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Geolens

Glossary

417 words used in the labs.

Find a term from the labs, understand the process behind it, and see how it appears in the landscape. Each entry connects an explanation with a real observation and a model you can explore.

Term

Competence

The size of the largest particle that a flow can transport under given conditions. Faster, more forceful flow can generally move coarser material. Competence differs from capacity, which concerns the total amount of sediment a flow can carry.

What to look for

Floodwater on the Stillaguamish River, Washington. Rain-fed regimes respond to precipitation; a flow's competence is the largest sediment it can move, which cannot be inferred from water colour alone.

Related labs

River long profile →
Floodwater from the Stillaguamish River surrounds a picnic table and trees.
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Explore further with USGS water glossary · USGS volcano glossary · NPS glacial geology · NASA Earth facts. Photograph acknowledgements are collected on the Image credits page.