Terrestrial depositional environments

What is the erosional zone?

Where streams are actively downcut, removing bedrock from the valley floor via downslope movement.

what is the transfer zone?

The gradient is lower, so the stream and river is not actively eroding, but not a site of deposition either

What is the depositional zone?

Where sedimenbt is deposited in the river channels and on the floodplains of a fluvial system or on the surface of an alluvial fan.

What is the grain size of a stream determined by?

The supply of detrtus, the gradient of the river and total dischargew of water

What is alluvial?

The land surface proces that involves the flow of water

What is an alluvial fan?

A low relief continental area where sediment accumulates

Drainage basin/ catchment area?

The area of ground that supplies water to a river system.
-A big aquifer where the soil acts as a sponge for water

High flow stage vs low flow stage

-When water is well below the level of the banks vs when the water is at the level of the bank

What is a braided river?

Water finds a path around large deposits of sediment, that the stream cannot support.
-Found in areas of a flood plain
-bedload river

Meandering stream

Accumulate sediment and deposit sediment based on what side of the bar you're on.
-found in flood plains in low velocity environments

Point bar

When the inner bank is undergoing migration, and the point bar will deposit
-show fining of grains from coarse to file

what is the thawleg?

The part of the river with the highest velocity of flow
-deepest flow is the fastest and causes subaqeous dunes

avulsion

where the river splits off from the old river
-Think of a trace fossil but a river
-A big oxbow lake