Geomorphology A Flashcards
What is a BRAIDED STREAM?
A Braided stream has:
- **Many sand bars with small water channels around them
- **They need STEEP gradients and ERODIBLE BANKS to form.
Which type of stream is most common in Minnesota? Braided? Meandering?
Most streams in MN are Meandering Streams.
What is a MEANDERING STREAM?
A Meandering stream has:
- ** ONE CHANNEL which moves (meanders) across the flood plain.
- ** The DO NOT have steep gradients or erodible banks.
Put these steps of the LIFE OF AN OXBOW in order:
a) Meander forms to form Oxbow Lake
b) Meander grows.
c) Oxbow is cut-off
e) Meander is born
d) Oxbow is mature & more turns develop.
The correct order of LIFE OF AN OXBOW is:
- *Meander is born
- *Meander grows
- *Oxbow is mature & more turns develop
- *Oxbow is cut-off
- *Meander forms to fill an oxbow lake.
What is a STREAM?
A stream is a CHANNEL of water that FLOWS DOWNHILL.
What are the HEADWATERS?
The headwaters are the UPPER part of the stream NEAR the SOURCE.
What is the MOUTH of s stream?
The mouth of the stream is the point that the stream ENTERS the sea, lake, or larger stream.
What is a CHANNEL of a stream?
A channel is a LONG, NARROW DEPRESSION that is ERODED by a stream into rock or sediment.
What is a FLOODPLAIN?
A floodplain is a FLAT VALLEY FLOOR composed of sediment DEPOSITED by the stream.
What is a DRAINAGE BASIN?
A drainage basin is the TOTAL AREA drained by a stream and its tributaries.
What is a TRIBUTARY?
A tributary is a SMALL stream FLOWING INTO a larger stream.
What is a DIVIDE?
A divide is a RIDGE or a HIGH GROUND that DIVIDES one drainage basin from another.
What is a CONTINENTAL DIVIDE?
A continental divide SEPARATES THE STREAMS that flow into the PACIFIC from those that flow into the ATLANTIC and the GULF OF MEXICO.
What is STREAM GRADIENT?
The stream gradient is the DOWNHILL SLOPE of the stream bed. (ft/mile, m/km)
What is a DELTA?
A delta is a body of SEDIMENT DEPOSITED at the MOUTH of a river when the speed of the river slows.
