underfitadj.
Physical Geography.
Pertaining to or designating a stream which, if its average flow in the past was at present-day levels, would be expected to have eroded a smaller valley than it has done. Cf. overfit adj.2
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the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [adjective] > overfit or underfit
overfit1913
underfit1913
misfit1932
1913 W. M. Davis in Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers III. 3 Underfit Rivers.—The chief object of this paper is to call attention to an explanation recently suggested for the peculiar relation that is frequently observed between the small-curved meanders of a river and the larger-curved meanders of its valley, a relation that has been called ‘underfit’.
1939 A. K. Lobeck Geomorphol. vi. 199 The beheaded stream, having lost much of its volume, acquires mature characteristics. It develops small meanders not suited to the size of the valley. It becomes a misfit, or an underfit, stream.
1964 Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 452 - a. 6/1 Streams recognized as misfit are so usually underfit that the two names are frequently interchanged.
1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 706/2 The most commonly recognized case of a misfit stream is the underfit river.
1970 R. J. Small Study of Landforms ii. 46 In post-glacial times, the old channels have been choked with alluvium, and the meandering valleys are now followed by ‘under~fit’ streams, possessing insufficient power to effect further erosion.
Derivatives
underˈfitness n. the property or state of being underfit.
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the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > underfitness
underfitness1913
1913 Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers III. 24 The lower Seine in Normandy shows a slight underfitness.
1964 Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 452 - a. 29/2 The underfitness of streams in incised meandering valleys can no longer be denied.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.1913