Physical fieldwork

• Title of Physical Geography Fieldwork enquiry: How does the long profile of the river change at Grindsbrook Clough?
• Location: Grindsbrook Clough is located north of the village of Edale in the Peak District National Park.
• Theory: The Bradshaw model shows that river should become wider, deeper and faster as the travel downstream.
• Suitability of area/topic to complete fieldwork

  • Accessibility – a short walk from the car park at Edale to the river.
• Suitability of area/topic to complete fieldwork

  • Safety – entry into the river was easy and safe which allowed for all the data to be collected.
• Suitability of area/topic to complete fieldwork

  • Not too far from Rotherham - can get there and back in a day
• How should the long profile of a river change?

  • The channel becomes wider & deeper
  • The speed increases
  • The bedload becomes smaller
• Methods

  width and depth - systematic sampling

  • Easy to achieve accurate results with metre ruler and tape measure. Measurements at 3 sites so easy to compare. – obstructions in the river could prevent accurate depth measurements.
• Methods

  speed of flow - systematic sampling

  • Timed 5 runs at each site to get an average and reduce anomalies. Measured at 3 sites so could compare. – human error in recording the time & distance. Float becoming stuck due to obstructions in the river. This could have been solved with a hydrovein.
• Methods

  bedload size - systematic sampling

  • Selected pebbles at random to reduce bias. Calculate a mean to reduce anomalies. Measured at 3 sites so could compare
• Risk assessment

  terrain

  • Wear footwear suitable for the conditions. Plan route carefully to avoid most uneven ground
• Risk assessment

  weather

  • Check weather forecast prior to the visit and wear appropriate clothing for the weather.
• Data presentation

  line graph - width and depth

  • line graphs show trends which can easily be compared.
  • poor choice of vertical axis can give a false impression of depth
• Data presentation

  speed of flow - bar chart

  • distinct bars make it easy to read and see trends. 
  • contains only basic information, may need some additional explanation.
• Data presentation

  Bedload size – dispersion graph

  • pattern of data points (crosses) shows spread and trend.
  • too many data points can make it difficult to read.
• Data presentation

  photos - annotations

  • visual image to support numerical data.
  • may not have been taken on same day as data collection.
• Conclusion:

  The results collected allowed us to conclude that the long profile of Grindsbrook Clough does follow the pattern outlined in the Bradshaw Model. The long profile of the river does become wider and deeper further downstream. The speed of flow increases and the bedload becomes smaller. There were some issues with the results. The systematic sample size of the river was small, due to access. This made it difficult to see changes in the long profile of the river.

  There were also anomalies in the speed of flow results at Site 2. The float was stuck behind a rock in one run