Karst, terrain usually characterized by barren, rocky ground, caves, sinkholes, underground rivers, and the absence of surface streams and lakes. It results from the excavating effects of underground water on massive soluble limestone.

Majority of earth’s water is locked up in the salt water oceans, but of the freshwater, 74.5% is stored in ice, 25% is in groundwater, . 3% is in lakes, . 06% is in soil, . 04% is in the atmosphere, and .

What do geologists investigate if they are interested in a stream’s bed load? Capacity is the maximum load of solid particles a stream can transport per unit of time, whereas competence is a measure of a stream’s ability to transport particles based on size rather than quantity.

What factors cause water to follow the paths shown in the above diagram? Water that enters the groundwater at the recharge areas moves downward due to gravity and then loops upward to the discharge areas due to water pressure.

Why do V-shaped valleys often contain rapids and waterfalls? In many V-shaped valleys, resistant bedrock upstream creates rapids by acting as a local base level while downcutting occurs in less resistant bedrock downstream. As the stream meanders, it widens the valley by continuously eroding the banks on both sides.

Rectangular drainage patterns

Rivers are split up into three parts: the upper course, the middle course, and the lower course. The upper course is closest to the source of a river. The land is usually high and mountainous, and the river has a steep gradient with fast-flowing water.

The bed (also called the river bed) is the bottom of the river (or other body of water).

channel

Water from Lake Itasca, Minnesota, dribbles down these rocks to form the source of the Mississippi River. The place where a river begins is called its source. River sources are also called headwaters. Rivers often get their water from many tributaries, or smaller streams, that join together.

The middle part of a river is called a mature river. A mature river makes a riverbed that is U-shaped. It might be very deep and run fast.

The main factor is energy. The Mississippi is a very curvy, knowns as meandering, river. As the water flows through each of these meanders, there is a difference in the rate of flow between the inside and the outside of the meander. This allows for the growth of meanders and the change in shape for the river.

Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater. The mixture of seawater and fresh water in estuaries is called brackish water and its salinity can range from 0.5 to 35 ppt.