Early Slope Development in an Expanding Stream System

Abstract

A study of the morphometry of an ephemeral stream system which is incising itself into a terrace of the Farmington River, Connecticut, supports the regional relationship between stream-channel gradient and valley-side slope angle suggested by Strahler (1950). The continuing areal extension of the system allows stream order to be employed here as a relative measure of the passage of time. Thus it is possible to recognize that steepening and parallel development of a given valley-side slope may have their place in a sequence of early stage erosional development characterized by headward channel extension and ramification.