Lab 3: Fluvial processes and landforms

Introduction

In this lab, you will explore various fluvial processes and landforms on Google Earth. To get started, download the associated Lab3.kmz file from Avenue to Learn and open it in Google Earth. You should see all the stops associated with this lab.

There are four locations that will be explored in this lab: the upper Columbia River in British Columbia, the Tagliamento in Italy, rivers in Egypt, and the Purus River in Brazil. You will be asked to identify river patterns, specific landforms, and perform some calculations using tools available in Google Earth. The final question allows you to independently explore rivers and identify fluvial features on the Earth’s surface.

Tasks

1) Columbia River, British Columbia (4 pts)

a) Fly to the Columbia River marker. What type of river pattern is seen at this stop? (1 pt)

b) Describe the conditions that favour the development of this river planform? (3 pts)

2) The Tagliamento, Italy (17 pts)

a) Fly to the Tagliamento Stop 1. What type of river pattern is seen at this stop? (1 pt)

b) Describe the four conditions that are required to have the river planform identified at Stop 1 (4 pts) and comment on the primary sediment source for this river? (1 pt)

c) Fly to the Tagliamento Stop 2. What type of river pattern is seen at this stop? (1 pt)

d) Identify the depositional feature seen at Stop 2. (1 pt) Briefly describe the processes that lead to its formation (3 pts)

e) Turn on the Borders and Labels layer and notice the Friuli-Venezia Giulia border line. Comment on how the border line location matches river path and discuss the origin of any discrepancies. (2 pts)

f) Fly to the Tagliamento Stop 3. What type of fluvial feature is seen here? (1 pt) Briefly describe how this feature formed. (3 pts)

3) Egypt (7 pts)

a) Fly to the Egypt Stop 1. Observe the drainage pattern visible at this stop. What type of hydrologic regime would you expect these rivers to have given their geographic location? (1 pt)

b) Fly to the Egypt Stop 2. Name this culturally and historically important river (1 pt) and identify its base level (1 pt)

c) What type of hydrologic regime is this river? (1 pt)

d) Explore the hydrologic origin of this river and explain why the answer to (c) is different than that of (a) even though the rivers in Stop 1 feed into the river at Stop 2. (2 pts)

e) Fly to the Egypt Stop 3. Identify the landform at this stop (1 pt)

4) Purus River, Brazil (12 pts)

a) Fly to the Puris River Stop 1. What fluvial feature is seen here?  (1 pt) Briefly describe how this feature formed. (3 pts)

b) Calculate the channel sinuosity of the Purus River between Stop 2 and Stop 3. Show all your work. (2 pts)

c) Calculate the average meander wavelength of the Purus River between Stop 2 and Stop 3. Show all your work. (3 pts)

d) Calculate the average radius of curvature of bends along the Purus River between Stop 2 and Stop 3. Show all your work. (3 pts)

5) Find a Landscape Example (5 pts)

Explore Google Earth on your own and find an example of a fluvial landform located on a continent not already explored in this lab (i.e., outside North America, South America, Europe, and Africa). Identify the landform (1 pt) and briefly explain its formation. (2 pts) Include a properly formatted image with your answer. (2 pts)