Watersheds

Vocabulary Snapshots

watershed

• The land area that supplies a river system• A.K.A drainage basin

elevation

• Level of height above sea level

Topographical map

• A map that uses contour lines to show the changing elevations of an area on the Earth’s surface

• A.K.A. relief map

Divide

• A ridge of land that separates one watershed from another

headwaters

• The many small streams that come together at the source (start of river)

tributary

• A smaller stream that feeds into a main river

Flood plain

• A broad flat valley through which a river flows

sediments

• The particles of rocks and soil are broken off from the ground surface and carried away

erosion

• The process by which fragments of soil and rock are broken off from the ground and carried away

Deposition

• The process by which soil and rock are deposited in a new location

meander

• A looping curve formed in a river as it winds through its flood plain

Oxbow lake

• the crescent-shaped, cutoff body of water that remains after a river carves a new channel

mouth

• The point where the river flows into another body of water

delta

• The area of sediment deposits that build up near a river’s mouth