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Look up stream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill (occasionally ghyll), kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or runnel.

Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge, and corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity. The study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element of environmental geography.^[1]

Types[link]

Stream in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia

A rocky creek in Spearfish Canyon, US

Creek in Australia

Wyming Brook in Sheffield, UK

Brook in the Bay of Fundy, Canada

Creek in Italy

River

A large natural stream, which may be a waterway.

Creek

• In North America, Australia and New Zealand, a small to medium sized natural stream. Sometimes navigable by motor craft and may be intermittent.
• In parts of New England,^[2] the UK and India, a tidal inlet, typically in a salt marsh or mangrove swamp, or between enclosed and drained former salt marshes or swamps (e.g. Port Creek separating Portsea Island from the mainland). In these cases, the stream is the tidal stream, the course of the seawater through the creek channel at low and high tide.

Tributary

A contributory stream, or a stream which does not reach the sea but joins another river (a parent river). Sometimes also called a branch or fork.

Brook

A stream smaller than a creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep. It is usually small and easily forded. A brook is characterized by its shallowness and its bed being composed primarily of rocks.

Runnel

the linear channel between the parallel ridges or bars on a shoreline beach or river floodplain, or between a bar and the shore. Also called a swale.

Other names[link]

In the United Kingdom, there are several regional names for a stream:

• Beck is used in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Dumfriesshire and Cumbria.
• Bourne is used in the chalk downland of southern England (although strictly a bourne is wet in summer and dry in winter).
• Brook is used in the Midlands, Lancashire and Cheshire.
• Burn is used in Scotland and North East England.
• Nant is used in Wales.
• Stream is used in Southern England.
• Syke is used in lowland Scotland and Cumbria.
• Allt is used in Highland Scotland.

In North America:

• Kill in southern New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey comes from a Dutch language word meaning "riverbed" or "water channel", and can also be used for the UK meaning of 'creek'.
• Run in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, or Virginia can be the name of a stream.
• Branch, fork, or prong can refer to tributaries or distributaries that share the same name as the main stream, generally with the addition of a cardinal direction.
• Branch is also used to name streams in Maryland and Virginia.
• Falls is also used to name streams in Maryland. Little Gunpowder Falls and The Jones Falls are actually rivers named in this manner, unique to Maryland.
• Stream and brook are used in Midwestern states, Mid-Atlantic states and New England.
• Crick is used in some parts of the United States.

Parts of a stream[link]

Bar

A shoal that develops at the mouth of a river as sediment carried by the river is deposited as the current slows or is impedded by wave action. The Temperance River on Lake Superior's north shore is so named because it is one of the few rivers flowing into the lake that does not have a bar at its mouth.

Spring

The point at which a stream emerges from an underground course through unconsolidated sediments or through caves. A stream can, especially with caves, flow aboveground for part of its course, and underground for part of its course.

Source

The spring from which the stream originates, or other point of origin of a stream.

Headwaters

The part of a stream or river proximate to its source. The word is most commonly used in the plural where there is no single point source.

Confluence

The point at which the two streams merge. If the two tributaries are of approximately equal size, the confluence may be called a fork.

Bifurcation

A fork into two or more streams.

Run

A somewhat smoothly flowing segment of the stream.

Pool

A segment where the water is deeper and slower moving.

Riffle

A segment where the flow is shallower and more turbulent.

Channel

A depression created by constant erosion that carries the stream's flow.

Floodplain

Lands adjacent to the stream that are subject to flooding when a stream overflows its banks.

Stream bed

The bottom of a stream.

Gauging station

A point of demarkation along the route of a stream or river, used for reference marking or water monitoring.

Thalweg

The river's longitudinal section, or the line joining the deepest point in the channel at each stage from source to mouth.

Wetted perimeter

The line on which the stream's surface meets the channel walls.

Knickpoint

The point on a stream's profile where a sudden change in stream gradient occurs.

Waterfall or cascade

The fall of water where the stream goes over a sudden drop called a nickpoint; some nickpoints are formed by erosion when water flows over an especially resistant stratum, followed by one less so. The stream expends kinetic energy in "trying" to eliminate the nickpoint.

Mouth

The point at which the stream discharges, possibly via an estuary or delta, into a static body of water such as a lake or ocean.

Sources[link]

Small tributary stream, Diamond Ridge, Alaska

Creek in Perisher Ski Resort, Australia

Streams typically derive most of their water from precipitation in the form of rain and snow. Most of this water re-enters the atmosphere by evaporation from soil and water bodies, or by the evapotranspiration of plants. Some of the water proceeds to sink into the earth by infiltration and becomes groundwater, much of which eventually enters streams. Some precipitated water is temporarily locked up in snow fields and glaciers, to be released later by evaporation or melting. The rest of the water flows off the land as runoff, the proportion of which varies according to many factors, such as wind, humidity, vegetation, rock types, and relief. This runoff starts as a thin film called sheet wash, combined with a network of tiny rills, together constituting sheet runoff; when this water is concentrated in a channel, a stream has its birth.

Characteristics[link]

Ranking

To qualify as a stream it must be either recurring or perennial. Recurring (intermittent) streams have water in the channel for at least part of the year. A stream of the first order is a stream which does not have any other recurring or perennial stream feeding into it. When two first-order streams come together, they form a second-order stream. When two second-order streams come together, they form a third-order stream. Streams of lower order joining a higher order stream do not change the order of the higher stream. Thus, if a first-order stream joins a second-order stream, it remains a second-order stream. It is not until a second-order stream combines with another second-order stream that it becomes a third-order stream.

Gradient

The gradient of a stream is a critical factor in determining its character and is entirely determined by its base level of erosion. The base level of erosion is the point at which the stream either enters the ocean, a lake or pond, or enters a stretch in which it has a much lower gradient, and may be specifically applied to any particular stretch of a stream.

In geologic terms, the stream will erode down through its bed to achieve the base level of erosion throughout its course. If this base level is low, then the stream will rapidly cut through underlying strata and have a steep gradient, and if the base level is relatively high, then the stream will form a flood plain and meander.

Meander

Meanders are looping changes of direction of a stream caused by the erosion and deposition of bank materials. These are typically serpentine in form. Typically, over time the meanders gradually migrate downstream.

If some resistant material slows or stops the downstream movement of a meander, a stream may erode through the neck between two legs of a meander to become temporarily straighter, leaving behind an arc-shaped body of water termed an oxbow lake or bayou. A flood may also cause a meander to be cut through in this way.

Profile

Typically, streams are said to have a particular profile, beginning with steep gradients, no flood plain, and little shifting of channels, eventually evolving into streams with low gradients, wide flood plains, and extensive meanders. The initial stage is sometimes termed a "young" or "immature" stream, and the later state a "mature" or "old" stream. However, a stream may meander for some distance before falling into a "young" stream condition.

Stream Load

Streams can carry sediment, or alluvium. The amount of load it can carry (capacity) as well as the largest object it can carry (competence) are both dependent on the velocity of the stream.

Intermittent and ephemeral streams[link]

A perennial stream is one which flows continuously all year.^[3]:57 Some perennial streams may only have continuous flow in segments of its stream bed year round during years of normal rainfall.^[4][5]

Blue-line streams are perennial streams and are marked on topographic maps^[where?] with a solid blue line.

Intermittent stream[link]

In the United States, an intermittent or seasonal stream is one that only flows for part of the year and is marked on topographic maps with a line of blue dashes and dots.^[3]:57-58 A wash or desert wash is normally a dry streambed in the deserts of the American Southwest which flows only after significant rainfall. Washes can fill up quickly during rains, and there may be a sudden torrent of water after a thunderstorm begins upstream, such as during monsoonal conditions. These flash floods often catch travelers by surprise. An intermittent stream can also be called an arroyo in Latin America, a winterbourne in Britain, or a wadi in the Arabic-speaking world.

In Italy an intermittent stream is termed a torrent (Italian torrente). In full flood the stream may or may not be "torrential" in the dramatic sense of the word, but there will be one or more seasons in which the flow is reduced to a trickle or less. Typically torrents have Apennine rather than Alpine sources, and in the summer they are fed by little precipitation and no melting snow. In this case the maximum discharge will be during the spring and autumn. However there are also glacial torrents with a different seasonal regime.

In Australia, an intermittent stream is usually called a creek and marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line.

Ephemeral stream[link]

Generally, streams that flow only during and immediately after precipitation are termed ephemeral. There is no clear demarcation between surface runoff and an ephemeral stream.^[3]:58

Drainage basins[link]

The extent of land basin drained by a stream is termed its drainage basin (also known in North America as the watershed and, in British English, as a catchment).^[6] A basin may also be composed of smaller basins. For instance, the Continental Divide in North America divides the mainly easterly-draining Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean basins from the largely westerly-flowing Pacific Ocean basin. The Atlantic Ocean basin, however, may be further subdivided into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico drainages. (This delineation is termed the Eastern Continental Divide.) Similarly, the Gulf of Mexico basin may be divided into the Mississippi River basin and several smaller basins, such as the Tombigbee River basin. Continuing in this vein, a component of the Mississippi River basin is the Ohio River basin, which in turn includes the Kentucky River basin, and so forth.

See also[link]

• Chalk stream
• Lotic ecosystem
• Playfair's Law
• Rock-cut basin

References[link]

External links[link]

• Glossary of stream-related terms, StreamNet

Media related to Streams at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Streams at Wikiquote

v t e Rivers, streams and springs Rivers Alluvial river Braided river Blackwater river Channel (geography) Channel pattern Channel types Confluence Distributary Drainage basin Subterranean river River bifurcation River ecosystem River source Tributary more... Streams Arroyo (creek) Burn Chalk stream Coulee Current (stream) Gill (stream) Stream Stream bed Stream channel Stream gradient Stream pool Perennial stream Winterbourne (stream) more... Springs Geyser Sacred spring Hot spring Mineral spring Rhythmic spring Spring Spring horizon more... Sedimentary processes and erosion Abrasion (geology) Anabranch Aggradation Armor (hydrology) Bed load Bed material load Granular flow Debris flow Deposition (geology) Dissolved load Downcutting Erosion Headward erosion Knickpoint Palaeochannel Progradation Retrogradation Saltation (geology) Secondary flow Sediment transport Suspended load Wash load Water gap Fluvial landforms Ait Alluvial fan Antecedent drainage stream Avulsion (river) Bank (geography) Bar (river morphology) Bayou Billabong Canyon Chine Cut bank Estuary Fluvial terrace Gulch Gully Glen Meander scar Mouth bar Oxbow lake Riffle-pool sequence Point bar Ravine Rill River island Rock-cut basin Sedimentary basin Sedimentary structures Strath Thalweg River valley Wadi Fluvial flow Helicoidal flow International Scale of River Difficulty Meander Plunge pool Rapid Riffle Shoal Waterfall Whitewater Surface runoff Agricultural wastewater treatment Effluent First flush Urban runoff Wastewater Floods and stormwater 100-year flood Crevasse splay Flash flood Flood Flood barrier Flood control Flood forecasting Flood-meadow Floodplain Flood pulse concept Flooded grasslands and savannas Storm Water Management Model Return period River measurement and modelling Baer's law Baseflow Bradshaw model Discharge (hydrology) Drainage density Exner equation Groundwater model Hack's law Hjulström curve Hydrograph Hydrological modelling Hydrological transport model Infiltration (hydrology) Main stem Playfair's Law Relief ratio River continuum concept Rouse number Runoff curve number Runoff model (reservoir) Stream gauge Universal Soil Loss Equation WAFLEX Wetted perimeter Volumetric flow rate River engineering Aqueduct Balancing lake Canal Check dam Dam Drop structure Daylighting (streams) Detention basin Erosion control Fish ladder Floodplain restoration Flume Infiltration basin Leat Levee Retention basin Revetment Riparian zone restoration Stream restoration Weir River sports Canyoning Rafting River surfing Riverboarding Whitewater canoeing Whitewater kayaking Whitewater slalom Other topics Aquifer Aquatic toxicology Body of water Limnology Riparian zone River civilization River cruise Surface water World Rivers Day Lists of rivers Rivers by continent Rivers by length Rivers by discharge rate Drainage basins Whitewater rivers Flash floods River name etymologies

The Holidays
The Holidays
Background information
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Indie rock, Pop rock, Soul
Years active	2006 - present
Labels	Liberation (Australia), Rallye Label (Japan)
Website	Official Website Myspace
Members
Simon Jones Will Magnus Alex Kortt Andrew Kerridge

The Holidays are an Australian indie pop/soul band. Formed in Sydney in 2006, the band consists of Simon Jones, Will Magnus, Alex Kortt and Andrew Kerridge. The band is most notably known for their Australian Music Prize nominated debut album Post Paradise.

Biography[link]

The Holidays formed in late 2006 and quickly established themselves in the Sydney music scene as an upbeat, energetic addition. Simon Jones & Will Magnus had attended high school together, previously playing in cover bands in their schools' band competition. They were often up against the band Roger Explosion in these competitions, who went on to become the Australian electro-pop band Art vs. Science.

Within their first year as a band together, The Holidays toured with Jamie T,^[1] with The View,^[2] with Ben Kweller,^[3] and recorded an EP of demos which quickly sold out at gigs and received regular airplay on radio stations both in Australia^[4] and in the USA. In November 2007 The Holidays were featured on the Next Crop segment of national youth radio station Triple J,^[5] soon followed by their signing with independent Australian record label Liberation Music, in early 2008.

The Holidays released their debut EP on 19 April 2008 to positive reviews^[6] which was followed by a substantial national tour to promote the release. They released their second EP "When The Ship Goes Down" in October 2008, which showed the band's natural progression with song-writing. Recorded with Wayne Connolly of The Vines and Josh Pyke fame, this EP was followed by a 20 date national tour, co-headlining with Brisbane band Yves Klein Blue.

The Holidays' debut album Post Paradise soon followed, after several months of writing and experimenting. Drawn away from the simplicity of their earlier indie guitar manifestation, Post Paradise showed the bands development with both the groove and layers of a song, combined with their recognizable pop hooks. This album differed from previous recordings by The Holidays' in that it was self-produced and recorded in various locations around Sydney and New South Wales.

"Moonlight Hours", the first single from their debut album was taken to radio in November 2009, and added to high rotation on national youth radio station Triple J. "Golden Sky" was the second single from The Holidays debut album, released in May 2010, which was followed by an east coast tour of Australia to promote the release. There is a music video for both these singles, made by Melbourne company Moop Jaw.

"Post Paradise" was released in Australia on 24 September 2010, in conjunction with third single, Broken Bones, which was added to radio nationally. The album has received very positive reviews since its release, which included amongst other reviews, being shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize and winning the Red Bull Award for Best Debut Album. Post Paradise also received "Album of the Week" in Drum Media, Beat Magazine, BMA Mag & The Brag,^[7] 4.5 stars in The Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph & The Courier Mail, as well as positive reviews in The Age & The Sydney Morning Herald. Post Paradise won The Age Readers Choice Best Album of 2010,^[8] and was the Triple J Feature Album for the week commencing 26 December 2010.

The Holidays toured Post Paradise substantially in 2010 and 2011, including shows at SXSW in Austin, Texas, The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK, and Australian festivals including Groovin' the Moo, Laneway Festival and Splendour in the Grass. The Holidays' current live show incorporates a fifth touring member, David Zucker as percussionist, as well occasional backing vocalists.

Members[link]

• Simon Jones - Vocals, Guitar, Keys, Production
• Will Magnus - Lead Guitar, Keys
• Alex Kortt - Bass Guitar
• Andrew Kerridge - Drums, Percussion, Supreme Aficionado

Touring[link]

• Toured with Jamie T in May 2007
• Toured with The View in June 2007
• Toured with Ben Kweller in October 2007
• Played nationally at the 2008 St Jerome's Laneway Festival
• Toured with The Wombats in March 2008
• Toured with Lightspeed Champion in July 2008
• Played at Homebake 2008
• Played at Falls Festival 2008
• Toured with Bluejuice in April 2010
• Played at St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2011 across Australia
• Played at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March 2011
• Played at the Groovin' the Moo Festival across Australia in May 2011
• Toured with Cut Copy in Australia in May 2011
• Played at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, and Dot to Dot Festival across the UK in May 2011
• Played at Splendour In The Grass in August 2011.
• Played at the inaugural Harvest Festival in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane in November 2011 along with The Flaming Lips, Portishead and Tv on the Radio.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Post Paradise (Australia - 24 September 2010, Japan - January 2011)

EPs[link]