Which of the following is a correct relationship between stream velocity and sediment load?
Which of the following is the correct relationship between stream velocity and sediment load? As velocity increases, so does the stream's capacity to carry a larger load.
What is the relationship between stream velocity and the size of the sediment the stream can carry?
relationship – As the stream velocity increases, the stream can carry bigger sediment.
What is stream velocity?
Stream velocity is the speed of the water in the stream. Units are distance per time (e.g., meters per second or feet per second). Stream velocity is greatest in midstream near the surface and is slowest along the stream bed and banks due to friction.
What factors control a stream’s velocity?
The velocity of a river is determined by many factors, including the shape of its channel, the gradient of the slope that the river moves along, the volume of water that the river carries and the amount of friction caused by rough edges within the riverbed.
What is the relationship between the water velocity and the rate of erosion?
If the water velocity increases, the rate of erosion increases. If the water velocity remains constant, the rate of erosion decreases.
What is the relationship between a stream’s gradient and its velocity?
The higher the gradient, the faster the stream flows. Channel shape and texture. The shape and roughness of the channel also affect the velocity of the flowing water.
What is the relationship between stream velocity and stream load?
Stream load is directly proportional to stream velocity and stream gradient and relates the amount of material transported past a point during a specified time interval. The greater the velocity, the greater the sum of the mass that can be transported by a stream (stream load).
What is the relationship between the discharge of a stream and its velocity?
The discharge of a stream is the product of its velocity (V – length of travel per unit of time such as feet/second) times depth of the water (D – unit of length) times width (W of the water – units of length).
What is the load of a stream?
Stream load is a geologic term referring to the solid matter carried by a stream (Strahler and Strahler, 2006). Erosion and bed shear stress continually remove mineral material from the bed and banks of the stream channel, adding this material to the regular flow of water.
How does load and discharge affect a stream’s velocity?
As one moves along a stream in the downstream direction: Discharge increases, as noted above, because water is added to the stream from tributary streams and groundwater. As discharge increases, the width, depth, and average velocity of the stream increase.
What is the relationship between stream gradient and average stream velocity?
What is the relationship between average stream velocity, stream roughness and stream gradient? As average stream velocity increases, roughness and gradient decrease.
What role does water velocity play in stream erosion and deposition?
Stream Velocity Depends on the Shape and Size of the Channel Flowing water is a very important mechanism for both erosion and deposition. Water flow in a stream is primarily related to the stream's gradient, but it is also controlled by the geometry of the stream channel.
Why does sediment load increase downstream?
The bed load, which moves downward by a process of saltation, collides with each other less as the turbulence decreases. Therefore, the water occupies more horizontal space to accommodate the sediments, thus making it wider.
What is the relationship between stream discharge and stream stage?
The stage-discharge relation depends upon the shape, size, slope, and roughness of the channel at the streamgage and is different for every streamgage. The development of an accurate stage-discharge relation requires numerous discharge measurements at all ranges of stage and streamflow.
What is meant by sediment load?
The sediment delivered to and transported by a stream is its sediment load. This can be classified into three types, depending on sediment size and the competence of the river.
Which of the following factors affect a stream’s flow velocity quizlet?
Gradient, cross-sectional shape, channel size and roughness, and discharge all affect a stream's flow velocity.
What is the relationship between moving water and its load?
The amount of sediment that a river carries is its load. Gravity and the force of the moving water cause the sediment load to start to move downstream. Most large sediment falls to the bottom and moves by rolling and sliding. Fast-moving water actually lifts sand and other small sediment, and carries it downstream.
Does velocity increase downstream?
Because river slope generally decreases in a downstream direction, it is generally supposed that velocity of flow also decreases downstream. Analysis of some of the large number of velocity measurements made at stream-gaging stations demonstrates that mean velocity generally tends to increase downstream.
What is the relationship between stream discharge and basin area?
Drainage Basins – Each stream in a drainage system drains a certain area, called a drainage basin (also called a catchment or a watershed). In a single drainage basin, all water falling in the basin drains into the same stream. A drainage divide separates each drainage basin from other drainage basins.
What is the stage discharge relationship?
1.3 The stage-discharge relationship. The relationship between the amount of water flowing at a given point in a river or stream (usually at gauging stations) and the corresponding stage is known as stage-discharge relationship or rating curve.
What is the relationship between river velocity and size of transported sediments?
The size of the particles that can be carried as suspended load is dependent on the flow rate 11. Larger particles are more likely to fall through the upward currents to the bottom, unless the flow rate increases, increasing the turbulence at the streambed.
How is a stream’s capacity related to its velocity quizlet?
A river's velocity affects competence, since when the velocity doubles, the competence quadruples. Velocity affects capacity through discharge, since the greater the volume of water in a stream is, the greater its capacity is for carrying sediment.
How does the velocity of a stream influence whether sediment in the stream will be eroded or deposited?
Anything smaller or larger requires a higher water velocity to be eroded and entrained in the flow. The main reason for this is that small particles, and especially the tiny grains of clay, have a strong tendency to stick together, and so are difficult to erode from the stream bed.
How does water move sediment in a stream?
They can be moved by saltation (bouncing) and by traction (being pushed along by the force of the flow). Smaller particles may rest on the bottom some of the time, where they can be moved by saltation and traction, but they can also be held in suspension in the flowing water, especially at higher velocities.
How does sediment change downstream?
A number of river characteristics change as you travel downstream. Firstly, sediment size decreases due to erosion, which causes sediment to get finer and smoother. This happens due to hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution which act on the sediment throughout the course of the river.
How does the velocity of a river increase downstream?
Velocity increases as more water is added to rivers via tributary rivers. This means that less of the water is in contact with the bed of the river and the mouth so there is less energy used to overcome friction. Hence rivers flow progressively faster on their journey downstream.
How does the area and velocity of a stream adjust in response to changes in discharge?
As the order of the stream increases, the discharge increases, the gradient decreases, the velocity increases, and the channel dimensions (width and depth) increase to accommodate the increased discharge.
What is the difference between stream discharge and stream stage?
For a given drainage system, there will be a maximum depth of water that the channel can hold without overflowing its banks. Stream stage (or water level) and streamflow (or discharge) are measured at locations called streamflow gaging stations. Stage is measured and recorded continuously by electronic instruments.
How does the velocity of moving water affect the transportation of sedimentary particles?
One of the key principles of sedimentary geology is that the ability of a moving medium (air or water) to move sedimentary particles and keep them moving is dependent on the velocity of flow. The faster the medium flows, the larger the particles it can move.
What is the relationship between the suspended load fragment size and stream velocity?
Suspended Load – particles that are carried along with the water in the main part of the streams. The size of these particles depends on their density and the velocity of the stream. Higher velocity currents in the stream can carry larger and denser particles.