The textbook makes the point that stream transport is a mechanism for sorting material. Explain how a stream sorts rocks
What will be an ideal response?
Rocks move within a stream as Dissolved, Suspended, or Bed loads. Each of these modes of transport is based on a size and/or chemical property of the rocks and the velocity and turbulence of the water. If a rock can be easily dissolved in water then that mode of transport is likely and the rock will not be deposited until the stream encounters a suitable environment (either a chemical change or a velocity change or both) for precipitation of the dissolved material. Similarly, the material that can be transported in suspension is limited to particles that are small enough to stay in the moving water and they will be deposited when the velocity of the water is decreased enough that it can no longer carry the particles. The bed load can only be moved when there is sufficient velocity or turbulence in the water to move material. As a result of these different conditions for transport and deposition, it is likely that different sizes or chemical compositions will be deposited in different parts of a stream system so they will be sorted by their size and composition.
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A) 1.
B) 2.
C) 3.
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