As a river weaves around fingers of hard rock while descending a valley; name this feature.

As a river weaves around fingers of hard rock while descending a valley; name this feature.

• A. Levees
• B. Load
• C. Drainage Basin
• D. Interlocking Spurs

Answer: (D)

Interlocking Spurs describe how a river in its upper valley weaves around ridges of hard, resistant rock. As the river erodes downward, it cuts more quickly through softer rock, but the hard rock outcrops resist erosion. The river then deflects around these outcrops, leaving alternating spurs on opposite sides of the valley that appear to interlock like fingers downstream. This pattern appears in valleys with bands of rock hardness and shows the effect of differential erosion shaping the landscape as the river descends. Levees, load, and drainage basin refer to other aspects of fluvial systems and do not explain this weaving around hard rock.

Interlocking Spurs describe how a river in its upper valley weaves around ridges of hard, resistant rock. As the river erodes downward, it cuts more quickly through softer rock, but the hard rock outcrops resist erosion. The river then deflects around these outcrops, leaving alternating spurs on opposite sides of the valley that appear to interlock like fingers downstream. This pattern appears in valleys with bands of rock hardness and shows the effect of differential erosion shaping the landscape as the river descends. Levees, load, and drainage basin refer to other aspects of fluvial systems and do not explain this weaving around hard rock.