The Bradshaw Model is an idealised
geographical model which suggests how a river's characteristics vary between the ''
upper course'' and ''
lower course
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
'' of a river. It indicates how
discharge
Discharge may refer to
Expel or let go
* Discharge, the act of firing a gun
* Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer
* Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...
, occupied channel width, channel depth, and average load quantity increase downstream, and other properties such as load particle size,
channel bed roughness, and gradient as characteristics that decrease. These features are represented by triangles; an increase in the size of a triangle represents an increase in the variable. Generally the Bradshaw model shows the characteristics expected to be present in a river, but due to the nature of rivers and the ever-changing environment in which they exist, not all rivers assimilate to the model. Therefore, the model is often applied to compare natural rivers against ideal rivers that fit the model perfectly.
[earthstudies.co.uk]
References
{{Rivers, streams and springs
Topography