Exam 15: Running Water

Which one of the following statements is true concerning natural levees?

________ flow is how runoff moves initially across the ground.

A radial drainage pattern would most likely develop ________.

________ is an abandoned, cutoff, meander loop.

A natural, meandering, river channel is modified into a more or less straight and smooth, canal-like channel.Which of the following statements is correct?

Alluvium refers to all solid unconsolidated stream deposits, mainly sand and gravel.

Where is erosion concentrated along a meandering stream?

The bottom of a stream's channel is called its ________.

Briefly compare those stream characteristics that decrease in a downstream direction with those that increase downstream.Also, indicate whether these changing stream characteristics tend to favor erosion or deposition of sediments.

What would cause a river to have a series of terraces lying at different elevations, all above its modern floodplain?

A(n)________ is a curved lake on a low gradient floodplain formed from the abandoned channel after a meander loop is cut off.

What cycle describes water moving through Earth's hydrosphere?

________ are characteristics of downcutting streams and a youthful stage of valley evolution.

Braided streams commonly form when their sediment loads exceed their competence or capacity.

Foreset beds are part of a deltaic, depositional sequence.

Where would you find clays and silts in delta sediments?

For the same discharge, gradient, and channel cross section, a stream with a boulder-strewn bed would be more turbulent than one with a sandy bed.

Natural levees are constructed of machine-compacted sand and mud; artificial levees are made of concrete.

Alluvial fans develop at unusual locations where stream gradients abruptly increase for a short distance.

A ________ stream pattern develops on lands underlain by tilted or folded, alternating hard and soft, sedimentary strata.