Our transcription: Like most natural systems, rivers change and evolve through time in response to a variety of geologic factors that are themselves changing: factors such as regional climate, hill slope, tectonic activity, vegetation, and the bedrock composition of the Earth's crust. So the behavior of rivers is controlled by physical laws and geologic processes that can be observed and understood. Rivers do much more than drain water from the land and carry sediment to the sea. The evolution of a river exerts a powerful influence on the surface of the Earth. In fact, much of the continental landscape, especially those areas where people live, was formed by the power of running water.
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