Stream and River Deposits

Sediment

Rock and soil deposited by streams.

Alluvial Fan

A fan shaped mass of material deposited by a stream when the slope of the land decreases sharply. When a river deposits sediment on land.

Delta

A fan-shaped mass of material deposited at the mouth of a stream, when a river empties into a large body of water. Forms on flat surface and is made mostly of mud.

Levee

A type of barrier that can be built to help control flooding. A barrier constructed of sediment deposited along the channel of a river, to contain the flow of water and prevent flooding.

Dam

A type of barrier that can be built to help control flooding. Holds excess water in an artificial lake and can be used for irrigating farm land during droughts, provide drinking water, and can be sued to generate electricity.

Floodplain

An area along a river that forms from sediments deposited when the river overflows its banks.

Flooding

Brings rich soil to farmland but can also lead to property damage and death.

Stream Deposits

Can increase the size of the land.

Placer Deposits

Heavy minerals that are deposited at places in a river where the current slows down.

Deposition

Occurs when sediments are laid down on the ground or sink to the bottom of a body of water. This is the final stage of erosion process in which the movement of transported materials slows and they are dropped in another location.

Erosion

The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another.