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Definition
| movement and interchange of water between the sea, air and land. |
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| a body of running water that is confined in a channel and moves downhill under the influence of gravity. |
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| a long, narrow depression eroded by the stream into rock or sediment. |
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| a thin layer of unchanneled water flowing downhill. |
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Definition
evaporation
precipitation
transpiration (through plants)
condensation |
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Definition
| water moves into the ground water system |
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Definition
water stays on surface and moves down slope.
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Term
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Definition
| the total area drained by a stream and its tributaries |
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Definition
| small stream flowing into a larger one |
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Definition
| a ridge or strip of high ground dividing one drainage basin from another |
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Definition
the arrangement in map view of a river and its tributaries
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Definition
| separates drainage basins flowing east vs. those flowing west |
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Definition
| high points that separate drainage basins |
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Term
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Definition
drainage pattern resembles branches of a tree or nerve dendrites
form where bedrock is of uniform lithology |
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Definition
streams diverge outward like spokes of a wheel, forms on high conical mountains, such as composite volcanoes or domes.
streams flowing outward from a central high point or inward toward a central basin. |
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Term
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Definition
| tributaries have frequent 90 degree bends and tend to join other streams at right angles, develops on regularly fractured rock. |
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Term
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Definition
consists of parallel main streams with short tributaries meeting them at right angles.
major streams follow valleys underlain by weak rocks (shale) with smaller tributaries draining ridges underlain with more resistant rocks (sandstone) |
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Term
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Definition
| the distance water travels in a stream per unit time |
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Term
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Definition
the downhill slope of the bed.
steeper gradients mean higher velocities. |
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Term
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Definition
the volume of water that flows past a given point in a unit of time.
discharge = stream width x stream depth x stream velocity |
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Term
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Definition
| highest velocities near center of channel below surface |
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Definition
| ability of flowing water to pick up and move rock and sediment. |
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Term
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Definition
| effective process of weathering and erosion. |
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Term
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Definition
| the grinding away of the stream channel by the friction and impact of the sediment load. |
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Term
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Definition
| depressions that are eroded into the hard rock of a stream bed by the abrasive action of the sediment load. |
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Term
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Definition
large or heavy sediment particles that travel on the streambed
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Term
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Definition
| movement by rolling, sliding, or dragging |
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Definition
a series of short leaps or bounces off the bottom.
sand sized particles |
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Term
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Definition
sediment that is light enough to remain lifted indefinitely above the bottom by water turbulence
fine grained particles |
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Term
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Definition
ions that go into solution
soluble products of chemical weathering processes in a stream |
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Term
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Definition
a ridge of sediment, usually sand and gravel, deposited in the middle or along the banks of a stream.
lower velocity parts of stream |
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Term
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Definition
| streams with large sediment supplies that form lots of bars with many channels in between |
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Term
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Definition
rivers that carry fine grained silt and clay in suspension and are norrow and deep and develop pronounced, sinuous curves.
higher velocities on outside of meanders leads to erosion of cut banks. |
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Term
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Definition
| sandbars deposited on inside of curves due to lower velocity there. |
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Term
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Definition
| a new, shorter channel across the narrow neck of a meander |
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Definition
| cutoff meander becomes crescent shaped oxbow lake. |
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Term
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Definition
flat areas around active stream channels that are inundated during flooding events.
broad strip of land built up by sedimentation on either side of a stream channel. |
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Term
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Definition
| low ridges of flood deposited sediment that form on either side of a stream channel and thin away from the channel. |
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Definition
| a body of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river when the river's velocity decreases |
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Definition
| small, shifting channels that carry water away from the main river channel and distribute it over the surface of the delta |
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Term
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Definition
| cone or fan shaped deposits where streams exit steep, mountains canyons |
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Definition
| process of deepening a valley by erosion of the streambed |
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Definition
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Definition
one that exhibits a delicate balance between its transporting capacity and the sediment load available to it.
as streams mature, they produce smooth, concave upward profiles |
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Definition
| the erosion and undercutting of a stream's banks and valley walls as the stream swings from side to side across its valley floor |
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Term
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Definition
| the slow uphill growth of a valley above its original source through gullying, mass wasting, and sheet erosion |
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Term
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Definition
steplike landforms found above a stream and its flood plain
old floodplain deposits left high as streams downcut into their own floodplains |
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Term
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Definition
rapid uplift of an area and downcutting of streams can lead to incised meanders
meanders that retain their sinuous pattern as they cut vertically downward below the level at which they originally formed. |
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Term
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Definition
| shorter lag time and higher peaks in runoffs following rain events |
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