Create a virtual fluvial landform tour in Google Earth (Web) that includes:

1. Ten(10) fluvial landforms in listed order (refer to Table 8.2). Each landform will be a stop on the tour, and
2. A detailed description of how each landform formed with clear evidence and observations. Consider any human interference or land use near the landform.

Some background research may be required to find good locations of various fluvial landforms. Locations must not replicate examples in the Instructional Tour.

Step 1: Create Project

Open Google Earth (Web). From the Projects menu on the left of the screen, select New Project. In the drop-down options, select Create KML file. Click on the pencil icon to edit the title to include your last name, then first name, student number, and lab number (e.g., <Doe Ximena c0453993 L19>). The Project will be the basis of the Guided Fluvial Landform Tour.

Step 2: Familiarize Yourself With Google Earth (Web)

In particular, learn to:

• Navigate in Google Earth (Web) with the tools available on the bottom right of the screen:
  • Zoom in and out using the – and +
  • View imagery in 2D or 3D
  • Change the cardinal direction of your view using the compass arrow
• Create New Feature. If you would like a demonstration, watch the video Google Earth Tutorial: Adding Features [YouTube]. There are lots of icons available to customize placemarks, lines, or shapes. Learn to use:
  • Add Placemark to add a point in the tour; and
  • Draw line or shape to clearly outline, identify and sketch the landform.

Step 3: Finding each fluvial landform

If you know where to find the first feature (a braided stream), zoom to it manually, or else use the Search tool on the left of the screen (type in the place name or coordinates (Lat/Long) and press <Enter> on your keyboard).  (see Table 8.1).

Identify the examples of the fluvial landform you find as follows:

Note: Landforms #2-5 and #6-8 can be all at in the same vicinity.

1. Braided stream (Feature #1) –  draw a bright orange  outline around a section of river in the field of view that is braided with no fill.
   • Try to find a location around the world that you can find features 2, 3, & 4 all in one area to make a clear screenshot.
2. Meandering stream (Feature #2),  – trace the path of the thalweg bright orange  around at least two meanders
3. Point bar (trace the point bar, #3) – outline the pointbar with a bright orange  closed shape with no fill
4. Cut bank (trace the cut bank, #4) – outline the cut bank by tracing a line along it in bright orange 
   • Try to find a location around the world that you can find features 5 in the same or new area
5. Neck (draw a line between the two meanders to distinguish the neck in bright orange , #5)
   • Try to find a location around the world that you can find features #6 & #7 in the same area
6. Cut off (draw a line along the location where a meander has been cut off from the stream in bright orange , #6)
7. Oxbow lake (outline the oxbow lake in bright orange , #7)
   • Try to find a location around the world that you can find features #8 for a single clear screenshot
8. Meander scar (outline the meander scar in bright orange  #8)
   • Try to find a location around the world that you can find features #9 for a single clear screenshot
9. Delta (outline the boundary of the delta in bright orange , Feature #9)
   • Try to find a location around the world that you can find features #10 for a single clear screenshot
10. Fluvial fan (outline the boundary of the fan in bright orange , Feature #10).

Follow the instructions below to create new features.

Step A: To add a stop to your tour, click on New Feature.

Step B: Select Draw line or shape to outline the landform, and click on the map. Each fluvial landform must be carefully outlined to demonstrate your understanding.

Step C: In the Save to project box, type the name of the landform and your last name (e.g., Meander scar, Doe) into the Place title box.

Step D: Click Edit place. Select an appropriate colour with at least 4px size border. Do not include shading within the shape. Set fill colour to 0%. Adding fill colour will make it difficult for your instructor to view your landform.

Step E: Repeat steps A – E for each of the 11 features. Note that Google Earth (Web) autosaves your work; you do not need to manually save the Project at any point.

 

Table 8.2. Order of landforms, what to look for in Google Earth (Web) and checklist.

Feature #	Landform	What to Look For	Check
1	Braided stream	Multiple channels. No or little (young) vegetation on islands commonly shaped like rounded diamonds of gravel or sand between channels. High sediment load. Most originate from glaciated areas; can form in other settings downstream from large quantities of sediment such as volcanoes. Often found downstream of terrain that experiences significant erosion, including mountain ranges. Can occur in low-gradient areas with abundant fine sediments like deserts. Common pattern on alluvial fans.
2	Meandering stream	Streams channel resembles snake-like (sinuous) pattern with a series of broad loops. Mid-channel bars (islands) are uncommon and have established vegetation. Streams migrate laterally by sediment erosion on the outside bend of the meander and deposition on the inside of the bend. Numerous oxbow lakes and abandoned channels may be located in the floodplain surrounding the stream.
3	Point bar	Located inside of the meander. Gently slope towards the water edge. Obvious sediment accumulation when stream level is low, has little to no vegetation, and appear light-coloured.
4	Cut bank	Located at outside edge of the meander. No deposited sediment. Often a steep slope between the stream edge and surrounding vegetation on the flood plain. Narrow band or no light-coloured sediment exposed.
5	Neck	Locations where two cut banks on meanders are narrowing the distance between two meanders.
6	Cut off	Straight new stream channel section adjacent to a newly formed oxbow lake. In some locations the edge of the new stream channel will have natural levees separating the new channel and the oxbow lake. Secondary channels that cut across a meander are not cut offs.
7	Oxbow lake	Meander full of water separated from the main channel. Adjacent to a suspected oxbow lake will be a cut off in the main channel. Artificial levees may separate the oxbow lake and the main channel.
8	Meander scar	Evidence of past oxbow lake adjacent to stream cut off. Often filled with young vegetation and can be important wetland areas.
9	Delta	Locations where streams enter a standing body of water such as ocean or lake. Distinct pattern of drainage often similar to branching of tributaries. Often (but not always) triangular in shape (resemble the Greek letter delta (Δ)). The shape may depend on the stream’s sediment load, influence of water currents in the other body of water, and whether or not surrounding land prevents the spreading of the delta sediment.
10	Fluvial fan	Often cone-shaped. The apex (higher elevation) is the narrowest part of the fan and the apron (lower elevation) is the widest part. Can range in size from the very small to the truly massive (the largest are often seen best from space). Evidence of multiple stream channels on the fan surface. (When water flows through channels on the alluvial fan it only occupies a small portion of the fan at any one time. Over many centuries or longer, the streams will migrate from one side of the fan to the other, building it up.)

Step 5:  Protect academic integrity

Please note that the locations you choose must be registered in the surveys at the bottom of the Moodle page or they will not be counted.    This ensures that each student finds a unique location and supports academic integrity.

Step 6: Create Your Lab Report.

Once the tour is complete,

1. Open a Word document and set up the document so that it displays in landscape mode.
   • In Word, use the menu 0ptions Layout – Orientation – Landscape with images taking up at least 75% of the area of the page.
2. Save screenshots of each landform/set of landforms and paste them into a MS Word document.
   • Excellent screen captures (images of your landform) should be textbook quality so that other students could learn from it.
3. Add a caption for each image.  For example:
   • Each caption must have,
     • Figure number
     • Fluvial landforms present
     • Geographic names in the description
     • Description specific to figure
     • Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees
     • Attribution
   • For Example
     • Figure 1.  Braided Stream. <<Insert description>>.  << Insert latitude and longitude in decimal degrees>>.  Figure courtesy of Google Earth.

Step 7: Submit your report (PDF) and tour (KML).

Remember that your report will not be marked unless you complete step 5.