The bed of this stream is made up of rocks, some very rounded (having had a longer life in the stream) and some not.

A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream or river or creek; the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines (channel margins) during all but flood stage are known as the stream banks or river banks. In fact, a flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto its flood plain. As a general rule, the bed is that part of the channel just at the "normal" water line, and the banks are that part above the water line. However, because water flow varies, this differentiation is subject to local interpretation. Usually the bed is kept clear of terrestrial vegetation, whereas the banks are subjected to water flow only during unusual or perhaps infrequent high water stages, and therefore might support vegetation some or much of the time. Download high resolution version (1280x960, 369 KB)A shallow creek Taken by fir0002 File links The following pages link to this file: Stream Stream bed User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Categories: GFDL images ... Download high resolution version (1280x960, 369 KB)A shallow creek Taken by fir0002 File links The following pages link to this file: Stream Stream bed User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Categories: GFDL images ... A running stream. ... River running into Harrietville Trout Farm A river is a large natural waterway. ... Look up flood in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Floodplain. ... In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river or slough, consisting of a bed and banks. ...

The descriptive terms right bank and left bank always apply from the perspective of looking downstream (in the direction the current is going). A current is a movement or flow of fluids, especially water in a river or ocean. ...

The nature of any stream bed is always a function of the flow dynamics and the local geologic materials influenced by that flow. With small streams in mesophytic regions, the nature of the stream bed is strongly responsive to conditions of precipitation runoff. Where natural conditions of either grassland or forest ameliorate peak flows, streambeds are stable, possibly rich with organic matter, and exhibit minimal scour. These streams support a rich biota. Where conditions produce unnatural levels of runoff, such as occurs below roads, the streambeds will exhibit a greater amount of scour, often down to bedrock, and banks may be undercut. This process greatly increases watershed erosion and results in thinner soils upslope from the stream bed as the channel adjusts to the increase in flow. A labelled photomicrograph of a transection through a Prunus leaf (a typical mesophyte) Mesophytes are terrestrial plants which are adapted neither for a particularly dry or particularly wet environment. ... Runoff flowing into a stormwater drain Surface runoff is water, from rain, snowmelt, or other sources, that flows over the land surface, and is a major component of the water cycle[1][2]. Runoff that occurs on surfaces before reaching a channel is also called overland flow. ... An Inner Mongolian Grassland. ... Eucalyptus Forest at Swifts Creek in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. ...