a glacial valley, which is very different from a fluvial valley. There are many glacial valleys in mountain areas, although the glacier no longer exists.