Geology                     Natural Science 1003

Courses
Astronomy
Meteorology
Geology

Links
Astronomy
Meteorology
Geology

NATS 1003
Syllabus
Topic Outlines

Topics

11.1  Describing streams  

• Explanation: Why does water collect into streams? Why does water flow to the ocean?

• Terms: stream; head; headwaters; mouth; tributary; bed; bank; channel; flood; gradient; cross-section; longitudinal profile; drainage basin; divide

• Explanation: Be able to identify different drainage patterns and describe how the underlying geology creates the drainage pattern [dendritic, trellis, rectangular, radial]

• Description: Describe the major drainage patterns in Minnesota

11.2  Characteristics of Moving Water  

• Terms: discharge; velocity; turbulence

• Relationship: How are stream velocity and discharge related?

• Relationship: How are stream velocity and gradient related?

• Analytical: Be able to compare gradients of different streams

• Relationship: How are stream velocity and stream volume related? Why?

• Description: How does turbulence affect the stream velocity?

• Description: Describe how the stream velocity can be different along the width of a stream at one distance along the stream

• Description: Describe how stream velocity can be different upstream or downstream for the entire stream

• Compare: Are "speeding up" and "faster" related? Are "slowing down" and "slower" related?

• Relationship: How are stream velocity and sizes of possible transported sediment related?

11.3  Sediment  

• Explanation: What is sediment?

• Explanation: How does sediment get into a stream?

• Terms: weathering; erosion; transport

• Process: Describe how hydraulic action erodes material

• Process: Describe how abrasion erodes material

• Relationship: How are stream velocity and erosion related?

• Description: What are the ways that we classify sediment?
  --Terms: suspended load; bed load; dissolved load

• Process: Describe how sediment falls out of a stream

• Analytical: Compare the sizes of sediment and determine when stream velocity was faster and slower

11.4  Landforms  

• For each of these landforms, you should be able to:
  --Identify the landform on an image
  --Explain how the landform forms

• Landforms: pothole; alluvial fan; delta; braided stream; floodplain; natural levee; meander; cut bank; point bar; cutoff; oxbow lake

• Story: How did Lake Pepin form?

11.5  Development of stream valleys  

• Relationships: How do the following characteristics change as you move from the head of the stream to the mouth?

• channel width; channel depth; floodplain; gradient; discharge; velocity; meanders; sediment load; sediment size; type of erosion

• Process: What processes work to create a graded stream?

• Process: Describe headward erosion

• Landform: Incised meanders (identify, how formed)

• Landform: Stream terraces (identify, how formed)

11.6  Human Effects on Streams  

• Explanation: How does urbanization affect the way that water enters a stream after a rainfall event?

• How do each of the following structures affect streamflow, erosion, and deposition?
  --culverts; bridge pillars; dams; levees/floodwalls

Resources for students

Entire topic

• Course lecture notes from Prof. Nelson

Links for further interest

Entire topic

• Virtual River from Cal State U-LA  (online tutorial about discharge and floods)

11.2  Characteristics of moving water

• Minnesota stream info
• Measuring streamflow
  --Bridge crane   2 min
  --Wading  17 sec
  --AZ flood  2 min
  --Llano R   1 min
• Discussion
• Flood and geology video   1 min

11.3  Sediment

• Very good discussion of measuring bed load and suspended load near Mt. St. Helens
• Discussion of suspended load in North Dakota
• Discussion of bed load and stream velocity
• Stream deposits short video
• Rocks in streambeds video    1 min

11.4  Landforms

• Delta
  --Formation of delta video   3 min
  --Photos and story about a delta formed 12,000 years ago in Maine as a glacier melted
  --Another Nile photo
  --Several images of the Colorado River delta
  --A description of how Lake Pepin formed
• Braided streams--Best Management Practices for braided streams from South Carolina Forestry
• Natural levee in North Dakota
• Harold Fisk maps of meanders
• Meander video at 1:02 mark, but difficult to follow
• Meander with point bar
• Oxbow lake
  --Description from HomeworkHelp
  --Interesting map of Missouri River near Atchison, Kansas (scroll down). Old 1893 map shows oxbows and meanders. Current map shows the river straightened by the Corps of Engineers. Also shows satellite images of current oxbows.

11.5  Development of Stream Valleys

• Incised meanders in Washington  3 min
• Rock features in streambeds video   1 min

11.6 Human Effects

• Urban stormwater runoff uses
• Lake Mead sediment   2 min