River Systems

Condensation is often triggered as water vapor rising in the atmosphere

• cools.

• warms.

• contracts.

• breaks apart.

The continuous movement of water from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land, and back to the ocean is

• condensation.

• the water cycle.

• precipitation.

• evapotranspiration.

Which of the following drains a watershed?

• floodplains

• a recharge zone

• an artesian spring

• streams and tributaries

Like rivers, lakes have life cycles. Most lakes have short life cycles and eventually disappear. Which of the following conditions may cause a lake to disappear?

• when evaporation exceeds precipitation

• when precipitation exceeds evaporation

• when sediments are removed from the lake

• when a local water budget is balanced

What is the term for the wide curves whose development causes the formation of oxbow lakes?

• wanders

• bows

• meanders

• loops

The change of water vapor into liquid water is called

• runoff.

• desalination.

• evaporation.

• condensation

In a water budget, the income is precipitation and the expense is

• evapotranspiration and runoff.

• condensation and saltation.

• erosion and conservation.

• conservation and sedimentation.

The land area from which water runs off into a stream is called a

• tributary.

• divide.

• watershed.

• gully.

Tributaries branch out and lengthen as a river system develops by

• headward erosion.

• condensation.

• saltation.

• runoff

The stream load that includes gravel and large rocks is the

• suspended load.

• dissolved load.

• runoff load.

• bed load.