Water, one of the most prolific weathering and transport agents on earth, is constantly moving material from one location to another. google earth (ge) is an ideal tool for interpreting and appreciating this unique surface process. large rivers such as the mississippi illustrate how efficiently river systems can gather sediment from mountainous regions of a continent and transport it to the ocean, where deltas form. what kinds of drainage and channel patterns do you find in the mississippi drainage basin? how does the slope of the river channel change as one moves downstream? these questions and many more can be explored by using the google earth (ge) interface. this exercise modified from an exercise in the textbook understanding earth 6^th edition by grotzinger and jordan. type "ft. benton, montana, united states" into the ge search window. once you arrive there, zoom out to an eye altitude of about 35 km (bottom right on image). you will be looking down on the missouri river, the longest tributary of the mississippi river. examine the stretch of river that flows from the southwest to the northeast through the town and describe the channel pattern you observe. meandering