Earth Science B Quiz #3 Flashcards
What is a watershed?
An area of land that drains water into a specific body of water.
What is the largest watershed in the U.S.?
Mississippi.
What is the largest watershed in Michigan?
Saginaw.
What is a divide?
A divide is a border/boundary that separates different watersheds.
What determines the way the water flows?
Topography and changes in land elevation.
What is a tributary?
A river, stream, or creek flowing into a larger river, stream, or creek.
What are water budgets?
The net volume of water and they let us know how much water we have to work with
What are the inputs of water budgets?
Precipitation and runoff.
What are the outputs of water budgets?
Evapotranspiration.
What are the 3 factors that increase the physical shape of a river?
Gradient, velocity and energy, and geology of bedrock.
Explain the Gradient and how it affects the physical shape of a river.
The steepness of a slope.
Explain the velocity and energy and how it affects the physical shape of a river.
It has the speed and ability to do work and higher energy has the ability to carry bigger sediments.
Explain the geology of bedrock and how it affects the physical shape of a river.
Hard rock equals a straighter channel.
What is a floodplain?
A floodplain is an area within a valley that is naturally susceptible to flooding.
What is leeves?
River banks are made of larger, heavier, sediment. First sediment to be deposited.