In a moderate relief area, a V-shaped outcrop crossing a stream indicates bed dips in which direction?

• A. Upstream
• B. Downstream
• C. Perpendicular to the stream
• D. Across the valley

Answer: (B)

A V-shaped outcrop that cuts across a stream tells you the bed is tilted in the direction of the stream’s flow. If the beds dip downstream, the plane slopes downward as you move in the stream’s direction, and where it intersects the surface and the stream, the resulting pattern is a V whose point lies downstream. So the bed’s dip direction is downstream.

If the beds dipped upstream, the V would point upstream; dipping perpendicular to the stream or across the valley would produce different, less characteristic patterns.