To describe the surface morphology of a fourth order drainage basin located in the North Dakota Badland,, the writer made quanti tative application• of known descriptive techniques and morphological laws.
The surface configuration is a function of the study area\u27s linear, areal, and relief properties and surface elements. The linear and areal properties are determined from maps showing the drainage basin \u27s surface geometry, the relief properties are determined from large-scale topographic maps of the area, and the surface elements are determined by direct field measurements of the ground slopes, surface materials, and vegetal coverage.
The surface geometry of the drainage basin 1B expressed by the relationship between the number of streams, stream lengths, basin areas, and stream order nwnbere1 while, the characteristics of its erosional topography are defined by the elongation ratio, constant of channel maintenance, texture ratio, drainage density, stream frequency values, and a hypsometric analysis. Maps of the surface elements and their associated frequency distributions represent the areal location and relative magnitude of the different classes c0111poaing each component of the surface elements.
The descriptive forms representing the study area are analogous to many of those revealed in comparative studies of other badland area; however, some of the study area\u27s topographic aspects appear to be unique to the North Dakota region
