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Questions and Answers
What happens to a stream’s capacity and competence when its speed increases?
What happens to a stream’s capacity and competence when its speed increases?
- They both remain constant.
- They both increase. (correct)
- They both decrease.
- Only capacity increases while competence decreases.
What is the primary cause of floods?
What is the primary cause of floods?
- Ground saturation and runoff causing rivers to overflow. (correct)
- Reduction of stream velocity due to obstacles.
- Heavy snowfall melting rapidly in spring.
- Rainwater falling directly into streams.
What defines the thalweg of a stream?
What defines the thalweg of a stream?
- The section of the stream that is prone to flooding.
- The shallowest part of the stream.
- The location of sediment deposition.
- The area of the stream with the highest velocity. (correct)
What characterizes an alluvial fan?
What characterizes an alluvial fan?
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What is a cutbank in a meandering stream?
What is a cutbank in a meandering stream?
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Which of the following statements about floodplains is true?
Which of the following statements about floodplains is true?
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What happens to the load carried by a stream when its velocity decreases?
What happens to the load carried by a stream when its velocity decreases?
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How do terraces form along a river?
How do terraces form along a river?
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Study Notes
Streams
- Any moving water regardless of name (river, creek, run, stream, brook, branch, etc.)
- Fluvial is the term for stream-related processes and landforms
- Fluvial processes involve erosion, transportation, and deposition
Stream Transportation
- Bed load is the transportation of sediment that rolls, slides, or bounces along the bottom
- Suspended load is the transportation of sediment that is carried within the water column
Stream Deposition
- Occurs when a stream's speed slows, reducing its capacity or competence
- Deposited material is called alluvium
Floods
- Occur when more water falls than the ground can absorb, resulting in excess runoff
- Excess runoff causes streams to overflow their banks
- Floods accumulate all overland flow in a drainage basin
- Larger basins have more runoff
- More rain leads to more runoff
Fluvial Landforms
- Questions to consider when studying fluvial landforms:
- Why are they there?
- What processes made them?
- What is the time scale of the process?
Stream Velocity and Load Carrying Power
- Faster stream velocity increases:
- Load carrying power
- Erosive Power
- Capacity and/or competence
- Slower stream velocity decreases:
- Load carrying power
- Erosive power
- Capacity and/or competence, resulting in deposition of sediment
Floodplain
- Flat, low-lying area next to a stream that floods
Thalweg
- The location of the fastest water flow in a stream
- Determines the location of pools, mid-channel bars, and riffles/nickpoints
Alluvial Fans
- Common in valleys
- Formed by intermittent or ephemeral streams flowing into a valley
Meandering Stream
- A stream channel that develops a sinuous form across the landscape (floodplain)
Cutbank
- The outer portion of a meandering stream where erosion takes place
Point Bar
- The inner portion of a meandering stream where deposition takes place
Oxbow Lake
- A meander that becomes separated from the stream
Terraces
- Develop when the base level of a floodplain is lowered and the river begins downcutting through the old floodplain material.
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