Deck 16: Fluvial Processes

Question 1

Surface indicators of turbulence in streamflows include eddies and ________.

A) meandering
B) whirlpools
C) braided streams
D) dissolved load
E) fluvial processes

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The process in which small particles are moved along by streamflow or wind in a series of jumps or bounces is ________.

A) saltation
B) traction
C) meandering
D) base level
E) turbulence

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the below is the major concept to which all the others are part of?

A) drainage basin
B) interfluve
C) valley side
D) drainage divide
E) valley bottom

Answer 3

A

Question 4

When a meandering stream is incised into a gradually rising crust or bedrock the result is a(n) ________.

A) cut off
B) entrenched meander
C) delayed tributary junction
D) stream terrace
E) peneplain

Question 5

The land separating adjoining valleys is known as a(n) ________.

A) levee
B) rill
C) interfluve
D) valley side
E) gulley

Question 6

Streams which flow for only a part of the year are ________.

A) superimposed
B) consequent
C) intermittent
D) antecedent
E) dry

Question 7

The final result of the classical theory of the geomorphic cycle concept is ________.

A) an initial surface
B) youth
C) maturity
D) old age
E) a peneplain

Question 8

The greatest amount of material transported by a stream is carried in its ________.

A) dissolved load
B) suspended load
C) bedload
D) traction
E) saltation

Question 9

This drainage pattern looks like the veins on the underside of a leaf:

A) trellis.
B) radial.
C) dendritic.
D) annular.
E) centripetal.

Question 10

A flat alluvium-floored valley with fairly steep walls and a stream beginning to meander would be in the ________ stage of the erosion cycle.

A) youth
B) mature
C) old age
D) peneplain
E) bajada

Question 11

The total volume of flow in streams is termed ________.

A) the interfluve
B) the delta coefficient
C) discharge
D) turbulence
E) overland flow

Question 12

A steep walled defile with a V-shaped profile and narrow valley floor would, according to the geomorphic cycle, be in the ________ stage.

A) youthful
B) mature
C) old age
D) peneplain
E) equilibrium

Question 13

The most prominent of all depositional landscapes is the ________.

A) oxbow lake
B) cut-off
C) meander scar
D) floodplain
E) backswamps

Question 14

A typical drainage pattern on conic volcanic mountains would be ________.

A) dendritic
B) trellis
C) radial
D) centripetal
E) antecedent

Question 15

An imaginary surface extending beneath the continents which limits how deep streams may cut is ________.

A) grade
B) base level
C) traction
D) a trellis
E) a knickpoint

Question 16

In the system of stream orders, the smallest unit in the network is at the ________.

A) 1st order
B) 2nd order
C) 3rd order
D) 4th order
E) a variable number

Question 17

Rivers downcutting into a land surface, in the absence of other forces, usually tend to erode a ________-shaped form.

A) groove
B) V
C) U
D) flat bottomed
E) delta

Question 18

The elevation limit of a stream downcutting on a land mass is called ________.

A) a drainage anomaly
B) meandering
C) ground zero
D) talus
E) base level

Question 19

In terms of erosion, a gulley is a larger example of a feature called a(n) ________.

A) dendritic pattern
B) rill
C) radial
D) alluvial fan
E) interfluve

Question 20

Branching channels that cross a delta are known as ________.

A) 3rd order streams
B) tributaries
C) distributaries
D) graded streams
E) youthful streams

Question 21

Which of the following would be most likely to develop a radial drainage pattern?

A) a cone-shaped volcano
B) folded, ridge-and-valley topography
C) mountain ridges caused by faulting
D) flat-lying, sedimentary rocks
E) none of the above

Question 22

First order streams are the ________ of all streams.

A) shortest
B) longest
C) widest
D) deepest
E) fastest

Question 23

All but one of the following would cause an increase in the erosive effectiveness of streamflow: ________.

A) steepen the stream gradient
B) decrease of turbulence
C) increase in channel roughness
D) decrease the resistance of the bedrock
E) increase the flow speed

Question 24

A ________ pattern of drainage usually develops on alternating bands of hard and soft strata.

A) trellis
B) radial
C) annular
D) centripetal
E) dendritic

Question 25

The direct collision of a raindrop with the ground, laterally shifting fine particles a few millimeters, is ________.

A) rill formation
B) valley cutting
C) plucking
D) splash erosion
E) peds pushing

Question 26

The detachment and removal of fragmented rock material is known as ________.

A) diastrophism
B) erosion
C) leaching
D) regolith stripping
E) sedimentation

Question 27

________ is a measure of the particle size a stream can transport.

A) Gradient
B) Equilibrium
C) Force
D) Competence
E) Capacity

Question 28

A stream valley lengthens at the expense of the ________.

A) levee
B) delta
C) interfluve
D) alluvial fan
E) peneplain

Question 29

A peneplain is the ________ of the classical geomorphic cycle of erosion.

A) beginning
B) youthful stage
C) mature stage
D) old age stage
E) end product

Question 30

A ________ develops along a streambed containing bedrock of differential resistance.

A) water gap
B) knickpoint
C) scree
D) distributary
E) fault

Question 31

The idealized sequence of slope retreat, according to Davis, would result in ________.

A) diminishing slope angles
B) parallel retreat of slopes
C) stream piracy
D) plate tectonics
E) parallel valleys

Question 32

The eventual result of ________ is to reduce almost all stream-carried debris to very small silt particles.

A) splash erosion
B) rill erosion
C) abrasion
D) sheet erosion
E) precipitation

Question 33

The drainage pattern common in ridge and valley landscapes is ________.

A) annular
B) trellis
C) disorganized
D) centripetal
E) dendritic

Question 34

Downcutting is usually most prominent along the ________ part of a stream valley.

A) lower
B) upper
C) delta
D) interfluve
E) none of the above

Question 35

On a meandering stream, maximum erosion takes place along the ________.

A) bottom
B) outer edge of the meanders
C) inner edge of the meanders
D) islands
E) places with the slowest flow

Question 36

Marking the outer edge of floodplains are landforms called ________.

A) levees
B) meanders
C) bluffs
D) oxbow lakes
E) mesas

Question 37

Niagara Falls is a large waterfall on a river, so it can be considered as an example of ________.

A) lateral erosion
B) stream capture
C) a water gap
D) a rill
E) a knickpoint

Question 38

The existence of a stream terrace is sure evidence of ________.

A) knickpoint
B) entrenched meanders
C) rejuvenation
D) delayed tributary junction
E) volcanic activity

Question 39

Splash erosion ________.

A) moves eroded particles uphill
B) moves eroded particles downhill
C) is sometimes minimal because of vegetation
D) blasts fine soil particles upward and outward
E) is described by all of the above

Question 40

Death Valley is below sea level. Therefore, in Death Valley, base level is ________ ultimate base level.

A) higher than
B) lower than
C) equal to
D) not related to
E) unchanging with respect to

Question 41

Flow in a stream usually is fastest ________.

A) during low-flow conditions
B) near the mouth
C) near the bottom
D) near the sides
E) near the center and slightly below the surface

Question 42

________ is the counterpart of "scouring".

A) Filling
B) Erosion
C) Turbulence
D) Degradation
E) Corrosion

Question 43

Fluvial process includes both the streamflow within valleys as well as ________.

A) overland flow
B) rock glaciers
C) hydrolysis
D) groundwater
E) none of the above

Question 44

The degree of turbulence in streamflow is determined by the velocity and the ________.

A) solar incidence
B) stream channel roughness
C) bedrock chemistry
D) tidal bore
E) none of the above

Question 45

As a stream-related measure, competence is expressed as a ________.

A) gradient (meters per kilometer)
B) velocity (meters per second)
C) discharge (cubic meters per second)
D) time (seconds)
E) diameter (millimeters)

Question 46

When a first-order stream joins a second-order stream, the result is always ________.

A) a first-order stream
B) a second-order stream
C) a third-order stream
D) a fourth-order stream
E) none of the above

Question 47

The deepest part of a stream channel is known as the ________.

A) deepest part of the stream channel
B) valley bottom
C) levee
D) thalweg
E) rill

Question 48

Which of the following correctly describes a stream's capacity?

A) It is the potential load a stream can transport.
B) It is defined as a volume of sediment passing a given point during a given time.
C) It varies tremendously from time to time.
D) It depends mostly on fluctuations in the volume and velocity of flow.
E) It is correctly described by all of the above.

Question 49

A valley bottom might be differentiated from valley sides in that ________.

A) valley bottoms tend to be at a higher altitude
B) valley sides have lesser slopes than valley bottoms
C) valley sides tend to take more area than valley bottoms
D) valley sides commonly have "lips" or "rims"
E) valley bottoms are the sites of interfluves

Question 50

Which type of erosion generates the most sediment per square meter in the places where it occurs?

A) sheet erosion
B) splash erosion
C) rill erosion
D) gulley erosion
E) erosion by raindrops

Question 51

Any stream may lengthen its valley by ________ and delta formation.

A) headward erosion
B) siltation
C) saltation
D) alluvial deposition
E) none of the above

Question 52

An interfluve can be found ________.

A) in valley bottoms
B) between valleys
C) in a delta
D) on valley sides
E) in valleys

Question 53

The chemical erosion of stream channels is known as ________.

A) abrasion
B) erosion
C) competence
D) corrosion
E) turbulence

Question 54

Which is the most common type of drainage pattern?

A) trellis
B) centripetal
C) dendritic
D) radial
E) annular

Question 55

Davisian theory is usually referred to as the ________.

A) geomorphic cycle
B) equilibrium theory
C) rejuvenation theory
D) stream development theorem
E) idea of concave slopes

Question 56

The point of confluence of a tributary with a higher order stream is a(n) ________.

A) ultimate base level
B) local base level
C) delta
D) knickpoint
E) none of the above

Question 57

During low water cycles, any channel bottom change is likely to undergo ________.

A) aggradation
B) degradation
C) saltation
D) nivation
E) none of the above

Question 58

A stream's ________ is chemically altered and transported.

A) dissolved load
B) suspended load
C) traction materials
D) bedload
E) saltation materials

Question 59

The most numerous stream type on the landscape is the ________.

A) first-order stream
B) second-order stream
C) third-order stream
D) fourth-order stream
E) fifth-order stream

Question 60

The general term applied to stream-deposited debris is ________.

A) refuse
B) alluvium
C) capacity
D) discharge
E) bedload

Question 61

An oxbow lake was formerly a ________.

A) river meander
B) knickpoint
C) natural levee
D) stream terrace
E) marsh

Question 62

Over time, which of the following has happened to Niagara Falls?

A) They have become rapids.
B) They have migrated several kilometers upstream.
C) They have migrated several kilometers downstream.
D) They have drained away most of Lake Ontario's water.
E) They have evolved into the world's most famous example of stream capture.

Question 63

Uplift and rejuvenation are indicated by the presence of landforms known as ________.

A) stream terraces
B) floodplains
C) meanders
D) V-shaped valleys
E) peneplains

Question 64

Niagara Falls were formed ________.

A) by humans as a result of the damming of the St. Lawrence River
B) during Precambrian time approximately a billion years ago
C) so long ago that the river's knickpoint is now gone
D) after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice sheets a few thousand years ago
E) after a series of spectacular earthquakes which are still helping the falls evolve

Question 65

In the text, West Virginia is offered as a superb example of ________.

A) superimposed streams
B) contrasts between dendritic and trellis drainage
C) antecedent streams
D) drainage basins
E) annular and radial patterns

Question 66

Which of the following scientists is closely associated with the theory of crustal change and slope development?

A) Davis
B) Wegener
C) Bacon
D) Richter
E) Penck

Question 67

Which of the following is LEAST affected by the action of channelized water?

A) floodplains
B) valley sides
C) valley bottoms
D) stream channels
E) interfluves

Question 68

________ transport(s) materials directly after they are loosened by splash erosion.

A) Streamflow
B) Gully erosion
C) Rill erosion
D) Sheet erosion
E) Earthquake slumps

Question 69

Niagara Falls is the most famous set of falls in North America because they ________.

A) are the widest falls in the word
B) are the tallest falls in the world
C) pass an enormous volume of water over them
D) flow "backwards" from what would be expected
E) date from almost the beginning of Earth history

Question 70

The geographical cycle is now known by the term ________.

A) floodplain theory
B) equilibrium theory
C) isostasy
D) theory of crustal change and slope development
E) geomorphic cycle

Question 71

Solution and hydrolysis combine to create ________ in streams.

A) abrasion
B) stream load
C) corrosion
D) hydraulic head
E) saltation

Question 72

If a stream carries water only during and immediately after a rain, it is classified as ________.

A) ephemeral
B) perennial
C) exotic
D) intermittent
E) dendritic

Question 73

A (n) ________ forms when a stream has been beheaded by stream capture.

A) knickpoint
B) floodplain
C) waterfall
D) elbow
E) trellis drainage pattern

Question 74

Which of the following is a feature associated with a yazoo stream?

A) lack of a floodplain
B) mountainous terrain
C) a V-shaped valley
D) a flow parallel to a large stream
E) all of the above

Question 75

________ determines the erosive effectiveness of a stream.

A) Speed of flow
B) Turbulence of flow
C) Gradient of the stream bed
D) Volume of flow
E) All of the above

Question 76

Running water is referred to as a(an) ________ process in terms of being a landform creator.

A) insignificant
B) aeolian
C) fluvial
D) localized
E) weak

Question 77

Which of the following rivers has the largest delta in the world?

A) Mississippi
B) Indus
C) Ob
D) Amazon
E) Thames

Question 78

The portion of the terrain in which a drainage system is clearly established is known as a(n) ________.

A) interfluve
B) valley
C) valley side
D) valley bottom
E) drainage divide

Question 79

Niagara Falls tumbles over a massive bed of resistant limestone known as the Niagara ________.

A) Anticline
B) Syncline
C) Fault
D) Basin
E) Escarpment

Question 80

Which of the following is closely associated with the former position of a river channel?

A) meander scars
B) oxbow lakes
C) cutoff meanders
D) oxbow swamps
E) all of the above