What is a Confluence?
A confluence, in geological terms, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a "tributary" joins a more major river, called the "mainstream" when that major river is also the highest order stream in the drainage basin.
What is a River?
A river is a natural waterway that transits water through a landscape from higher to lower elevations, called divides. The divide determines the direction in which a river will flow. It is an integral component of the water cycle. The water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff and groundwater recharge (as seen at baseflow conditions / during periods of lack of precipitation).
A river starts at a point called its source, and along the way may be impounded by man-made reservoirs before proceeding on and emptying into another river and eventually flowing to the ocean. Along its length it may be joined by smaller rivers called tributaries; a river and its tributaries are contained within a drainage basin called the watershed. The point at which two or more rivers join is called the Confluence.
What is a Tributary?
A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a mainstream (or parent) river, and which does not flow directly into a sea.
About this Earthcache site:
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The two rivers that meet at this location are the only two rivers in Missouri that flow in a northerly direction and include the main stream that is 276-mile-long tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri. The mainstream or parent river is the 8th largest river in Missouri. It drains a mostly rural area of 15,300 square miles. The watershed includes an area of east-central Kansas and a large portion of west-central and central Missouri where it drains northwest areas of the Ozark Plateau. The river flows generally easterly, then northeasterly for the final 80 miles, where it joins the Missouri River near Jefferson City. Portions of this river have been converted into a chain of two major reservoirs, the Harry S Truman Reservoir and the Lake of the Ozarks.
The other river seen here is considered a tributary river and its basin is located in southwest Missouri with its headwaters beginning in Lawrence, Christian, and Greene counties and flowing in a northerly direction to its confluence with the main stream river. The basin drains 1,981 square miles via 2,510 miles of streams and all or part of 10 counties. Drainage from this rivers flow forms Stockton Lake Reservoir south of the confluence.
Flowing water plays a major role in erosion by carrying away soils and other materials from the lands' surface. In general, there is a potential for water erosion where the land slope is at least 2 percent. The four types of water erosion of soil are sheet, rill, gully, and tunnel. Sediment is the naturally-occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of forces such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself. At confluences one often sees changes in the common current due to the influx of the secondary water flow. In addition, one can often see signs of sedimentary flow and deposition. The deposition can result in the formation of islands, sandbars or spits. This deposition can also build up the low-lying floodplain. These depositions will occur downstream from the confluence and in the lower flow sections of waterways due to the current.
Logging Requirements for this EarthCache:
In order to get credit for this cache you must send an email to me with answers to the following questions based upon your observations.
**DO NOT ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS IN YOUR LOG**
1. In your email, note Confluence Earthcache, GC 5AQ61, and how many in your group.
2. Waypoint Roadside Park - What is the name of the mainstream or parent river?
3. Waypoint Roadside Park - What is the name of the tributary river?
4. Waypoint Roadside Park - What is the elevation here?
4. Waypoint Observation Deck - What do you see directly downstream (after the confluence) from the observation platform? Please describe both the east and west sides of the river and contrast the two.
5. At Rivers Edge Waypoint - What is the elevation here? Subtract this elevation from the Roadside Park elevation. What is the difference in elevation?
HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT TIME VISITING THIS EARTHCACHE!