Watersheds and Rivers Flashcards
What is a watershed?
A geographical area of land that drains water into a body of water.
What is the biggest watershed in Michigan?
Saginaw
What is the biggest watershed in the U.S.?
Mississippi
What is a tributary?
A river, stream, or creak flowing into a larger river, stream, or creek.
What determines where water flows?
- Topography
- Gravity
What is topography?
The shape of the land.
What is a divide?
Border or boundary that separates different watersheds.
What is the net volume of water called?
Water budgets.
What does ‘net’ mean?
How much money you walk away with.
What are some inputs of water budgets?
- Precipitation
- Runoff
What are some outputs of water budgets?
- Evapotranspirtation
What are some factors that affect water budgets?
- Seasons
- Temperature/ climate
- Location
- Soil conditions
- Vegetation
- Snowmelts
What is topography?
The changes in land elevation
What are rivers driven by?
Gravity
What is the beginning of a river called?
Source
What is the end of the river called?
Mouth
What are some factors that impact the shape of rivers?
- Gradient
- Velocity/energy
What is gradient?
The steepness of a slope
Changes in height and distance (rise over run)
What do velocity and energy do to impact the shape of rivers?
- Higher energy=ability to carry sediments.
What is a floodplain?
The area within a valley that is naturally flooded on
- Natural levels
-Heavier river banks
- First sediments to be deposited
What is alluvium?
Very fine and fertile sediments deposited further from the river.
What is a hydrograph?
A graph that shows how a river channel behaves after a long rain event.
What is stage height?
How high a river is flowing daily.
What is Lag time?
The time between peak rainfall and peak stage height.
What are factors that impact hydrographs?
Runoff
-Interception (things that slow runoff)
Infiltration rates
- Soil types
Gradient of land
- Steep and shallow
Describe an Urban hydrograph
- Shorter lag time
- Higher max stage height
- Steeper gradients
Describe a Rural hydrograph
- Longer lag time
- Lower max stage height
- Shallow gradients
