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Stream Processes

Stream Processes. The water in all streams, large or small, can flow in two ways: Laminar flow – The simplest type of flow. Streamlines do not cross, typically seen in slow moving waters

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Stream Processes

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  1. Stream Processes

  2. The water in all streams, large or small, can flow in two ways: • Laminar flow – The simplest type of flow. Streamlines do not cross, typically seen in slow moving waters • Turbulent flow – Complex flow pattern in which streamlines cross and form eddies. Typically seen in fast moving streams

  3. Streams transport a variety of sediment as either suspended load or bed load

  4. Most sand grains within a stream are transported by the process of saltation. This is the intermittent jumping of particles, and the smaller the particle, the higher it jumps and the farther it travels

  5. Experimental work has shown that there is a relationship between the velocity of a stream and the size of particles it can erode, transport, and deposit. This is called Hjulstrom’s curve

  6. The term stream valley encompasses both the actual stream channel and its floodplain

  7. The two main types of stream channel patterns are braided and meandering • Braided streams are characterized by • High sediment load • Variable discharge • High gradient • Relatively young in age

  8. Meandering streams are characterized by: • Low Sediment Load • Low Gradient • Meanders change shape • Old, mature stream

  9. Over time meanders change shape because on the cut bank side sediment is being eroded and along the point bar side deposition is occurring

  10. As streams flood natural levees are built up. Sometimes the levees build up so high that the floodplain level is below the stream level

  11. The longitudinal profile of a stream is generally always concave upward, with the steepest section being near the streams head, and leveling out near the mouth

  12. A delta is a fan shaped body of sediment that gets deposited at the mouth of a stream entering an ocean or lake. As the stream enters a standing body of water, deposition of the coarsest sediment occurs first

  13. Over time deltas build forward, and occasionally the main channel will shift to distributaries with shorter routes. This has occurred several times along the Mississippi delta

  14. Alluvial fans are similar to deltas in that they are fan shaped and formed from the sudden deposition of material, but alluvial fans are located at mountain fronts

  15. Putting it all together

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