Superposed Rivers Flowing Along Older Structures

Superposed river-valleys have all along been generally classified as transverse valleys in geomorphic literature. A study of some unquestionably superposed rivervalleys reveals that this transverse relation to the exhumed geological structure is not always necessary. How a river-valley, which originates on a covermass, gets superposed on the older rocks, after cutting through the former, will depend on the orientation of the exhumed features vis-a-vis the river-valley that is getting superposed on them. If the superposition takes place onto ancient valleys that are themselves structure controlled, the superposed river-valleys will then be aligned along these older structures and not transverse to them. A few such significant cases are discussed.