Link to USGS home page
USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS
Coastal & Marine Geology InfoBank

USGS CMG InfoBank: Hydraulic Action

Skip navigational links
Search InfoBank
Home tab FACS tab Activities tab Atlas tab Geology School tab More tab More tab Geology School tabs
   
Dictionaries: The USGS and Science Education   USGS Fact Sheets   Topics   Keywords   Data Dictionary   Metadata Dictionary   Computer Terminology   Digital Formats
InfoBank Terms: Activity ID   activity overview   crew   formal metadata   lines   metadata   NGDC   port stops   project/theme   region   ship   stations   time   virtual globe   year  
Data Types: bathymetry   geodetic positioning   gravity   ground penetrating radar   imagery   LIDAR   magnetics   metering equipment   navigation   samples   seismic   definitions disclaimer  
Data Formats: ARC coverage   E00   FGDC metadata   gridded/image   imaging   material   scattered/swath   Shapefile   vector/polygon  
   
Comment: 05:46 - 06:18 (00:32)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 19. Running Water I: Rivers, Erosion and Deposition

Keywords: "James Sadd", river, stream, turbulence, discharge, sediment, "hydraulic action", "river channel", bedrock, "flow velocity"

Our transcription: The first of these is "hydraulic action."

The turbulence of a rapidly flowing stream applies vertical forces that can lift sedimentary grains off of the bottom.

The flowing current also pushes against these particles and carries them downstream.

If you've ever waded across a river and felt the sandy bottom moving beneath your feet, you've experienced hydraulic action first hand.

The faster the river flows, the greater the turbulence, and the swirling flow of a very rapid stream can even wrench chunks of fractured bedrock off of the channel bottom.

Geology School Keywords

Skip footer navigational links


InfoBank   Menlo Park & Santa Cruz Centers   St. Petersburg Center   Woods Hole Center   Coastal and Marine Geology Program   Geologic Information   Ask-A-Geologist   USGS Disclaimer  

FirstGov button   Take Pride in America button