Skip to main content
Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Logo Penn State shield logo with links to Penn State homepage and College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Department of Geosciences

Department of

Geosciences

EARTH 111: Water: Science and Society

User account menu

  • Log in
  1. Home
  2. Lessons
  3. Unit 2: Physical Hydrology
  4. Module 3: Rivers and Watersheds

What is a Stream?

Picture of a dry stream bed.
Figure 16. Is this a stream?
Source: Brian Laub

A channel is generally classified as a stream based on the occurrence of several processes including Hydrological Processes, Geomorphological Processes, and Ecological Processes.

Book traversal links for What is a Stream?

  • ‹ Temporary vs. Perennial Streams
  • Up
  • Hydrological Process ›
Printer-friendly version

Search

Lessons

  • Lessons
    • Unit 1: Fresh Water: Scarcity or Surfeit?
    • Unit 2: Physical Hydrology
      • Module 3: Rivers and Watersheds
        • Goals and Objectives
        • Water Moves Through the Landscape
        • Channel Networks and Watersheds
        • Watersheds are Complex Systems
        • Streams
        • River Flow Changes Over Time
        • Hydrograph
        • River Flow Regimes
        • Temporary vs. Perennial Streams
        • What is a Stream?
        • Hydrological Process
        • Geomorphological
        • Ecological Processes
        • Flow Duration Curve
        • Rivers Come in Many Shapes and Sizes
        • Number of Channels and Sinuosity
        • Stream Power
        • Sizes of a River Channel
      • Module 4: Flood and Drought
      • Module 5: Dam it All!
      • Module 6: Groundwater Hydrology
      • Capstone Project Introduction
    • Unit 3: Social Science of Water

Course materials prepared by Michael Arthur and Demian Saffer, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, and Demian Saffer, University Park, Patrick Belmont, Utah State University.

Unless otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License(opens in a new tab), part of Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' OER Initiative and the Libraries’ Repository of Open and Affordable Materials (ROAM(opens in a new tab)).

The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences is committed to making its websites accessible to all users, and welcomes comments or suggestions on access improvements. Please send comments or suggestions on accessibility to the site editor. (opens email client).

The John A. Dutton Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence is the learning design unit of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University. About the Institute | Contact Us | Email the Site Editor. (opens email client)

© The Pennsylvania State University | Privacy | Non Discrimination | Accessibility | Equal Opportunity | Copyright