Young Brunette Girl Posing Above The River

Alluvial rivers can be further classified by their channel pattern as meandering, braided, wandering, anastomose, or straight. The morphology of an alluvial river reach is controlled by a combination of sediment supply, substrate composition, discharge, vegetation, and bed aggradation.
The work of William Morris Davis at the turn of the 20th century used a classification based of river “age” as a way to characterise rivers.
• Youthful river: A river with a steep gradient that has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels erode deeper rather than wider. Examples include the Brazos, Trinity and Ebro rivers.
• Mature river: A river with a gradient that is less steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more slowly. A mature river is fed by many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper. Examples include the Mississippi, Saint Lawrence, Danube, Ohio, Thames and Paraná rivers.