Hydrologic Cycle and Reservoirs

• The hydrologic cycle consists of processes (evaporation, precipitation,

runoff, infiltration) and reservoirs (oceans, lakes, clouds, etc…)
 Drainage Basin
• Land area that contributes water to the stream
• Divide = imaginary line separating one basin from another
Nesting drainage basins
 Drainage pattern
the drainage pattern is the pattern of the interconnected network of
streams in an area
• It depends on
– the type of rocks eroded
– the orientation of the rock structures
– the geologic processes acting in the same drainage area
Examples of drainage patterns
Gotel Mountains along the border between
Nigeria and Cameroon
 Drainage density
A measure of how many branches of stream are in a
given area
– Rocks easy to erode have many stream branches → high
drainage density.
– Porous rocks have few branches (water is absorbed)
 Discharge Q
The discharge is the
volume of water
moving past a
given point in a
certain amount of
time.

Average Discharge at Mouth

River Country
(cubic feet per second)

Amazon Brazil 7,500,000

Congo Congo 1,400,000
Yangtze China 770,000
Ganges India 660,000
Mississippi USA 611,000
 Stage
• Discharge is related to the level/height of the stream = STAGE
– Discharge may change, depending on the amount of water
delivered to the stream
– For any given stream, the higher the discharge, the higher the
level of the water!
 Gaging stations
• A gaging station is a monitoring station that
collects data about the level of the water in
the river and other parameters like
conductivity, temperature, etc.

Examples of gaging stations

 Movement of water
in the stream:
Turbulent flow
Smooth channel

In a rugged channel with a steep

slope water flows chaotically but
overall, slowly
Energy used to erode the channel
 Laminar flow
Smooth channel → water flows faster
Water finds no obstacles but some friction between
water layers.
Faster water flows on the surface
 Evolution of a River along its longitudinal profile
• Along its course, the river evolve through stages
Headwaters the
river starts here!
Mouth or base level
the river ends here
Erosion dominant Deposition dominant
 Headwaters
• where the river “begins”
• It can be one or more springs, a lake, a glacier, anywhere water
is steadily present and flowing downhill

Headwaters of the Mississippi

 Youthful/degradational stage
– Near headwaters→ high energy erosion directed
downward forming a steep V-shaped valley
– Erosion is dominant
– Turbulent flow with rapids and waterfalls (white water)

Yellowstone River upper course

 Balanced/mature stage: Wide Stream Valleys
– Gradient of slope decreases
– Downward erosion is less dominant
– Stream channel form prominent meanders
– Erosion is directed side-to-side → the valley (lowland) becomes
wider to side forming a floodplain.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA by Q T Luong terragalleria.com

 Meanders
A meander forms because of turbulence, all stream channels form
meanders
In the balanced/mature stage the river forms pronounced
meanders that erode the outer banks and widen the valley
POINT BAR: water moves slowly →less energy → deposition
CUT BANK fast moving water → more energy → erosion
 Meander evolution and oxbow lakes
When the two eroding section of the meander face each others,
the meander loop is cut out and forms an oxbow lake
Meandering through the ages, the rivers
design their own floodplain
The Mississippi from satellite and its
representation in a geologic map

The Mississippi, many

meanders ago…
 Aggradational stage: very low gradient
• Stream at lowest gradient
• Low energy, the channel breaks down in many smaller
channels, taking up a typical braided appearance
– A braided stream can also form at the mouth of a glacier
Braided River in New Zealand
File:Waimakariri01 gobeirne.jpg
Braided @aggradational stage, the Yellowstone River near its
base level with the Missouri River in North Dakota
 Base level a.k.a. the terminal stage
• Terminal stage (base level) is the lowest elevation at which the running
water can flow, erode and transport load, it is also called the river
mouth
– At this stage, the stream deposits all the sediments it carries
• The ultimate base level is the sea level

• A relative base level can be a lake, or a dam. Burke Lake is formed by a

dam on South Run, a tributary stream of the Potomac River
Evolution of the Mississippi delta during the past 6000 years
 The works of the River

• Water erodes, transports and deposits

• The intensity of the action depends on velocity of water and
size of the particles
Stream erosion
The stream channel (→ valley) is an erosional feature
The Potomac River @ Great Falls NP

The Grand Canyon of

the Colorado River
TRANSPORT → LOAD
• the stream’s transported sediment can be of 3 types
dissolved (ions) , suspended (finest particles, makes
water discolored/cloudy), bed load (pebbles, heavy
particles)
• Capacity is the maximum load a stream can
transport.
• Competence refers to the size of the material
transported
Suspended load at the mouth of the Mississippi

Suspended load makes

the water look discolored

Mississippi Delta
 DEPOSITION
• When stream velocity decreases competence (size of load) is reduced →
sediment drops down in a well sorted sequence

bar is an elevated region of

sediment (such as sand or gravel)
that has been deposited by the
flow.

Mid channel bar

Point bar
Point bar forms in the inner side of
the channel
 Alluvial fans
• Some streams have water only during certain times of the
years, the delta forms on land on a plain instead on into a body
of water
• Alluvial fans called bajadas form at the mouth of canyons from
the debris transported by such streams
– They are a form of mass wasting!
 Streams and sea level change
The stream profile is adjusted to the base level
If the sea level changes → the base level changes
• If the sea level drops, the coastline moves offshore, the
streams erodes downward to reach the new base level
• Meanders became narrower → Stream terraces form
• the patterns of erosion-transport-deposition will change
• Formation of River Terraces
 Stream/River Terraces

• Remnants of a former floodplain

• River has adjusted to a relative drop in base level by
down-cutting.

The US capitol is built

on a river terrace
 Flood

• When discharge is more

than channel manage the
river goes into flood
• The floodplain is created by
the river to manage the
discharge
• Flood is the natural way in
which the river manages
the excess of discharge sent
by the water cycle!
 The Natural Levee of a River
Levees are elongate ridges of mud
and/or silt that form on the river
floodplains immediately adjacent
to the river banks.
The levee grows from repeated floods
The Mississippi
 Types of flood: Regional Flood
• Seasonal: it is controlled by
– precipitation intensity/duration
– rate of melting of snow
– ground saturation
• Builds up fast (days), slow to recede
(weeks to months!)
• It covers large areas = regional
 Types of flood: Flash Flood
• Limited areal extent
• Develops fast:
– Amount + intensity of precipitation
– Surface conditions
• Steep slopes – mountainous areas
• Urbanized ground
 Case study: Big Thompson Canyon CO
• Big Thompson River is a youthful stream with headwaters in
the Rock Mountains
area affected by several destructive flash floods- 1976, 2013
most notable.

Canyon topography 1000ft

Big Thompson drainage basin
• 2013 Flood footage
 URBAN flash flood
Flash flood can happen also
• on floodplains were where farmland or urban development
has quickly replaced natural vegetation there is increases soil
erosion and stream deposition
• In highly urbanized areas, where cement cover prevents water
from being absorbed in the ground

Constitution Ave. And Canal Road, DC July 2019

 Urbanization and flash flood
Urbanization covers the ground with impermeable
infrastructures and structures → the ground cannot absorb
runoff water
Reduces the lag time of flood (time precipitation to flood)

Urban lag time

 Hurricane related floods
• Coastline hazard ( forthcoming lecture)
studying flood hazard: monitoring
studying flood hazard: hazard maps
 Mitigation by engineering:
Flood control structures
• Engineering efforts Louisiana

• Artificial levees
• Flood-control dams
• Channelization

Arroyo Seco, Los Angeles Lake Braddock Dam, VA

 Mitigation by land use planning:
Flood plain management
• Choosing to develop land based on the natural surface process occurrence
and intensity:
• Positioning farming and recreational in the flood plain
– Residential and more critical infrastructures on river terraces
How many river related features can you identify in this image?