Cass County
Soil Conservation District

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Definitions of Terms

Banks - Banks are the sides of a river or stream between which the water normally flows.

Bar - Coarse grained deposit of sediment from a stream or ocean currents.

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

Channel - A channel is an area that contains flowing water confined by banks.

Delta - A delta is a large, silty area at the mouth of a river at which the river splits into many different slow-flowing channels that have muddy banks. New land is created at deltas. Deltas are often triangular-shaped, hence the name (the Greek letter 'delta' is shaped like a triangle).

Erosion - The removal of weathered sediment or rocks by the forces of wind, water, and ice.

Flood Plain – The flat area on either side of a river channel

Fluvial - Involving running water. Usually pertaining to stream processes.

Headwaters - Headwaters are streams and rivers (tributaries) that are the source of a stream or river.

Inside bend - On the inside of the bend, where the river flow is slower, material is deposited.

Meander - Sinuous shaped stream channel. Usually found in streams flowing over a very shallow elevation grade.

Mouth - The mouth is the end of a river, where it empties into a large body of water.

Outside bend - The force of the water erodes and undercuts the river bank on the outside of the bend where water flow has most energy.

Oxbow lake - An oxbow lake is a stagnant lake that is formed alongside a winding river when the river changes path because of soil erosion, leaving an abandoned stream channel, cut off from the rest of the river.

Point Bar - Stream bar deposit that is normally located on the inside of a channel bend.

Riparian - Riparian means located by the banks of a river, stream, or other body of water.

River - A long narrow channel of water that flows as a function of gravity and elevation across the Earth's surface. Many rivers empty into lakes, seas, or oceans.

Riverbed - A riverbed is the bottom of the river (or other body of water).

Source - The source is the beginning of a stream or river.

Stream Channel - Long trough-like depression that is normally occupied by the water in a stream.

Tributary - A tributary is a river or stream that flows into another stream, river, or lake.