Parts of a Stream System

What is the beginning of a stream or river where runoff has cut a channel?

• Head

• Delta

• Mouth

• Canyon

What is a long, low area carved by a stream or glacier with higher areas on both sides? They can also range from narrow ones with steep cliffs on both sides to wide ones with broad, flat plains.

• Canyon

• Delta

• Valley

• Floodplain

What is a deep, steep-walled gorge carved in rock by a stream or glacier?

• Stream Channel

• Canyon

• Drainage Basin

• Tributary

What is all of the land drained by a river and its tributaries called?

• Stream Channel

• Floodplain

• Delta

• Drainage Basin

What is a stream that flows into a larger stream or river called?

• Valley

• Tributary

• Head

• Mouth

What is the course along which water moves called?

• Tributary

• Drainage Basin

• Stream Channel

• Floodplain

What is a flat plain created by the sediment dropped at the river's mouth called? It can also be bow shaped or like a bird's foot (triangular) shaped.

• Delta

• Head

• Valley

• Tributary

What is a flat area next to the stream and made up of loose sediment, such as silt called? The sediment is deposited when the stream overflows its banks.

• Stream Channel

• Floodplain

• Drainage Basin

• Delta

What is the point at which water from a river or stream empties into another body of water, such as a larger stream, lake, or ocean called?

• Head

• Stream Channel

• Canyon

• Mouth