Author Question: What are distributaries, and why do they form? What will be an ideal ... (Read 69 times)

fnuegbu

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What are distributaries, and why do they form?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Describe three basic flood control strategies.
 
  What will be an ideal response?



mrphibs

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Answer to Question 1

A distributary is a stream channel that branches off and flows away from the main channel. They form as deltas grow outward, and the stream's gradient continually lessens. This eventually causes the channel to become choked with sediment, and the river seeks a shorter, higher-gradient route to base level.

Answer to Question 2

Artificial levees are built to increase the volume of water a channel can hold, they are higher and steeper than the natural levees that border the channel. Flood control dams store floodwater and then let it out slowly, which lowers the flood crest by spreading it out over a long time span. Channelization is the alteration of a stream channel to speed up the flow velocity to prevent water level from reaching flood height.



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