Geology Final Review (Homework Questions)

Tributary

A river that feeds into another river

Rectangular pattern

Highly jointed bedrock

Rolling, sliding, bouncing

How pieces of rock in contact with a stream bed move

Undercutting and lateral erosion

Processes which result in the widening of the floodplain of a meandering stream

False statement about drainage basins

Drainage basins only contain one river

-Meanders in equilibrium erode primarily in a side to side manner -Incising meanders erode primarily by downcutting

Statements which accurately describe the erosional processes of meanders that are incising and meanders that are in equilibrium

Suspended load

The fine-grained particles that travel in the water column above the stream bed

Downcutting

The dominant fluvial process in a clear, sediment-poor stream moving down a steep slope

Trunk stream

The primary river flowing out of a drainage basin

Sand and gravel

What is part of the bed load?

Floodplain

A flat surface next to a river channel

Meander scar

A landscape feature formed after an oxbow lake dries up

Oxbow lake

A meander that has been cut off from the original stream channel

Natural levee

A ridge of flood deposits next to a river channel

Indistinct or multiple drainage patterns

Alternating weak and resistant bedrock, isolated peaks

Watershed

An area in which all water falling in it flows out through one location

Trellis pattern

Areas of alternating weak and resistant bedrock

Clay

Bouncing is to sand as suspension is to ______

Divide

A boundary, usually on a hill or mountain, where water will flow in opposite directions on either side

Direction and location of streamflow controlled primarily by slope

- Layers of solid sedimentary, similar rock - Solid igneous bedrock of uniform composition and slope

Direction and location of streamflow controlled by geology

- Solid bedrock that is fractured in some areas - Areas of hard rocks interspersed with areas of softer rocks

Uplift of the land the stream is flowing on

Causes meandering streams to downcut and become incised meanders

Cut bank

Feature you would expect to find on the outside bank of a stream meander loop

Stream terrace

Form from downcutting following the rise of the landscape

Alluvial fan

Formed when the local gradient of a stream changes as it goes from a mountainous area to a large flat-lying area

The incised meander will cause only minor erosion of the canyon walls

Likely to occur to an incised meander after it reaches equilibrium with its new base level

How does the formation of a natural levee impact flooding?

Natural levees raise the height of the stream channel, reducing the amount of flooding that will occur on the floodplain

How are oxbow lakes formed?

Oxbow lakes form when one meander erodes into another, cutting off water to part of the stream channel

Ions

Sliding is to gravel as dissolution is to _____

Meandering stream

The type of stream associated with the formation of an oxbow lake

Bed load, suspended load, dissolved load

Three types of loads carried by streams

Dendritic pattern

Uniform bedrock

Radial pattern

Volcanic cones or domes

Deposition occurs on the inside of the meander, whereas erosion occurs on the outside

Where deposition and erosion of material occur along a meander