Stream Features

Regents Earth Science With Ms. Connery LAB 3 - How long is a Day? making time calculations!

SUNRISE SUNSET

W 10/29 06 :33 17:02

Seasons Greetings! ESRT - What are the major streams of NYS and which way do they flow?? Let’s draw a conceptual model Why are there streams? • Runoff  surface water • Infiltration  groundwater • Streams are a combination of both What factors determine whether water infiltrates or runs off the land surface to form a stream?

Characteristic HIGH LOW HIGH LOW INFILTRATION INFILTRATION RUN-OFF RUN-OFF GROUNDCOVER • VEGETATED X X

• PAVED X X SLOPE of the LAND (water speed) • STEEP SLOPE X X

• GENTLE SLOPE X X SOIL PERMEABILITY • HIGH PERMEABILITY X X

• LOW PERMEABILITY X X SOIL SATURATION • SATURATED or VERY DRY X X

• MODERATE SATURATION X X Key points…  What are some key erosional and depositional features of running water? Where do we find different size sediments in a stream? What are the ages of a stream and their characteristics? In the stream speed lab you mostly thought about water levels causing different speeds (like during floods & droughts) but there are other reasons for speed change and erosion and deposition!

Cut bank (erosion) and point bar (deposition) Point Bar If the speeds are different, what does the stream channel look like on straight-aways and curves? What does the channel, erosion, and deposition look like on a major river? Using the stream table, you should be able to describe

 headwaters (source)  undercutting  tributary  sediment sorting by  channel water speed  flood plain  sediment sorting by  erosion zones location (slope)  deposition zones  deltas  stream meanders  basin  cut bank  mouth  point bar  braided streams Oxbow lake, cut-offs, and flood plain of a meandering stream Meandering Stream (it’s a good old stream) Mississippi River Delta forms Mississippi River Delta Mississippi Delta Alluvial fan Braided stream in alluvial fan at mouth of river Streams at different “ages” have different characteristics YOUTHFUL MATURE-OLD STREAMS • Steep gradient • Gentle gradient • Faster water • Slower water • Waterfalls & • Many tributaries rapids • Meanders • V-shape channel • Flatter & wider • Few floodplains channel • Straighter • Floodplains • Lots of erosion • Lots of deposition Youthful age stream Youthful Stream Stage

Mature Stream Stage

Mature Stage stream – Susquehanna River Rio Grande Nile River from Apollo 9 Old Age Stream Mississippi River – Old Age Stage TIGRIS - EUPHRATES RIVER AMAZON RIVER You know the speed of the stream determines the size of sediments that are moving or settling out of the stream. Speed of erosion & deposition relate to the speed of the water

CONDITION FAST WATER SLOW WATER

HIGH EROSION RATE x LOW EROSION RATE x HIGH DEPOSITION RATE x LOW DEPOSITION RATE x The SEDIMENT also affects the rate of deposition in a stream.

What are some characteristics of sediment? Think back to the bucket of unsorted sediments! Lab 7 – Journey’s End How does sediment settle?

OBJECTIVES  Collect and analyze settling rate data for various sediments  Apply this analysis to the real world where erosion and deposition occur along streams REMEMBER you can only change one thing at a time when you write your procedure Settling Rate vs. Settling Time Graphs VERTICAL SORTING of sediments during DEPOSITION Horizontal sorting, deposition, and water speed Draw horizontal sorting (based on water speed and hill slope) Key points…  What are some key erosional and depositional features of running water? Where do find different size sediments in a stream? What are the ages of a stream and their characteristics?