Given enough time, a trickle of water can cut a canyon a kilometre deep. Rivers are the great sculptors of the land, patiently carrying mountains grain by grain to the sea, and the landscapes we take for granted are almost all their handiwork. This episode follows the journey of a river from mountain to ocean and shows how erosion, over deep time, shapes valleys, plains and deltas — and why the same processes still matter for us today.

You'll come away understanding how rivers erode, transport and deposit material, why valleys and canyons form, what a river's course reveals about its age, and how the slow work of water made much of the scenery around us.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: USGS – “The Wa ...