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In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as banks in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongside the bed of a river, creek, or stream. [1] The bank consists of the sides of the channel, between ...
A levee (/ ˈlɛvi / or / ˈlɛveɪ /), [a][1] dike (American English), dyke (British English; see spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure used to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast. It is usually earthen and often runs parallel to ...
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. [2] In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word riparian is derived from Latin ripa, meaning "river bank".
Meander. A stream bed following a tilted valley. The maximum gradient is along the down-valley axis represented by a hypothetical straight coast channel. Meanders develop, which lengthen the course of the stream, decreasing the gradient. A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse.
Bank erosion is natural, but can be accelerated by humans. Bank erosion is the wearing away of the banks of a stream or river. This is distinguished from erosion of the bed of the watercourse, which is referred to as scour. The roots of trees growing by a stream are undercut by such erosion. As the roots bind the soil tightly, they form ...
Cut bank erosion and point bar deposition as seen on the Powder River in Montana. A cut bank, also known as a river cliff or river-cut cliff, is the outside bank of a curve (meander) in a water channel (stream), which is continually undergoing erosion. [1] Cut banks are found in abundance along mature or meandering streams, they are located ...
River ecosystems are flowing waters that drain the landscape, and include the biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions of its many parts. [1][2] River ecosystems are part of larger watershed networks or catchments, where smaller headwater streams ...
A point bar is a depositional feature made of alluvium that accumulates on the inside bend of streams and rivers below the slip-off slope. Point bars are found in abundance in mature or meandering streams. They are crescent-shaped and located on the inside of a stream bend, being very similar to, though often smaller than, towheads, or river ...