EARTHSC 2GG3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Oxbow Lake, Flood, Bed Load

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: EARTHSC 2GG3
• Professor: Mark Moscicki

Document Summary

Rivers are part of the hydrologic cycle. They transport water that has fallen onto land toward the oceans. If precipitation does not infiltrate into the soil, it flows along the surface (this is called runoff) Eventually, the runoff will reach a steam (if it does not evaporate first) Every river has a drainage basin (the area of surrounding land that is drained by that river) Drainage basins can also be defined for lakes. In that case, it is defined as the area of land that drains into that lake. Divides form the boundaries of drainage basins. A divide is a ridge of higher land that separates which way rivers flow. The continental divide is located along the spine of the rocky. It separates which ocean the stream and rivers will eventually drain into. It is determined by calculating the change in elevation over the distance the river flows. The slope of a river is shown on a longitudinal profile.