Sheetflood Erosion

Commonly, running water gathers into streams and corrades ch an n els; exceptionally, running water spreads into sheets of lim ited or unlim ited width, and, by a combination of erosion and deposition, produces plains.Pure water flowing over a smooth indestructible surface does not move as a uniform film : if the surface is broad the sheet differentiates into parallel streams of greater depth and relatively rapid flow, separated by shallower bands of relatively sluggish flow; and at the same tim e both streams and intervening bands differentiate into series of transverse waves which move forward more rapidly than the body of the differentiated sheet.The tendency of flowing water to divide into streams is well X I I I -B u l l .G e o l .S o c .A m ., V o l. 8, 1896 ( 87)