River Landscapes: the Interaction Between Human & Physical Processes (Edexcel GCSE Geography A)

Case Study: UK River Landscape

River Tees catchment

• The River Tees drainage basin covers an area of 708 mile² or 1834km²

^{River Tees drainage basin}

• The land in the upper course is open moorland with rough grazing

  • The main land use is sheep farming

• England’s largest nature reserve is located in the upper course

• The location also includes an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOB) and Britain’s first Geopark

• The middle course has flat, fertile floodplains and farming dominates

  • There are several settlements, such as Barnard Castle 

• The land use in the lower course is increasingly urban and industrial, particularly around the estuary

  • The estuary has mud flats, which are an important ecosystem, including Seal sands

• There are several reservoirs to provide water for cities such as Middlesbrough

• Over 650,000 people live in the River Tees catchment area

  • Most of these people live in towns such as Darlington, Middlesbrough, and Redcar

Influential factors in the changes of the River Tees landscape

• Both human and physical factors have been influential in changing the landscape of the River Tees

• These factors often interact to impact on the river and its processes

Physical factors 

• Annual rainfall in the upper course is over 2000mm

• The water reaches the river rapidly (short lag time) because

  • The bedrock is impermeable

  • For over 6 months of each year, the peat is saturated, increasing surface runoff

  • This means there is no single source of the River Tees 

• Natural processes are constantly changing the River Tees

• The UK’s climate varies during each year and between years

• This impacts on the amount of discharge in the River Tees

• The River Tees is a ‘flashy’ river, which means that the water level in the river can rise very quickly after a period of heavy rain

• This leads to the ‘Tees roll’ or ‘Tees wave’ 

  • The river level can rise a metre in 15 minutes

Human factors

• In both the upper and middle course reservoirs were built in the 1960s and 1970s to meet the growing demand for water

• Cow Green is the largest reservoir on the River Tees

• It was completed in 1971 and regulates the flow of water downstream

  • It holds 40,000 million litres of water

  • This means that it reduces the discharge downstream of the dam

• Flood defences have been built around Yarm, including:

  • Flood gates

  • Gabions

• During the 19th Century, the meanders up to Stockton-on-Tees were taken out and the river straightened 

  • The removal of the Mandale loop reduced the distance by 4km

  • This reduced the distance for boats and made transporting up the Tees easier

• In 1995, the Tees Barrage was completed to reduce the risk of flooding from a storm surge

• Embankments have been built alongside the river downstream from Middlesbrough