Side Valley - Basic Facts of Geomorphology

Basic Facts of Geomorphology

However, the term "side valley" is used rather for higher order valleys near the mountains (example above: the Pennines), for the lower valleys often do not show a drastic relief. The reason is a simple one: The "mainstem river" (into which the secondary river flows) passes much more water than its tributaries and therefore

  • has a lower current (see Hydrology)
  • much more fine sediments
  • which are deposed in a more flat matter.

The higher the order of a valley, the steeper usually are the hillsides resp. valley slopes. Looking upstream, the steepest slopes are normally near the source of a brook (with the exception of very hard rocks in downstream direction).

Read more about this topic:  Side Valley

Famous quotes containing the words basic and/or facts:

    Good shot, bad luck and hell are the five basic words to be used in a game of tennis, though these, of course, can be slightly amplified.
    Virginia Graham (b. 1912)

    I’m not afraid of facts, I welcome facts but a congeries of facts is not equivalent to an idea. This is the essential fallacy of the so-called “scientific” mind. People who mistake facts for ideas are incomplete thinkers; they are gossips.
    Cynthia Ozick (b. 1928)