Lecture #1 Flashcards
Why do we car about river systems?
- Planning and Hazards
- Resources being provided (fishing, hydro, rec)
- Ecosystem Health
- Human impact on rivers from urbanization
Why does the world look the way it does?
Rivers are responsible for changing the landscape
What are river responsible for creating?
Prominent features of the Earths surface
How does most material/sediments get to the ocean?
Almost exclusively through fluvial systems
Do characteristics of the channel change doing downstream?
Yes, these can all change when going downstream.
- Sediment
- Width
- Radius
- Dimentions
Why are we interested in the Loire River?
UNESCO funded river for restoration and preservation
- ecosystem along the river is being preserved
- Multiple channel systems
- Had first levee systems and are now being preserved
Do channels have defined limits?
Yes, the land formation of defined characterisitcs
- dynamic because they change from day to day but fixed because of the banks of the river
What are the 2 main landforms along side the river channel?
Erosional
Depositional
What are some characteristic that can differentiate one river from the next?
- Width
- Depth
- Gradient
- Material type
- Channel Patterns
- Vegetation
What is a bedrock channel?
Has bedrock on either side of the banks
What are some characteristics of a bedrock channel?
- River is eroded into the bedrock
- Channel is constrained by the erodibility of the type of bedrock
- Is resistant to modification
- Erodes slowly
What is an alluvial channel?
Channel with deposits of its own river
What are some characteristics of an alluvial channel?
- Flows into its own deposits
- Transports only the material it deposits
- Sediment is erodible
- More adjustable
What are the 2 types of mixed channel systems?
Bedrock constrained
Bedrock confined
What is semi-alluvial?
Confined or constrained by other material in mountain structures
-Because the material confining the river is more erodible
