Stream Table Lab – Erosion, Transport, Deltas and Freeze–Thaw
GeographyEarth's Structure & LandformsAges 15–16Virtual lab
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Use it with your class: students open it from a link or a QR code, with no account needed.
Next in Earth's Structure & Landforms
A virtual stream table seen from above. Set the water flow, the slope, the sediment and earlier freeze–thaw cycles, run the water, and measure the sediment carried, the delta built, the float speed and the bends of the channel. A second tab tests rock blocks through freeze–thaw cycles on a balance.
Lesson: Running water and earth materials: erosion, transport and deposition; meanders, braiding and deltas; freeze–thaw weathering
What it shows
A stream table lets you test how running water shapes the land in minutes. Water runs from a tank through a tray of sediment into a basin. In this lab the flow and slope set the depth, speed and shear stress of the water, and those decide which grains move and how much sediment leaves the tray. Sediment settling at the shore builds a delta, while silt stays in the water. Channels bend or split into braids. A second tab freezes and thaws rock blocks. Many values are estimates, and the notes say which.
How to use
On Stream table, set Water flow, Slope, Sediment, Freeze–thaw cycles before and Length of run, then press Start water. Press Record reading during a run; a row is also added at the end. Change one variable at a time and compare rows and graphs. On Freeze–thaw, choose a Rock and Wet or Dry, set the Cycles and press Run cycles. Answer the check questions from your own results.
Parameters you can change
- Experiment Stream table, Freeze–thaw
- Water flow 10–200 mL/s
- Slope 1–10 %
- Sediment Silt and clay, Fine sand, Coarse sand, Fine gravel
- Freeze–thaw cycles before the run 0–10
- Length of run 2–20 min
- Graph Rate and flow, Mass and time
- Rock Granite, Limestone, Sandstone, Shale
- Block Wet, Dry
- Cycles 10–100
Questions to explore
- With coarse sand at 3 % slope, how does the sediment carried per minute change when you double the water flow?
- Which grains stay in the water and which settle in the delta, and how do the sediment rows show it?
- Why does a dry block lose almost no mass in the freeze–thaw test while a wet one does?
