Body of waterA body of water is a significant accumulation of water on the surface of the earth. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where accumulated water moves from one place to another are also considered bodies of water.
StreamA stream is a continuous body of surface waterflowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The channel is a watercourse, although the watercourse may be seasonally or periodically dry. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. A long, large stream is usually called a river, while a smaller, less voluminous, and more intermittent stream is known as a creek or tributary, among other names.
Bank (geography)In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as "banks" in different fields of geography. In limnology, a "stream bank" or "river bank" is the terrain alongside the bed of a river, creek, or stream. The bank consists of the sides of the channel, backwater between which the flow is confined.
SeaA sea is a large body of salt water. The term has two distinct meanings. The first is the interconnected body of seawater that spans most of Earth, known as the sea or the ocean. The second is a named body of water: usually either a marginal sea (a second-order section of the oceanic sea such as the ), or a large, nearly landlocked body of water.
SandSand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e., a soil containing more than 85 percent sand-sized particles by mass.
LakeA lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from the ocean, although they may be connected with the ocean by outflowing rivers. Lakes, like other bodies of water, are part of the water cycle, the processes by which water moves around the Earth.
GeomorphologyBadlands incised into shale at the foot of the North Caineville Plateau, Utah, within the pass carved by the Fremont River and known as the Blue Gate.
OceanographyScientific study of the oceanThermohaline circulation.Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean' and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.
SeabedThe seabed is the bottom of the ocean. Alternatively, it is known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, or ocean bottom. The floor of all the world's oceans is known as the seabed. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of the ocean is very deep, where the seabed is known as the abyssal plain.
RidgeA ridge is a long, narrow, elevatedgeomorphologiclandform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, with the terrain dropping down on either side. The crest, if narrow, is also called a ridgeline. Limitations on the dimensions of a ridge are lacking.
Crest and troughA crest point on a wave is the highest point of the wave. A crest is a point on a surface wave where the displacement of the medium is at a maximum. A trough is the opposite of a crest, so the minimum or lowest point of the wave. When the crests and troughs of two sine waves of equal amplitude and frequency intersect or collide, while being in phase with each other, the result is called constructive interference and the magnitudes double (above and below the line).
Earth scienceEarth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres: the biosphere, hydrosphere/cryosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere (or lithosphere). Earth science can be generalized into planetary science, a more recent branch of science.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.