geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

and

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

, a Yazoo stream (also called a Yazoo tributary) is any

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

stream that runs parallel to, and within the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

of a larger river for considerable distance, before eventually joining it. This is especially the characteristic when such a stream is forced to flow along the base of the main river's natural levee. Where the two meet is known as a "belated

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

" or a "deferred junction". The name is derived from an exterminated Native American tribe, the Yazoo Indians. The Choctaw word is translated to "River of Death" because of the strong flows under its bank full stage.

Examples

Yazoo River

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river primarily in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the Ame ...

runs parallel to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

for before converging, being constrained from doing so upstream by the river's natural and man-made

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

Mossy Creek

Moesian stream/flow is a parallel derivative remnant of paleoriver. Many Yazoo streams are actually paleo-remnants of just one original river. The good examples of moesian flow are Mossy Creek,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Jezava The Jezava ( sr-Cyrl, Језава) is a river in central Serbia. Geography Formerly a distributary of the Great Morava that flowed into the Danube in Smederevo at the Smederevo Fortress, its upper course was separated from the Great Morava b ...

, Morava.

Montana and Jordan creeks

Important salmonoid fish habitat and large spruce forests inhabit these streams which flow into the

Mendenhall River The Mendenhall River ( Lingít: ''Woosh Ilʼóox̱ʼu Héen'') is an Alaskan river north of Juneau in the Mendenhall Valley. The river begins at the Mendenhall Lake, at the base of the Mendenhall Glacier. Rafting on the river The Mendenhall is ...

in Alaska.

Tributaries of the Wakarusa River

Yazoo streams here drain the back swamps of the

Wakarusa River The Wakarusa River is a tributary of the Kansas River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 30, 2011 in eastern Kansas in the United States. It drain ...

Valley.

Formation

Natural levees

Over time, the main river flows through the landscape, widening a valley and creating a

Sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

accumulates and creates a natural

Tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

that want to enter the main channel are not allowed because of this levee. Instead, the water then enters the back swamps, or form a yazoo stream. Because yazoo streams are separated from the main river by natural levees, they flow and meander (streams and rivers rarely flow in straight lines) parallel to the main stream channel or river on the

for a considerable distance. These series of smooth bends or curves flows with a slight gradient, and is normally blocked from entering by a natural levee along the larger stream. A yazoo stream will join the major river where it will eventually break through the natural levees and flow into the larger waterway at its belated confluence. Montanaseries2

Yazoo stream formation can also be influenced by glacial processes. An example is the formation of the Montana Creek valley during the recent

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...

. The

Mendenhall Glacier Mendenhall Glacier () is a glacier about long located in Mendenhall Valley, about from downtown Juneau in the southeast area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier and surrounding landscape is protected as part of the Mendenhall Glacier R ...

carved out a wide

that is domed in the center. High valley walls due to

tectonic uplift Tectonic uplift is the orogeny, geologic uplift of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics. While Isostasy, isostatic response is important, an increase in the mean elevation of a region can only occur in response to ...

and

glacial outwash An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and ...

(the natural levee) create two yazoo streams that parallel the Mendenhall River.

Flooding and human influence

Floods are a major driving force for yazoo streams. In the Yazoo Basin,

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s were faced with high waters for most of the year, making it hard for building homes and maintaining agriculture. A few man-made

s were built to improve conditions. In 1927, large floods ravaged the area, allowing

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

to take action into building dams and more levees to reduce the risk of floods. Human alteration within

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s and streams have resulted in a decrease in ecological functions and associated benefits to society. Miles of streams are in poor condition with high

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

concentrations. Yazoo streams have been altered through intense agricultural activities and flood control measures. Low water, excessive sedimentation, and the accumulation of

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...

s such as

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

are the consequences of human disturbances.

References

{{Reflist Geomorphology Floodplains Fluvial landforms Physical geography Riparian zone Rivers Water streams