Streams and Rivers Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering basic stream terminology, river system parts, and Georgia's water resource statistics based on the lecture notes.

Watershed

Also known as a basin, catchment, or contributing area, it is the land area that drains into a specific water body.

Drainage Divides

The boundaries that define a watershed.

Pour Points

The outlets of a watershed where water flows out.

Major River Basins in Georgia

There are $14$ major river basins, including the Coosa, Tennessee, Savannah, and Chattahoochee.

Total River Miles in Georgia

The state has a total of $70,150\,miles$ of rivers, including perennial, intermittent, and canals.

Lentic Ecosystems

Aquatic ecosystems consisting of still water, such as lakes, ponds, bogs, swamps, and marshes.

Lotic Systems

Running water systems, which include rivers, streams, and creeks.

Riparian Zone

The interface between land and a river or stream, often characterized by streamside cover.

Riffle

A shallow, fast-moving, and turbulent section of a stream, often associated with erosional zones.

Pool

A deep, slow-moving part of a stream, typically acting as a depositional zone.

Run

A smooth-flowing part of the stream that is deeper than a riffle but shallower than a pool.

Substrate

The material that makes up the stream bottom.

Hyporheic Zone

The region beneath and alongside a stream bed where there is mixing of shallow groundwater and surface water.

Hyporheic Exchange

The process of water moving between the stream channel and the hyporheic zone.

Bankfull Width

The width of the stream channel at the point where the water begins to flow out of its banks and onto the floodplain.

Ephemeral Stream

A stream that flows only briefly in direct response to precipitation.

Intermittent Stream

A stream that flows during certain times of the year when it receives water from groundwater or other seasonal sources.

Perennial Stream

A stream that has continuous flow in its bed all year round during years of normal precipitation.

Headwaters

The source of a stream or river, often found at higher elevations within a watershed.

Tributary

A smaller stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem river.