ENVIRSC 1G03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Suspended Load, Bed Load, Turbulence
12 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Water that falls within a particular area of a continent eventually reaches the ocean via rivers and their tributary streams. The total area drained is called the drainage basin . Drainage basin (watershed): the upstream area from which surface flows towards the channel. Drainage divide: topographic line or boundary separating watersheds. Leads to erosion by lifting particles from channel bottom and keeping them in suspension. Discharge- volume of water moving past a given point per unit time. Product of cross section area and stream velocity. Increasing cross sectional area or stream velocity will increase discharge. Dissolves load- dissolved load carried in solution in water (around 35% suspended load) Suspended load particles carried in suspension in flowing water. Bed load- particles dragged along stream bottom. If water is moving fast, the bed load gets bigger. Ripples and dunes form at right angles to the direction of water flow. Dunes and ripples form the same way in the desert.
