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week 5-7 mid term
Floods and rivers
39
Geology
Undergraduate 1
02/16/2016

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Term
stream
Definition
any body of running water that flows along a channel
Term
channel
Definition
elongate depression or trough
Term
flood
Definition
when a stream exceeds is capacity and spills out and covers the surrounding land
Term
sheet wash
Definition
rain or snow that flows downslope as a thin film
Term
downcutting
Definition
with time the extra flow deepens the channel relative to its surroundings
a stream forms because of this
Term
headward erosion
Definition
when a stream channel begins to lengthen its origin
happens at places where ground water seeps out of the ground and enters the entrance of the channel
Term
tributaries
Definition
when downcutting deepens the main channel, the surrounding land surfaces start to slope toward the channel and this makes new side channels
flow into main channels
Term
drainage network
Definition
the array of interconnecting streams together constitute this
types: dendritic, radial, rectangular, trellis
Term
water shed
Definition
a drainage network collects water from a broad region and feeds it into the trunk stream, which carries the water away
Term
drainage divide
Definition
the high land, or ridge, that separates one watershed from another
Term
permanent stream
Definition
flows all year
Term
ephemeral stream
Definition
flows only part of the year
Term
discharge
Definition
the volume of water passing through a cross section of the stream in a given time
Term
four ways that water causes erosion
Definition
scouring, breaking and lifting, abrasion, dissolution
Term
scouring
Definition
running water can remove loose fragments of sediment
Term
breaking and lifting
Definition
break chunks of solid rock off the channel floor or wall.
Term
abrasion
Definition
sediment laden water acts like sandpaper and grinds away at the channel floor and walls
creates a pothole into the floor of the stream
Term
dissolution
Definition
running water dissolves soluble minerals s it passes, and carries the minerals away in solution
Term
rivers transport sediment in 3 ways
Definition
dissolved load, suspended load, bed load
Term
competence
Definition
maximum particle size it a stream carries
high ( ) carries large particles
Term
capacity
Definition
total quantity of sediment it can carry
Term
fluvial deposits or alluvium
Definition
may accumulate along the stream bed in elongate mounds called bars
Term
floodplain
Definition
a broad flat area bordering a stream
Term
delta
Definition
where a stream empties at its mouth into a standing body of water, the water slows and a wedge of sediment
Term
streamgradient
Definition
the slope of the stream channel
Term
water fall
Definition
forms when the gradient of the stream becomes so steep that some or all of the water literally free falls above the stream bed
Term
alluvial fan
Definition
the water slows and drops is sediment load, forming a sloping apron of sediment
divided into a series of small channels that spread out over the fan
Term
braided stream
Definition
during normal flows the sediment settles out and chokes the channel. As a consequence, the stream divides into numeral strands
Term
meander
Definition
channels wind back and forth like Mississippi
Term
oxbow lake
Definition
the meander that has been cut off
Term
groundwater
Definition
occupies the cracks and other openings in between the solid component of rock or sediment
Term
soil moisture
Definition
infiltrates, some descends only into the soil and wets the surfaces of grains and organic material making up the soil
Term
pore
Definition
any open space within a volume of sediment, or within a body of rock
Term
porosity
Definition
total amount of open space within a material, specified as a percentage
Term
speleothems
Definition
the various intricately shaped formations that grow in caves by the accumulations of dripstone
Term
karst landscape
Definition
where surface landforms develop when limestone bedrock dissolves both at the surface and in underlying cave networks
Term
aquifer
Definition
sediment or rock with high permeability and porosity
Term
aquitard
Definition
sediment or rock that does not transmit water easily and therefor retards the motion of water
Term
capillary fringe
Definition
a thin layer at the base of the unsaturated zone
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