Dynamic steady state

A geomorphological system said to be in dynamic steady state has values that oscillate between maxima and minima around a central mean value.

The flux of sediment from an undisturbed drainage basin changes over the short-term as rainstorms come and go, individual hillslopes fail in mass movements, and riverbanks collapse. Over the long-term, the flux of sediment from a drainage basin oscillates around a mean value, producing a dynamic steady state, unless there are significant changes in boundary conditions such as climate, vegetation cover, or uplift rate.