A misfit stream is a river that is either too large or too small to have eroded the valley or cave passage in which it flows. This term is also used for a stream or river with meanders that obviously are not proportional in size to the meanders of the valley or meander scars cut into its valley walls. If the misfit stream is too large for either its valley or meanders, it is known as an overfit stream. If the misfit stream is too small for either its valley or meanders, it is known as an underfit stream.[1][2]
The term misfit stream is often incorrectly used as a synonym for an underfit stream. An underfit stream is a type of misfit stream whose discharge is too small to be correlated with either existing channel characteristics, i.e. meander radius, wavelength and channel width, or valley size[1][2]
- ^ a b Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, J.A., eds. (2005) Glossary of Geology (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. ISBN 0-922152-76-4
- ^ a b Dury, G. H. (1964) Subsurface Exploration and Chronology of Underfit Streams. Professional Paper no. 452-A. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.