When does a stream become a river? |
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| Authors: | Jonathan A Czuba George H Allen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA;2. Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA |
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| Abstract: | The distinction between a “stream” and “river” is imprecise and vague despite the popular usage of the terms across disciplines for describing flowing waterbodies. Based on an analysis of named flowing waterbodies in the continental United States, we suggest a bank-to-bank channel width of 15 m as a working threshold in defining smaller “streams” from larger “rivers.” |
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| Keywords: | channel width river river definition river versus stream stream stream definition |
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