Chapter 12

Front 1

Abrasion

Back 1

The erosion of bedrock of a stream channel by impact of particles of particles carries in a stream and by rolling of larger rock fragments over the stream bed; abrasion is also an activity of glacial ice, waves, and wind.

Front 2

Aggradation

Back 2

The raising of stream channel altitude by continued deposition of bed load.

Front 3

Alluvial Terrace

Back 3

A bench like landform carved by a stream during degradation

Front 4

Alluvium

Back 4

Sediment laid by a stream that is found in a stream channel or in low parts of a stream valley subject to flooding.

Front 5

Bed Load

Back 5

The particles in a flowing fluid that are transported along the stream bed.

Front 6

Braided Stream

Back 6

A stream with a shallow channel carrying multiple threads of flow that subdivide and rejoin repeatedly and continually shift in position.

Front 7

Capacity

Back 7

The amount of sediment a stream transports.

Front 8

Competence

Back 8

The size of sediment that a stream can carry.

Front 9

Degradation

Back 9

The lowering of a fluvial surface, such as a stream bed or a floodplain through erosional processes.

Front 10

Delta

Back 10

A sediment deposit build by a stream entering a body of standing water.

Front 11

Dissolved Load

Back 11

Material, especially ions from chemical weathering, that are carried in a solution by a stream.

Front 12

Graded Stream

Back 12

A stream with a gradient adjusted to carry its average sediment load.

Front 13

Hydraulic Action

Back 13

Stream erosion by the force of impact of flowing water upon the bed and banks of stream channel.

Front 14

Meandering Stream

Back 14

A stream consisting of meanders, which are the sinuous bends of a graded stream flowing in the alluvial deposit of a floodplain.

Front 15

Natural Levee

Back 15

The belt of higher ground paralleling a meandering rive on both sides of a stream channel and built up by deposition of sediment during flooding

Front 16

Nickpoint

Back 16

A portion of a stream where gradient changes abruptly, such as a waterfall or rapids.

Front 17

Oxbow Lake

Back 17

A crescent shaped lake representing the abandoned channel left by the cutoff of a meander.

Front 18

Saltation:

Back 18

Leaping, impacting, and rebounding of sand grains transported over a sand or pebble surface by wind.

Front 19

Sheet Flow

Back 19

Overland flow taking the form of a continuous thin film of water over a smooth surface of soil, regolith or rock.

Front 20

Steam Gradient

Back 20

The rate of descent to lower elevations along the length of a stream channel.

Front 21

Suspended Load

Back 21

The portion of the sediment that is carried by a fluid flow which settle slowly enough that it almost never touches the bed.

Front 22

Traction:

Back 22

Adhesive friction or force.

Front 23

Yazoo Tributary

Back 23

Runs parallel to, and within the floodplain of a larger river, which the stream eventually joins.