What happens when the amount of water moving through a stream increases?

When the amount of water moving through a stream increases, the correct outcome is that terraces may form. This occurs due to the stream’s adjusted energy and sediment transport capacity. Increased water flow can enhance the stream's ability to erode its banks and bed, leading to a slight alteration in its gradient and the potential sediment deposition downstream. If the stream undergoes periods of higher flow, it can erode the landscape more vigorously, forming incised channels that create terraces on either side of the stream. Terraces are essentially remnants of former floodplains that indicate a change in the stream’s behavior due to variations in discharge.

Base level typically refers to the lowest point to which a stream can erode, and it generally does not rise simply because water flow increases. Stream velocity is generally expected to increase with more water volume under normal conditions, as more water leads to more kinetic energy, contrary to the idea that velocity would decrease. Similarly, greater water flow usually leads to increased erosion of riverbanks rather than less, as the heightened flow can displace soil and rock more effectively than lower flow conditions.