Natural Disasters Exam 2

A higher than usual stream discharge that has a 1 percent probability of occurring in any given year. The water level of this flood has been arbitrarily selected to define the regulatory floodplain for the US National Flood Insurance Program

The shape of a flowing stream as viewed from above. (birds eye view). the three most common shapes or patterns are straight, meandering, and braided

The process of returning a stream and adjacent areas to a more natural state

Engineering technique to straighten, widen, eepen, or otherwise modify a natural stream channel

Quantity of water flowing past a particular point on a stream, usually measured in cubic feet per second or cubic meters per second

Area that contributes surface water to a particular stream network

Overbank flow that results from a rapid increase in stream discharge; commonly occurs in the upstream part of a drainage basin and in small tributaries downstream

From a hazards perspective, high water levels in a stream, lake, or ocean that may damage human facilities. As a natural process, overbank flow that may construct a floodplain adjacent to a stream channel or a higher than normal water level along a coast that extends inland beyond the beach

Flat topography adjacent to a stream produced by oberbank flow and by lateral migration of the channel and associated sand or gravel bars

Governmental restriction of land use in an area likely to be inundated by a stream's overbank flow that could damage buildings and infrastructure

A mound of embankment parallel to a stream channel; it may consist of fine sediment deposited from oberbank flow during a flood or be an earthen embankment constructed by humans to protect adjacent land from flooding

The time between natural events, such as floods or earthquakes. Commonly given as the average recurrence interval, which is dertermined by averaging a series of intervals between events

A large, natural stream that carries a considerable volume of flowing surface water

Slow downslope movement of soil and other weakly consolidated earth materials; characterized by slow flowing, sliding, or slipping

Rapid downslope meovement of unconsolidated, water saturated earth material that became unstable because of torrential rain, rapid melting of snow and ice, or sudden drainage of a pond or lake; sometimes restricted to flows of this type that contain mainly coarse material