This document discusses fluvial processes and erosion. It explains that the characteristics of a river system are determined by upstream factors like climate, geology, land use, and physiography which influence hydrology and sediment load. Climate provides energy while geology constrains fluvial activity. Human influences include river regulation and land use changes. Erosion is defined as the wearing away of land by natural or human forces, and is part of the sedimentation process which includes erosion, transport, deposition, and compaction of sediment particles. The document also describes different types of sediment load carried by rivers, including dissolved, wash, bed material, and suspended loads.