The mixing process in fluid flow is presented as the bending and stretching of material lines or filaments. A mixing exponent, which quantifies their specific rate of stretching, is defined and analyzed for the case of groundwater flow though stratified formations characterized by a Gaussian autocovariance function. The analysis is performed for purely advective mixing as well as for advective-dispersive mixing. The mixing exponent was found to be proportional to the variance of hydraulic conductivity and inversely proportional to the correlation scale of hydraulic conductivity and to the pore-level dispersion coefficient.