Deck 17: Fluvial Processes and Landforms

Question 1

Interception of precipitation by vegetation allows greater infiltration. ​

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Stream capacity is the maximum size of rock particles that a given stream is able to transport. ​

Answer 2

False

Question 3

If a river had a 10-year flood this year, it could also have a 10-year flood next year. ​

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In most cases, streams with perennial flow continue to receive water between precipitation events because of _____. ​

A)aquicludes
B)traction
C)peak flow
D)flood crests
E)base flow

Question 5

Two third-order streams must join to form a second-order stream. ​

Question 6

The depositional landform resulting from a stream flowing into a standing body of water is a point bar. ​

Question 7

Every stream has a base level. ​

Question 8

A stream sorts particles by size, transporting the sizes that it can and depositing larger ones. ​

Question 9

Streams can lengthen their drainage courses by the process of headward erosion. ​

Question 10

Discharge is volume multiplied by velocity. ​

Question 11

A decrease in stream discharge will most likely result in an increase in _____. ​

A)drainage area
B)stream competence
C)stream capacity
D)stream energy
E)stream deposition

Question 12

Which of these characteristics would increase surface runoff? ​

A)more permeable soils
B)shallower slopes
C)thicker soils
D)less vegetation
E)larger infiltration capacities

Question 13

The expanse of land from which a stream receives runoff is the _____. ​

A)tributary
B)drainage divide ​
C)drainage basin
D)order
E)discharge

Question 14

A rectangular stream pattern consists of long parallel streams with short tributaries entering at right angles. ​

Question 15

Compared with the rise of a stream hydrograph leading up to the peak discharge, the return to an average flow typically occurs much more quickly. ​

Question 16

Reservoirs behind dams eventually fill with sediment that the water naturally would have transported downstream.

Question 17

Ions dissolved in stream water make up part of the stream's load. ​

Question 18

At a meander, erosion is greatest at the point bar. ​

Question 19

The boundary between adjacent drainage basins is called the _____. ​

A)catchment
B)drainage divide
C)alluvial fan
D)medial moraine
E)interfluve

Question 20

A stream in a drainage basin with interior drainage will not reach the ocean. ​

Question 21

The largest size particle that a stream can carry depends on _____. ​

A)elevation
B)water temperature
C)stream length
D)drainage pattern
E)stream velocity

Question 22

The ultimate base level for most stream action is _____. ​

A)the floodplain
B)the interfluve
C)sea level
D)the water table
E)the mountain range where the headwaters begin

Question 23

Stream discharge is determined by stream velocity per unit of time in relation to_____. ​

A)stream load
B)channel cross section area
C)stream capacity
D)channel roughness
E)stream competence

Question 24

Pebbles and cobbles would most likely be transported by a river as _____. ​

A)bed load
B)discharge load
C)suspended load
D)solution load
E)base flow

Question 25

The steepest stream gradients tend to occur _____. ​

A)in a stream's floodplain
B)in a stream's delta
C)in the lower stream course
D)in the middle stream course
E)in the upper stream course

Question 26

Which drainage pattern would you expect in a region of folded rock forming parallel ridges? ​

A)braided
B)antecedent
C)deranged
D)trellis
E)rectangular

Question 27

Streams with _____ flow are empty of water much of the time. ​

A)trunk ​
B)base
C)ephemeral
D)perennial
E)distributary

Question 28

Two streams that have no perennial tributaries meet to form a larger stream. That larger stream would be considered a _____ stream. ​

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

Question 29

The inside of a meander bend usually has a _____. ​

A)point bar
B)cut bank
C)braided channel
D)plunge pool
E)pothole

Question 30

The physical process by which water alone removes pieces of rock from a stream channel is called _____. ​

A)corrosion
B)Abrasion
C)attrition
D)hydraulic action
E)saltation

Question 31

The total length of channels within a drainage basin in relation to total area is called _____. ​

A)stream order
B)drainage density
C)stream capacity
D)stream discharge
E)stream gradient

Question 32

An increase in stream velocity can be caused by _____. ​

A)an increase in stream gradient
B)an increase in channel roughness
C)a decrease in stream competence
D)a decrease in stream capacity
E)a decrease in stream energy

Question 33

Traction within a stream refers to _____. ​

A)the total amount of load being moved
B)sliding and rolling load along the stream bed.
C)dissolving of rock material by the stream water
D)the maximum size of load being moved by the stream
E)the velocity of the stream flow

Question 34

The Mississippi River delta is what kind of delta?

A)contributary
B)arcuate
C)lobate
D)cuspate
E)bird's-foot

Question 35

A dendritic drainage pattern is most likely to develop on rocks that _____. ​

A)have multiple parallel folds
B)have a dome structure
C)form a volcanic mountain
D)are criss-crossed by fractures and faults
E)are resistant to weathering

Question 36

Antecedent streams can flow through a mountain range because _____. ​

A)extreme flow velocities allowed them to flow over the top of the mountains
B)bedrock solution gradually opens a tunnel through the mountains that collapses
C)headward erosion connects two streams on opposite sides of the mountains
D)the gap in the mountains existed before the stream flowed through it
E)the stream existed before the establishment of the mountains

Question 37

Drainage density will be greater in areas with _____. ​

A)rapid runoff
B)high amounts of infiltration
C)extensive vegetation cover
D)gentle slopes
E)few rills

Question 38

Stream terraces along the sides of river valleys are usually evidence of _____. ​

A)mass wasting
B)trellis drainage
C)distributary channels
D)changes in base level or tectonic movements
E)wind action

Question 39

When a meander cut-off occurs during a flood, a(n)_____ can be formed. ​

A)natural levee
B)point bar
C)cut bank
D)oxbow lake
E)floodplain

Question 40

How does urbanization of a watershed tend to affect flooding? ​

A)there is generally no change in flooding
B)floods don't change in magnitude, but become less frequent
C)floods don't change in magnitude, but become more frequent
D)flood peaks are reduced
E)the flood peak rises higher and faster than before

Question 41

The wear and tear experienced by sediments as they tumble and bounce against one another and against the stream channel is called _______________.

Question 42

Erosion by rock particles that bounce, scrape, and drag along the bottom and sides of a stream channel is called _______________. ​

Question 43

Net deposition of sediments results in a building up, or _______________, of the landscape. ​

Question 44

The general term for sediments deposited by streams, regardless of the type or size of material, is _______________. ​

Question 45

The finest solid particles in a stream are carried in _______________, buoyed by vertical turbulence. ​

Question 46

Most volcanoes have a(n)_______________ stream pattern. ​

Question 47

Channels that add their flow to a trunk stream are called _______________. ​

Question 48

A stream _______________ is the record of discharge changes in a stream over time. ​

Question 49

Describe some of the factors that determine how much surface runoff or infiltration occurs. ​

Question 50

Channel-bounding ridges composed of sediment deposited during floods are called ______________ (two words).

Question 51

The average number of years between past stream flow events that equaled or exceeded various discharges is called a(n)_______________ (two words). ​

Question 52

Where a stream flows into a standing body of water, such as a lake or the ocean, stream sediment is deposited to form a(n)_______________. ​

Question 53

The multiple channels flowing out from the main stream on a delta are called _______________. ​

Question 54

Explain how a superimposed stream cutting through a mountain range forms. ​

Question 55

Streams that flow in interweaving strands that split and rejoin around sand and gravel bars are called _______________ channels.

Question 56

Some grains that are too large and heavy to be carried in suspension bounce along the channel bottom in a process known as _______________.

Question 57

Explain how a stream that is initially nearly straight can eventually produce an oxbow lake. ​

Question 58

What is a floodplain and how is it formed? ​

Question 59

A thin layer of unchannelized surface water flow is called _______________ (two words). ​

Question 60

Describe some of the ways a stream changes between its source and its mouth. ​