| Term | Definition |
|---|
| alluvial | deposited by running water |
| bank | the sides of a river or stream between which the water normally flows |
| bed | (also called the river bed) is the bottom of the river (or other body of water) |
| brackish | water that is saltier than river water but less salty than sea water |
| channel | an area that contains flowing water confined by banks |
| channeled | grooved or cut deeply |
| delta | large, silty area at the mouth of a river at which the river splits into many different slow-flowing channels that have muddy banks |
| effluent | wastewater (like sewage water or factory runoff) that flows from a factory or other facility |
| estuary | area where a river meets the sea or ocran, where fresh water from the river meets salt water from the sea |
| headwater | streams and rivers (tributaries) that are the source of a stream or river |
| hydrologic cycle | another name for the water cycle |
| meander | something that follows a winding path |
| mouth | the end of a river, where it empties into a large body of water |
| rill | very small channel of water, caused mainly by runoff watern that eroded the soil |
| oxbow lake | stagnant lake that is formed alongside a winding river when the river changes patch because of soil erosion, leaving an abandoned stream channel, cut off from the rest of the river |
| riparian | located by the banks of a river, stream, or other body of water |
| river | large, flowing body of water that usually empties into a sea or ocean |
| riverbed | bottom of the river (or other body of water) |
| riverine | relating to, similar to, or formed by a river |
| runoff | water that drains into a river (or other body of water) from uncontrolled streams, drains, or sewage lines. There is runoff from agricultural irrigation water, snowmelt, storms, etc |
| salinity | amount of salt dissolved in water |
| sediment | small particles of soil or rocks that are transported by water or the wind |
| silt | very tiny particles of soil or rocks that are 3 to 60 micrometers in diameter |
| siltation | deposit or accumulation of very tiny soil particles (silt) |
| source | beginning of a stream or river |
| tributary | river or stream that flows into another stream, river, or lake |
| water cycle | natural cycle in which the sun's energy evaporates water into the atmosphere, and the water vapor condenses, returning to the Earth as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.) |
| waterfall | sudden drop in a river as it flows over a rock cliff. This happens when the river passes from a layer of hard rock to a layer of softer rock, and the water erodes away the softer rock |
| watershed | the land that drains water into a particular stream, lake, or river |
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