Hydrologic Cycle
The circulation of water on and below Earth’s surface
Hydrologic cycle
Land area where streams drain into a main river
Drainage basin (watershed)
Drainage pattern that resembles the branches of a tree
Dendritic pattern
Smooth, slow-moving water with little mixing
Laminar flow
Invisible material carried in solution
Dissolved load
Surplus water flowing over Earth’s surface
Runoff
Boundary separating drainage basins
Divide
Drainage pattern controlled by faults or joints in bedrock
Rectangular pattern
Fast, chaotic flow that causes more erosion
Turbulent flow
Visible sediment carried within the water
Suspended load
Release of water vapor from plants into the atmosphere
Transpiration
Expansion of a river’s head due to erosion
Headward erosion
Drainage pattern that flows outward from a central high area
Radial pattern
Vertical drop of a river over a given distance
Gradient
Large rocks rolling along the stream bottom
Bed load
The combined processes of evaporation and transpiration
Evapotranspiration
River zone where erosion and deposition are roughly balanced
Zone of sediment transport
Drainage pattern formed by alternating bands of resistant and weak rock
Trellis pattern
Volume of water flowing past a point per unit time
Discharge
Jumping motion of sediment along the stream floor
Saltation
Water soaking into the ground
Infiltration
River zone where sediment is deposited and deltas form
Zone of sediment deposition
Most common drainage pattern on uniform material
Dendritic pattern
Stream that flows only after heavy rainstorms
Ephemeral stream
A stream’s ability to transport particles of a given size
Competence