[Illustration: +Fig.+ 136.—Diagram to illustrate superimposition. The consequent stream on the upper formation is superimposed on the underlying structures when the upper bed has been cut through.] As base-level is approached, the outcrops of hard rock are brought low. When they have been reduced to the level of their surroundings, the streams may flow without regard to the resistance of the rock beneath, for downward cutting has ceased. As this stage of erosion is approached, a readjustment of the drainage may take place, and the waters which had taken long and circuitous courses to avoid hard rock, may change their courses to more direct ones (compare Figs. 130 and 135). Adjustment is, therefore, a relative term, and streams which are adjusted at one stage of erosion, are not necessarily adjusted at another. It sometimes happens that rocks of unequal resistance are covered by beds of uniform hardness. A consequent stream developed on the latter may find itself out of structural adjustment when it has cut its channel down to the level of the heterogeneous beds below. Such a stream is said to be _superimposed_ (Fig. 136) on the underlying structure. Structural adjustment is likely to follow. INFLUENCE OF JOINTS AND FOLDS. =Joints.=—Various structural features of rock other than hardness influence its erosion. Apart from the stratification planes, most rock formations are affected by joints or fissures. The joints are often, but not always, nearly vertical. Two sets are generally present, and sometimes more. If but two, they usually meet at a large angle; if more than two, two are likely to be nearly perpendicular to each other, while the third and fourth sets have such directions as to cut the others at large angles. These joints allow the ingress of water, roots, etc., which help to weather and disrupt rocks. Occasionally there is notable sag of the beds of rock along joint planes, but this effect is usually superficial only (Fig. 137). Where the jointage planes are frequent and open, the columns bounded by them sometimes topple over on cliff faces, either by undercutting, or by the wedge-work of roots or ice. The effect of joints on erosion may often be seen along a stream which flows in a rock gorge. In such situations, the outlines of the banks are sometimes angular, and sometimes crenate (Fig. 138), the reëntrants being located at the joints. By working into and widening joints, running water sometimes isolates masses of rock as islands (Fig. 139). In a region free from mantle rock, or where the mantle rock is meagre, joints often determine the courses of valleys by directing the course of surface drainage. This is shown in many parts of the arid west. In regions where the rocks are notably faulted, the courses of the streams are sometimes controlled by the courses of the fault planes. This is the case, for example, in central Washington.[55]