Question

Below are listed the sinuosity indices of three streams. Rank them by the likely size and number of the bends in them by using their sinuosity index. Assume all three have the same down-valley length. (Put the one with the largest/most bends on top.)

Answer 1

To rank the streams by bend size and frequency, the sinuosity index is used, with a higher index indicating more or larger bends.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sinuosity index of a river or stream is a measure of how meandering a watercourse is. To rank streams by the likely size and number of bends, we look at their respective sinuosity indices. The river with the higher index has more bends and likely larger meanders. The index is calculated as the channel length divided by the down-valley length; when they have the same down-valley length, the one with the longer channel length indicates more or larger meanders.

1. Stream with highest sinuosity index: Contains the largest and/or most numerous bends.
2. Stream with the second highest sinuosity index: Contains fewer or smaller bends than the first but more than the third.
3. Stream with the lowest sinuosity index: Contains the least and/or smallest bends.