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Headward erosion is erosion at the origin of a stream channel, which causes the origin to move back away from the direction of the stream flow, lengthening the stream channel. [1] It can also refer to the widening of a canyon by erosion along its very top edge, when sheets of water first enter the canyon from a more roughly planar surface above ...
Downcutting, also called erosional downcutting, downward erosion or vertical erosion, is a geological process by hydraulic action that deepens the channel of a stream or valley by removing material from the stream's bed or the valley's floor. The speed of downcutting depends on the stream's base level, the lowest point to which the stream can ...
As erosion of the knickpoint and the streambed continues, the head cut will migrate upstream. [3] Groundwater seeps and springs are sometimes found along the face, sides, or base of a head cut. [4] [5] Channel incision is very common when head cuts are involved in stream morphology. In terms of stream restoration, head cuts are one of the most ...
In-stream gravel mining is also well documented as a cause of river incision. Stable material on the river bed mitigate erosion, [10] removing this armoring layer of gravel, boulders, etc. exposes the channel bed to the erosive force of the water. "On the Russian River near Healdsburg, California, instream pit mining in the 1950s and 1960s ...
Stream capture by headward erosion, leaving a wind gap. Stream capture, river capture, river piracy or stream piracy is a geomorphological phenomenon occurring when a stream or river drainage system or watershed is diverted from its own bed, and flows down to the bed of a neighbouring stream. This can happen for several reasons, including:
All large rivers, and most small ones, have channels that are usually lined with alluvium, sediment that was carried to that channel reach by the river and that eventually will be carried farther downstream. [3] This lining of alluvium creates a protective shield over the bedrock, which means it takes a much greater stream power to carve the ...
Stream flow keeps these suspended materials, such as clay and silt, from settling on the stream bed. Suspended load is the result of material eroded by hydraulic action at the stream surface bordering the channel as well as erosion of the channel itself. Suspended load accounts for the largest majority of stream load (Strahler and Strahler, 2006).
Erosion – Natural processes removing soil and rock Downcutting – Process of deepening a stream channel by erosion of the bottom material; Saltation (geology) – Particle transport by fluids; Suspension (chemistry) – Heterogeneous mixture of solid particles dispersed in a medium