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79-723: According to the Geographic Names Information System , it has also been known historically as: The Youghiogheny rises in northern West Virginia, in Preston County southeast of Aurora and near Backbone Mountain . The headwaters are approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of the headwaters of the North Branch Potomac River and pass through Silver Lake before flowing north-northeast into Garrett County, Maryland , then flowing north past Oakland and roughly parallel to

158-495: A "Concise" subset of the NGNDB that listed "major features", and a "Historical" subset that included the features that no longer exist. There is no differentiation amongst different types of populated places. In the words of the aforementioned 1986 USACE report, "[a] subdivision having one inhabitant is as significant as a major metropolitan center such as New York City ". In comparing GNIS populated place records with data from

237-588: A 1962 replacement of the "Nigger" racial pejorative for African Americans with "Negro" and a 1974 replacement of the "Jap" racial pejorative for Japanese Americans with "Japanese". In 2015, a cross-reference of the GNIS database against the Racial Slur Database had found 1441 racial slur placenames, every state of the United States having them, with California having 159 and the state with

316-694: A 2008 book on ethnic slurs in U.S. placenames Mark Monmonier of Syracuse University discovered "Niger Hill" in Potter County, Pennsylvania , an erroneous transcription of "Nigger Hill" from a 1938 map, and persuaded the USBGN to change it to "Negro Hill". In November 2021, the United States Secretary of the Interior issued an order instructing that "Squaw" be removed from usage by the U.S. federal government. Prior efforts had included

395-467: A boatsman with passengers having no direct responsibilities. Catarafts can be of all sizes; many are smaller and more maneuverable than a typical raft. Canoes are often made of fiberglass, kevlar, plastic, or a combination of the three for strength and durability. They may have a spraycover , resembling a kayak, or be "open", resembling the typical canoe. This type of canoe is usually referred to simply as an "open boat". Whitewater canoes are paddled in

474-454: A broader meaning, applying to any river or creek that has a significant number of rapids. The term is also used as an adjective describing boating on such rivers, such as whitewater canoeing or whitewater kayaking . Four factors, separately or in combination, can create rapids: gradient, constriction, obstruction, and flow rate. Gradient, constriction, and obstruction are streambed topography factors and are relatively consistent. Flow rate

553-455: A bucket, and because the only way to get water out of them is by bailing with a bucket. Catarafts are constructed from the same materials as rafts. They can either be paddled or rowed with oars. Typical catarafts are constructed from two inflatable pontoons on either side of the craft that are bridged by a frame. Oar-propelled catarafts have the occupants sitting on seats mounted on the frame. Virtually all oar-powered catarafts are operated by

632-413: A canoe. C1s are similar in construction to whitewater kayaks, but they are paddled in a low, kneeling position. They employ the use of a one-blade paddle, usually a little shorter than used in a more traditional canoe. They have a spraycover, essentially the same type used in kayaking. Like kayaks, C1s can be righted after capsizing with an Eskimo roll. McKenzie River dory (or "drift boat" by some)

711-451: A feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier. The database never removes an entry, "except in cases of obvious duplication." The GNIS was originally designed for four major purposes: to eliminate duplication of effort at various other levels of government that were already compiling geographic data, to provide standardized datasets of geographic data for

790-422: A later phase). Generic designations were given after specific names, so (for examples) Mount Saint Helens was recorded as "Saint Helens, Mount", although cities named Mount Olive , not actually being mountains, would not take "Mount" to be a generic part and would retain their order "Mount Olive". The primary geographic coordinates of features which occupy an area, rather than being a single point feature, were

869-493: A low kneeling position, with a one-bladed paddle. Open whitewater canoes often have large airbags and in some cases foam, usually 2-lb density ethyl foam, firmly attached to the sides, to displace water in the boat when swamped by big waves and holes and to allow water to be spilled from the boat while still in the river by floating it up on its side using the foam and bags. Like kayaks, whitewater canoes can be righted after capsizing with an Eskimo roll, but this requires more skill in

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948-424: A lower rated rapid may give a better "ride" to kayakers or rafters, while a Class V may seem relatively tame. However, it is not so much the "ride," but the inherent danger in the rapid. An exiting rapid may have minimal risk, while a seemingly simply rapid may have terminal hydraulics, undercut rocks, etc.) A rapid's grade is not fixed, since it may vary greatly depending on the water depth and speed of flow. Also,

1027-485: A river is the rate at which it changes elevation along its course. This loss determines the river's slope, and to a large extent its rate of flow (velocity). Shallow gradients produce gentle, slow rivers, while steep gradients are associated with raging torrents. Constrictions can form a rapid when a river's flow is forced into a narrower channel. This pressure causes the water to flow more rapidly and to react to riverbed events (rocks, drops, etc.). A boulder or ledge in

1106-412: A second Alaska file) data from the 1:100000 and 1:250000 scale USGS maps. Map names were recorded exactly as on the maps themselves, with the exceptions for diacritics as with the NGNDB. Unlike the NGNDB, locations were the geographic coördinates of the south-east corner of the given map, except for American Samoa and Guam maps where they were of the north-east cornder. The TMNDB was later renamed

1185-612: A steep canyon, the side walls of the canyon can also be undercut. A particularly notorious undercut rock is Dimple Rock, in Dimple Rapid on the Lower Youghiogheny River , a very popular rafting and kayaking river in Pennsylvania. Of about nine people who have died at or near Dimple Rock, including three in 2000, several of the deaths were the result of people becoming entrapped after they were swept under

1264-418: A strong sideways or diagonal (also called a "lateral") wave can throw the craft off if the craft hits sideways or at an angle. The safest move for a whitewater boater approaching a lateral is to "square up" or turn the boat such that it hits the wave along the boat's longest axis, reducing the chance of the boat flipping or capsizing. This is often counterintuitive because it requires turning the boat such that it

1343-486: A surfer slipping out the end of the pipeline, where the wave no longer breaks. Low-head dams are insidiously dangerous because their danger cannot be easily recognized by people who have not studied swift water. (Even 'experts' have died in them.) Floating debris (trees, kayaks, etc.) is often trapped in these retroflow 'grinders' for weeks at a time. Waves are formed in a similar manner to hydraulics and are sometimes also considered hydraulics, as well. Waves are noted by

1422-735: Is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories; the associated states of the Marshall Islands , Federated States of Micronesia , and Palau ; and Antarctica . It is a type of gazetteer . It was developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote

1501-438: Is a more traditional "hard sided" boat. The design is characterized by a wide, flat bottom, flared sides, a narrow, flat bow, a pointed stern, and extreme rocker in the bow and stern to allow the boat to spin about its center for ease in maneuvering in rapids. River bugs are small, single-person, inflatable craft where a person's feet stick out of one end. River bugging is done feet first with no paddle. Creature Craft are

1580-513: Is a short list of them: Whitewater kayaks differ from sea kayaks and recreational kayaks in that they are better specialized to deal with moving water. They are often shorter and more maneuverable than sea kayaks and are specially designed to deal with water flowing up onto their decks. Most whitewater kayaks are made of plastics now, although some paddlers (especially racers and "squirt boaters") use kayaks made of fiberglass composites. Whitewater kayaks are fairly stable in turbulent water, once

1659-501: Is also known for fishing, having brown and rainbow trout , as well as smallmouth above the power plant discharge. Part of the Great Allegheny Passage , a multi-use trail along the former Western Maryland Railway right-of-way, extends from Pittsburgh to Confluence . From Confluence, it connects to Washington, D.C. Amtrak's Capitol Limited , an overnight train connecting Chicago and Washington D.C., follows

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1738-450: Is dependent upon both seasonal variation in precipitation and snowmelt and upon release rates of upstream dams. Streambed topography is the primary factor in creating rapids, and is generally consistent over time. Increased flow, as during a flood or high-rainfall season, can make permanent changes to the streambed by displacing rocks and boulders, by deposition of alluvium , or by creating new channels for flowing water. The gradient of

1817-402: Is no longer parallel to the current. In fluid mechanics, waves are classified as laminar, but the whitewater world has also included waves with turbulence ("breaking waves") under the general heading of waves. Pillows are formed when a large flow of water runs into a large obstruction, causing water to "pile up" or "boil" against the face of the obstruction. Pillows normally signal that a rock

1896-581: Is not undercut. Pillows are also known as "pressure waves". Eddies are formed, like hydraulics, on the downstream face of an obstruction. Unlike hydraulics, which swirl vertically in the water column, eddies revolve on the horizontal surface of the water. Typically, they are calm spots where the downward movement of water is partially or fully arrested—a place to rest or to make one's way upstream. However, in very powerful water, eddies can have powerful, swirling currents that trap or even can flip boats and from which escape can be very difficult. Located between

1975-443: Is or was human activity" not covered by a more specific feature class), "populated place" (a "place or area with clustered or scattered buildings"), "spring" (a spring ), "lava" (a lava flow , kepula , or other such feature), and "well" (a well ). Mountain features would fall into "ridge", "range", or "summit" classes. A feature class "tank" was sometimes used for lakes, which was problematic in several ways. This feature class

2054-491: Is the International Scale of River Difficulty , where whitewater (either an individual rapid, or the entire river) is classed in six categories from class I (the easiest and safest) to class VI (the most difficult and most dangerous). The grade reflects both the technical difficulty and the danger associated with a rapid, with grade I referring to flat or slow-moving water with few hazards, and grade VI referring to

2133-545: Is used than on flat water. Running whitewater rivers is a popular recreational sport, but is not without danger. Fast-moving water always has the potential for injury or death by drowning or hitting objects. Fatalities do occur; some 50 people die in whitewater accidents in the United States each year. The dangers can be mitigated (but not eliminated) by training, experience, scouting, the use of safety equipment (such as personal flotation devices , helmets, throw ropes), and using other persons as "spotters". Scouting or examining

2212-561: The Geographic Cell Names database (GCNDB hereafter) in the 1990s. The Generic database was in essence a machine-readable glossary of terms and abbreviations taken from the map sources, with their definitions, grouped into collections of related terms. The National Atlas database was an abridged version of the NGNDB that contained only those entries that were in the index to the USGS National Atlas of

2291-619: The Northwest Territory . The pioneer town of Somerfield, Pennsylvania, was inundated by the building of the Youghiogheny Dam in 1943. Perryopolis in northern Fayette County, Pennsylvania, is the site of the George Washington Grist Mill. The Youghiogheny River Trail follows the river in southwestern Pennsylvania southeast of Connellsville. Coal mining became an important industry along

2370-714: The Thematic Mapper of the Landsat program , researchers from the University of Connecticut in 2001 discovered that "a significant number" of populated places in Connecticut had no identifiable human settlement in the land use data and were at road intersections. They found that such populated places with no actual settlement often had "Corner" in their names, and hypothesized that either these were historical records or were "cartographic locators". In surveying in

2449-548: The 1990s (still including tape and paper) to floppy disc , over FTP , and on CD-ROM . The CD-ROM edition only included the NGNDB, the AGNDB, the GCNDB, and a bibliographic reference database (RDB); but came with database search software that ran on PC DOS (or compatible) version 3.0 or later. The FTP site included extra topical databases: a subset of the NGNDB that only included the records with feature classes for populated places,

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2528-568: The American version of the International Scale of River Difficulty). On any given rapid, a multitude of different features can arise from the interplay between the shape of the riverbed and the velocity of the water in the stream. Strainers are formed when an object blocks the passage of larger objects, but allows the flow of water to continue – like a big food strainer or colander . These objects can be very dangerous, because

2607-726: The French. During the uncommonly severe winter of 1787-88, American pioneers to the Northwest Territory departed New England and cut trails westward through the mountains. At Sumrill's Ferry, present-day West Newton, Pennsylvania , on the Youghiogheny River, the men built flatboats which carried them down the Youghiogheny River to the Monongahela River, and then to the Ohio River , and onward to

2686-572: The GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The usual sources of name change requests are an individual state's board on geographic names, or a county board of governors. This does not always succeed, the State Library of Montana having submitted three large sets of name changes that have not been incorporated into the GNIS database. Conversely, a group of middle school students in Alaska succeeded, with

2765-520: The Lower Yough. At least five, and possibly as many as 14, of the fatalities have occurred at a rapid within the Lower Yough known as Dimple Rock. Dimple refers to both the Class III rapid by that name, as well as an undercut rock in the middle of the rapid by that name. Some of the deaths were attributed to preexisting health conditions, with 9 of the 14 being caused by the rock. The Youghiogheny

2844-689: The Pennsylvania border, the river is impounded by the 184-foot-high (56 m) Youghiogheny Dam to form the Youghiogheny River Lake , a reservoir that stretches upstream into northern Maryland. The dam was completed in 1944 primarily for flood control . U.S. Route 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River Lake between Jockey Hollow on the Fayette County side and Somerfield on the Somerset County side. In

2923-466: The United States , with the coördinates published in the latter substituted for the coördinates from the former. The Board on Geographic Names database was a record of investigative work of the USGS Board on Geographic Names ' Domestic Names Committee, and decisions that it had made from 1890 onwards, as well as names that were enshrined by Acts of Congress . Elevation and location data followed

3002-905: The United States, a "Corner" is a corner of the surveyed polygon enclosing an area of land, whose location is, or was (since corners can become "lost" or "obliterated" ), marked in various ways including with trees known as "bearing trees" ("witness trees" in older terminology ) or "corner monuments". From analysing Native American names in the database in order to compile a dictionary, professor William Bright of UCLA observed in 2004 that some GNIS entries are "erroneous; or refer to long-vanished railroad sidings where no one ever lived". Such false classifications have propagated to other geographical information sources, such as incorrectly classified train stations appearing as towns or neighborhoods on Google Maps. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U.S. geographical features through The National Map Corps . The general public can make proposals at

3081-628: The West Virginia border, separated by approximately 3 miles (5 km). The river enters southwestern Pennsylvania on the border between Fayette and Somerset counties. It flows northwest through a gap in Chestnut Ridge and then past Connellsville . It joins the Monongahela River from the southeast (right bank) at McKeesport . Just upstream from Confluence, Pennsylvania , approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north of

3160-580: The Youghiogheny through southwest Pennsylvania into western Maryland, one of the most scenic stretches of Amtrak's national system, crossing from side to side of the river in several places. The Great Crossings is the place on the river where General George Washington and General Edward Braddock forded the river in 1755, during the French and Indian War . Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System ( GNIS )

3239-574: The broadcasting masts for radio and television stations, civil divisions, regional and historic names, individual buildings, roads, and triangulation station names. The databases were initially available on paper (2 to 3 spiral-bound volumes per state), on microfiche , and on magnetic tape encoded (unless otherwise requested) in EBCDIC with 248-byte fixed-length records in 4960-byte blocks . The feature classes for association with each name included (for examples) "locale" (a "place at which there

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3318-526: The colonial era and in the early United States, the valley of the river provided an important route of access through the mountains for settlers and military forces from Virginia to western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Country . In 1754, as a militia officer of the British Colony of Virginia , George Washington followed the river in an attempt to find a water route to Fort Duquesne , then held by

3397-426: The coordinates were taken to be those of a primary civic feature such as the city hall or town hall , main public library , main highway intersection, main post office, or central business district regardless of changes over time; these coordinates are called the "primary point". Secondary coordinates were only an aid to locating which topographic map(s) the feature extended across, and were "simply anywhere on

3476-576: The eddy and the main current, the eddy line is a swirling seam of green and sometimes white water. Eddy lines vary in size based on the size of the water column, the gradient of the section, and the obstacle creating the eddy. Often containing boils and whirlpools, eddy lines can spin and grab your watercraft in unexpected ways, but if used correctly, they can be a really playful spot. Full slice and half slice boaters are able to perform tricks like stern squirts and cartwheels, but nobody uses eddy lines as well as squirt boaters(link to squirt boating wiki), who use

3555-424: The entire United States and that were abridged versions of the data in the other 57: one for the 50,000 most well known populated places and features, and one for most of the populated places. The files were compiled from all of the names to be found on USGS topographic maps, plus data from various state map sources. In phase 1, elevations were recorded in feet only, with no conversion to metric, and only if there

3634-423: The feature and on the topographic map with which it is associated". River sources were determined by the shortest drain, subject to the proximities of other features that were clearly related to the river by their names. The USGS Topographic Map Names database (TMNDB hereafter) was also 57 computer files containing the names of maps: 56 for 1:24000 scale USGS maps as with the NGNDB, the 57th being (rather than

3713-402: The flow rate. In large rivers with high flow rates next to an obstruction, "eddy walls" can occur. An eddy wall is formed when the height of the river is substantially higher than the level of the water in the eddy behind the obstruction. This can make it difficult for a boater, who has stopped in that particular eddy, to re-enter the river due to a wall of water that can be several feet high at

3792-406: The force of the water will pin an object or body against the strainer and then pile up, pushing it down under water. For a person caught in this position, getting to safety will be difficult or impossible, often leading to a fatal outcome. Strainers are formed by many natural or man-made objects, such as storm grates over tunnels, trees that have fallen into a river ("log jam"), bushes by the side of

3871-439: The government and others, to index all of the names found on official U.S. government federal and state maps, and to ensure uniform geographic names for the federal government. Phase 1 lasted from 1978 to 1981, with a precursor pilot project run over the states of Kansas and Colorado in 1976, and produced 5 databases. It excluded several classes of feature because they were better documented in non-USGS maps, including airports,

3950-407: The hardest rapids, which are very dangerous even for expert paddlers, and are rarely run. Grade-VI rapids are sometimes downgraded to grade-V or V+ if they have been run successfully. Harder rapids (for example a grade-V rapid on a mainly grade-III river) are often portaged , a French term for carrying. A portaged rapid is where the boater lands and carries the boat around the hazard. (In many cases,

4029-585: The help of their teachers, a professor of linguistics, and a man who had been conducting a years-long project to collect Native American placenames in the area, in changing the names of several places that they had spotted in class one day and challenged for being racist, including renaming "Negrohead Creek" to an Athabascan name Lochenyatth Creek and "Negrohead Mountain" to Tl'oo Khanishyah Mountain, both of which translate to "grassy tussocks" in Lower Tanana and Gwichʼin respectively. Likewise, in researching

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4108-541: The land along this corridor is private, it is managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to preserve its natural and cultural resources. The Youghiogheny is popular for whitewater canoeing , kayaking and rafting . Four sections of the river, varying in difficulty, are available on a predictable basis for whitewater recreation: Although the Youghiogheny is generally considered to be safe for whitewater recreation, there have been 19 deaths on

4187-443: The large, smooth face on the water rushing down. Sometimes, a particularly large wave also is followed by a "wave train", a long series of waves. These standing waves can be smooth, or particularly the larger ones, can be breaking waves (also called "whitecaps" or "haystacks"). Because of the rough and random pattern of a riverbed, waves are often not perpendicular to the river's current. This makes them challenging for boaters, since

4266-516: The level of development in rafting/kayaking technology plays a role. Rapids that would have meant almost certain death a hundred years ago may now be considered only a Class IV or V rapid, due to the development of certain safety features. Although some rapids may be easier at high flows because features are covered or "washed-out", high water usually makes rapids more difficult and dangerous. At flood stage, even rapids that are usually easy can contain lethal and unpredictable hazards (briefly adapted from

4345-425: The location of the feature's mouth, or of the approximate center of the area of the feature. Such approximate centers were "eye-balled" estimates by the people performing the digitization, subject to the constraint that centers of areal features were not placed within other features that are inside them. alluvial fans and river deltas counted as mouths for this purpose. For cities and other large populated places,

4424-646: The lower Youghiogheny River during the 19th century. At that time, the name was often spelled Yohoghany (or variants thereof), and during the 1860s and 1870s that spelling was used as the name of a post office near what is now Shaner in Westmoreland County. In 1976, a 21-mile-long (34 km) segment of the Youghiogheny in Maryland was given special protected status by the state as the Youghiogheny Scenic & Wild River . Though most of

4503-481: The middle of a river or near the side can obstruct the flow of the river, and can also create a "pillow"; when water flows backwards upstream of the obstruction, or a "pour over" (over the boulder); and "hydraulics" or "holes" where the river flows back on itself—perhaps back under the drop—often with fearful results for those caught in its grasp. (Holes, or hydraulics, are so-called because their foamy, aerated water provides less buoyancy and can feel like an actual hole in

4582-472: The most dangerous types of holes are formed by low-head dams ( weirs ), and similar types of obstructions. In a low-head dam, the 'hole' has a very wide, uniform structure with no escape point, and the sides of the hydraulic (ends of the dam) are often blocked by a man-made wall, making paddling around, or slipping off, the side of the hydraulic, where the bypass water flow would become normal (laminar), difficult. By (upside-down) analogy, this would be much like

4661-717: The most such names being Arizona. One of the two standard reference works for placenames in Arizona is Byrd Howell Granger's 1983 book Arizona's Names: X Marks the Place , which contains many additional names with racial slurs not in the GNIS database. Despite "Nigger" having been removed from federal government use by Stewart Udall , its replacement "Negro" still remained in GNIS names in 2015, as did " Pickaninny ", " Uncle Tom ", and " Jim Crow " and 33 places named "Niggerhead". There were 828 names containing "squaw", including 11 variations on "Squaw Tit" and "Squaw Teat", contrasting with

4740-435: The object under the water. In a river, swimming aggressively away from the strainer and into the main channel is recommended. If avoiding the strainer is not possible, one should swim hard towards it and try to get as much of one's body up and over it as possible. Sweepers are trees fallen in or heavily leaning over the river, still rooted on the shore and not fully submerged. Their trunks and branches may form an obstruction in

4819-402: The object. Holes can be particularly dangerous—a boater or watercraft may become stuck under the surface in the recirculating water—or entertaining play-spots, where paddlers use the holes' features to perform various playboating moves. In high-volume water flows, holes can subtly aerate the water, enough to allow craft to fall through the aerated water to the bottom of a deep 'hole'. Some of

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4898-705: The paddler is skillful with them; if flipped upside-down, the skilled paddler can easily roll them back upright. This essential skill of whitewater kayaking is called the " Eskimo roll ", or simply "roll". Kayaks are paddled in a low sitting position (legs extended forward), with a two-bladed paddle. See Whitewater kayaking . Rafts are also often used as a whitewater craft; more stable than typical kayaks, they are less maneuverable. Rafts can carry large loads, so they are often used for expeditions. Typical whitewater rafts are inflatable craft, made from high-strength fabric coated with PVC, urethane, neoprene or Hypalon; see rafting . While most rafts are large multipassenger craft,

4977-433: The point at which the eddy meets the river flow. A marked increase or decrease in flow can create a rapid, "wash out" a rapid (decreasing the hazard), or make safe passage through previously navigable rapids more difficult or impossible. Flow rate is measured in volume per unit of time. The stream flow rate may be faster for different parts of a river, such as if there's an undercurrent. The most widely used grading system

5056-604: The point where a dam is thought to be". The National Geographic Names database (NGNDB hereafter) was originally 57 computer files, one for each state and territory of the United States (except Alaska which got two) plus one for the District of Columbia. The second Alaska file was an earlier database, the Dictionary of Alaska Place Names that had been compiled by the USGS in 1967. A further two files were later added, covering

5135-440: The river like strainers. Since it is an obstruction from above, it often does not contribute to whitewater features, but may create turbulence. In fast water, sweepers can pose a serious hazard to paddlers. Holes, or " hydraulics ", (also known as "stoppers" or "souse-holes" (see also Pillows ) are formed when water pours over the top of a submerged object, or underwater ledges, causing the surface water to flow back upstream toward

5214-411: The river surface.) If the flow passes next to the obstruction, an eddy may form behind the obstruction; although eddies are typically sheltered areas where boaters can stop to rest, scout, or leave the main current, they may be swirling and whirlpool-like. As with hydraulics (which pull downward rather than to the side and are essentially eddies turned at a 90° angle), the power of eddies increases with

5293-417: The river that are flooded during high water, wire fence, rebar from broken concrete structures in the water, or other debris. Strainers occur naturally most often on the outside curves of rivers where the current undermines the shore, exposing the roots of trees and causing them to fall into the river and form strainers. In an emergency, climbing on top of a strainer may be better so as not to be pinned against

5372-413: The rock. Another major whitewater feature is a sieve, which is a narrow, empty space through which water flows between two obstructions, usually rocks. Similar to strainers, water is forced through the sieve, resulting in higher velocity flow, which forces water up and creates turbulence. People use many types of whitewater craft to make their way down a rapid, preferably with finesse and control. Here

5451-412: The same rules as for the NGNDB. So too did names with diacritic characters. Phase 2 was broader in scope than phase 1, extending the scope to a much larger set of data sources. It ran from the end of phase 1 and had managed to completely process data from 42 states by 2003, with 4 still underway and the remaining 4 (Alaska, Kentucky, Michigan, and New York) awaiting the initial systematic compilation of

5530-489: The smallest rafts are single-person whitewater craft, see packraft . Rafts sometimes have inflatable floors, with holes around the edges, that allow water that splashes into the boat to easily flow to the side and out the bottom (these are typically called "self-bailers" because the occupants do not have to "bail" water out with a bucket). Others have simple fabric floors, without anyway for water to escape, these are called "bucket boats", both for their tendency to hold water like

5609-455: The sources to use. Many more feature classes were included, including abandoned Native American settlements, ghost towns , railway stations on railway lines that no longer existed, housing developments , shopping centers , and highway rest areas . The actual compilation was outsourced by the U.S. government, state by state, to private entities such as university researchers. The Antarctica Geographic Names database (AGNDB hereafter)

5688-458: The standardization of feature names. Data were collected in two phases. Although a third phase was considered, which would have handled name changes where local usages differed from maps, it was never begun. The database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited. Variant names, alternatives to official federal names for

5767-412: The swirling water and crossing currents to dance below the surface of the river. Undercut rocks have been worn down underneath the surface by the river, or are loose boulders which cantilever out beyond their resting spots on the riverbed. They can be extremely dangerous features of a rapid because a person can get trapped underneath them under water. This is especially true of rocks that are undercut on

5846-579: The ultimate whitewater craft, with a roll cage design that protects the occupants if they are to flip in any manner. You can see these creatures drifting down rivers like the Gauley, waiting to be capsized and righted by other enthusiastic river users. Whitewater SUP (Stand Up Paddle Boarding) , similar to traditional flat water stand up paddle boarding, whitewater SUPing involves the use of a stand up paddle board to run whitewater. The boards are typically specially designed for whitewater use, and more safety gear

5925-433: The upstream side. Here, a boater may become pinned against the rock under water. Many whitewater deaths have occurred in this fashion. Undercuts sometimes have pillows, but other times the water just flows smoothly under them, which can indicate that the rock is undercut. Undercuts are most common in rivers where the riverbed cuts through sedimentary rocks such as limestone rather than igneous rock such as granite . In

6004-411: The use of "Nipple" in names with non- Native American allusions such as "Susies Nipple". Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids , in particular, when a river 's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths , making the water appear opaque and white. The term "whitewater" also has

6083-757: Was added in the 1990s and comprised records for BGN-approved names in Antarctica and various off-lying islands such as the South Orkney Islands , the South Shetland Islands , the Balleny Islands , Heard Island , South Georgia , and the South Sandwich Islands . It only contained records for natural features, not for scientific outposts. The media on which one could obtain the databases were extended in

6162-449: Was an actual elevation recorded for the map feature. They were of either the lowest or highest point of the feature, as appropriate. Interpolated elevations, calculated by interpolation between contour lines , were added in phase 2. Names were the official name, except where the name contained diacritic characters that the computer file encodings of the time could not handle (which were in phase 1 marked with an asterisk for update in

6241-568: Was undocumented, and it was (in the words of a 1986 report from the Engineer Topographic Laboratories of the United States Army Corps of Engineers ) "an unreasonable determination", with the likes of Cayuga Lake being labelled a "tank". The USACE report assumed that "tank" meant "reservoir", and observed that often the coordinates of "tanks" were outside of their boundaries and were "possibly at

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