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How do lowered sea levels cause rivers to erode their beds more strongly?

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continental shelf The broad, gentle pitch of the continental shelf gives way to the relatively steep continental slope. The more gradual transition to the abyssal plain is a sediment-filled region called the continental rise. The continental shelf, slope, and rise are collectively called the continental margin.

When sea levels drop, rivers are rejuvenated because their baselevel—the lowest point to which a stream can erode its bed—is lowered.12

Because sea level serves as the ultimate baselevel for most rivers, a decline in sea level increases the vertical distance between the river's source and its mouth. This change enhances the river's potential energy, which is then transformed into the kinetic energy of river flow. Consequently, the river gains greater power to incise and erode its bed as it cuts across the newly exposed continental shelf to reach the new, lower coastline. This process of entrenchment continues until the river adjusts to the new baselevel.1234