Rivers in Rural Areas are Much More Natural Than Those in Urban Areas

The title I have chosen for my coursework is “rivers in rural areas are much more natural than those in urban areas”. I have chosen this title mainly because it interests me more than the other titles. This is the only physical topic, and so it interests me more than any of the others.

This project involves me in to going to an urban area, Bexley-Village, to examine a river and to go to examine a river in a rural area, which would be South-Darenth.

MAP OF BEXLEY

Bexley village is a small village in Kent, South East England.

MAP OF SOUTH-DARENTH

South Darenth is a small town not too far away from Bexley village.

There are three or four different types of data, which I will need to collect. They are the width and depth of the river, data about the wildlife in and near the river, pollution in the river, and finally vegetation, which grows in or near the river.

I will have to record the width and depth of the river in different parts of it, to see how the information varies. If the river does vary often then we are probably looking at a river in more of a rural area. This is because in an urban area the banks of the river are sometimes been reinforced so that it does not erode. Some of the rivers have been reinforced to change the direction in which the river flows. An example of this is the river shuttle; it had been reinforced because otherwise it would flow over the A2.

Rivers can be polluted in other ways than just litter. Rivers can be polluted by untreated industrial waste and dirty water. Fertilizers and pesticides from agriculture also get washed into watercourses. Hot water form power stations cause thermal pollution. So although in an urban area there would be a lot of industrial waste and dirty water, the river can also be polluted when pesticides and fertilizers from agriculture gets washed away.

The final useful piece of data, which I will collect, is the amount of vegetation in and near the river. We will probably see more vegetation in the rural area. Vegetation in the urban area would most likely be cut down or pulled out.

I will use these four pieces of data to answer my three key questions. The key questions are; number 1 – “how much vegetation grows?” number 2 – “Does pollution vary between two areas?” and number 3 – “does the depth and width of the river vary between two areas?”

METHODOLOGY

When I am collecting this data from Bexley village I will be doing it in two areas. One of the areas is right beside my school and the other is where the river passes under a pub – the old mill.

DATA COLLECTED

PRIMARY/

SECONDARY

WHY NEEDED

HOW DATA WAS COLLECTED

LIMITATION OF DATA

Litter counts

Primary

To see how polluted the river is + to answer key Qs 2

Counts of litter in river and on banks every 2m or so

The river and surrounding area may have been cleaned

Wildlife counts

Primary

If the river is natural and not polluted there should be a lot + to answer key Qs 2

Counts of any ducks, fish, frogs, etc

The wildlife could have been scared away

Vegetation counts

Primary

Should be a lot of vegetation in the river if it is natural + to answer key Qs 1

By estimating the percentage coverage of vegetation using a quadrat.

Could have just been cleared out, or a storm could have occurred

The two areas of where I am going to collect the data is shown in the map below.

When I am collecting this data from Bexley village I will be doing it in two areas. One of the areas is right beside my school and the other is where the river passes under a pub – the old mill.

The two areas of where I am going to collect the data is shown in the map below.

I have collected four different pieces of data to answer my question – “rivers in rural areas are much more natural than those in urban areas” the four pieces of data to be collected is pollution – litter, wildlife, width/depth of river, and vegetation.

The litter counts; wildlife counts, and vegetation counts are all primary sources, which means that I will be collecting the data.

I will also need to check if the channel has been altered in any way, for example, channelisation, building a floodplain, etc, because where the river shuttle flows past our school it has been channelised to flow beside the A2. This may have also occurred in other parts of the river, this data will also have to be recorded.