Observing Streams Lab 7

Observing Streams Lab 7 Observing Streams & Rivers in Google Earth This activity provides you with satellite views of stream and rivers on both Earth and Mars through the Google Earth application. You have been provided a .kmz file containing placemarks to guide you to the appropriate locations. For two of the terrestrial features (Oxbow Bend, WY and Horseshoe Bend, AZ), you are asked to view and interpret features in panoramic images (viewable on separate web pages and within Google Earth). You may need to consult your textbook to answer some of the questions about the features you observe. Terrestrial Rivers 1. Locate Oxbow Bend (part of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; this is included as a placemark in the 112-Homework-E file). Observe the feature in Google Earth: a. What type of river-channel is this, and how can you tell? b. Discuss briefly the processes of erosion and deposition that are occurring in this area and why they are happening. What is the eventual fate of Oxbow Bend? c. Is there any evidence of this particular process operating in the past along this portion of the Snake River? If so, describe the evidence (use key terms from your textbook; it will also be helpful to compare what you see on the image with diagrams in the book). 2. Open the Oxbow Bend panorama (either by double-clicking in Google Earth or via the webpage a. Consider the processes of erosion and deposition you observed in Question 1: what evidence of these processes can you find in the panorama? b. Describe the Snake River plain as seen in the panorama: the river plain extends from the foreground out to the base of the Tetons in the distance. What landforms are present? 3. Locate Horseshoe Bend (near Page, AZ), which is part of the Colorado River east of theGrand Canyon. (Panorama at a. First, explore this part of the Colorado River in Google Earth and describe the type ofriver- channel present. How is this river similar or different to the portion of the Snake River you observed in Questions 1 and 2? b. Second, examine the landforms of Horseshoe Bend. What type of feature is prominent here? How is it similar and different to Oxbow Bend? c. Examine the panorama. Describe the Colorado River and the canyon as observed in the panorama: What does this suggest about the geologic history of this part of Arizona compared to the portion of Wyoming observed earlier? 4. Find the location in Russia where the Volga River enters the Caspian Sea. a. What type of landscape feature is this and how does it form? b. Include a simple sketch of the feature. Answer: 5. Find Mount Shasta in California. a. What drainage pattern is present here? Include a sketch of this pattern. 6. Go to the placemark: Ozarks - Little Missouri. a. What kind of drainage pattern is here? To see the streams clearly, it might help to open this image in Google maps (icon to the far right on the toolbar) and turn on the terrain layer. b. What underlying geologic formations do you suspect are present due to this drainage pattern? 7. Go to the placemark: Sipsey Wilderness. a. What kind of drainage pattern is this? How did this drainage pattern get its name? b. Include a sketch of this type of drainage pattern 8. Go to the placemark: Coba ruinas a. This area gets the about the same rainfall as Alabama. Where are the rivers? b. Based on this information, what do you know about the underlying geology of this place? 9. Locate the feature Warrego Valles. This question is best answered using a “eye alt” of about 120 miles What type of drainage does this appear to be - and what implications does this have for the formation of Warrego Valles? 10. Locate the Eberswalde area on Mars. Name and describe 4 features you see here. Why is this site a good candidate for exploration?