A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps . Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a practical route for road and rail transport to cross the mountain barrier.
4-689: Selah Gap is a water gap carved by the Yakima River through the Yakima Ridge basalt formation between Yakima, Washington and Selah, Washington. The gap is traversed by BNSF Railway , Interstate 82 , and Washington State Route 823 . The Yakima Greenway trail for non motorized users also crosses the Yakima River at Selah Gap on an 1884 railroad bridge. The William O. Douglas Trail, named for William O. Douglas who hiked there from his home in Yakima, also crosses
8-401: Is that a river established its course when the landform was at a low elevation, or by a rift in a portion of the crust of the earth having a very low stream gradient and a thick layer of unconsolidated sediment . In a hypothetical example, a river would have established its channel without regard for the deeper layers of rock . A later period of uplift would cause increased erosion along
12-429: The gap and ascends the ridge on its way to Mount Rainier . 46°38′13″N 120°31′35″W / 46.63694°N 120.52639°W / 46.63694; -120.52639 This Yakima County, Washington state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Water gap A water gap is usually an indication of a river that is older than the current topography. The likely occurrence
16-487: The riverbed, exposing the underlying rock layers. As the uplift continued, the river, being large enough, would continue to erode the rising land, cutting through ridges as they formed. Water gaps are common in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of eastern North America . Alternatively, a water gap may be formed through headward erosion of two streams on opposite sides of a ridge, ultimately resulting in
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