Download River Processes

River Processes
1. The five major rivers that flow into
the Chesapeake Bay are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Susquehanna
Potomac
Rappahannock
York
James
Please Remove Your Jacket
(Virginia Rivers)
2. Rivers always flow down… which is different from
North, South, East, West!
3. Rivers begin as small streams
which make bigger streams….
They are made up of tributaries
of smaller streams that join
along their course.
4. The more steep the ground is or the
greater amount of water it has, the runoff
moves faster (velocity) with more energy.
5. Rivers carry dirt and rocks which is
called sediment.
6. Turbidity is a
measure of
how clear the
water is.
Suspended
sediments
block sunlight
and increase
the turbidity.
7. Rivers transport sediments when the river has
enough energy. When the river slows down,
the sediment is dropped as “deposits.”
8. There are different types of
sediment, called the river’s “load.”
A. Dissolved load
fine sediment
that is dissolved.
B. Suspended load- dirt
and silt is floating and
transported through the
stream.
C. Bed load- larger rocks
and boulders that does
not float but roll down a
river.
9. Sediments cloud the
water, preventing
light from getting to
the leaves of
underwater grasses.
(submerged
aquatic vegetation),
also known as SAV.
10. When the river
has more energy,
the river is
straighter.
When the river has
less energy, the
river may become
a meandering
stream or river.
11. Fast water has more energy and
creates more erosion. Erosion is the
wearing away of rocks and the Earth
by moving water, wind, or ice.
12. Deposits
are loose
sediments that
build up after
water in a river
loses energy and
cannot carry it
any further.
13. As a river
empties into a
body of water
such as a lake,
gulf, or bay,
sediment is
deposited
forming a delta.
Honors: When the
river is fast moving
the deposit can
form an alluvial fan.
Resources:
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plantandsoil.unl.edu
directom.com
hudsonsouthbay.com
asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov
buzz.roots.com
en.wikipedia.org
pages.uoregon.edu