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The "flow regime" of a river or stream includes the general patterns of discharge over annual or decadal time scales, and may capture seasonal changes in flow. [7] [8] While water flow is strongly determined by slope, flowing waters can alter the general shape or direction of the stream bed, a characteristic also known as geomorphology. The ...
A river that feeds into another is a tributary, and the place they meet is a confluence. [4] Rivers must flow to lower altitudes due to gravity. [3] The bed of a river is typically within a river valley between hills or mountains. Rivers flowing through an impermeable section of land such as rocks will erode the slopes on the sides of the river ...
Changes in the steepness of the stream gradient, the amount of sediment contained in the river, and the total amount of water flowing through the system, all influence how a river behaves. There is a delicate equilibrium that controls a river system, which, when disturbed, causes flooding and incising events to occur and produce terracing. [3] [4]
The Colorado River (Spanish: Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.The 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river, the 5th longest in the United States, drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states.
As per the classification of Food and Agriculture Organization, the rivers systems are combined into 20 river units, which includes 14 major rivers systems and 99 smaller river basins grouped into six river units. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin is the largest, which covers 34% of the land area and contributes to nearly 59% of the available ...
The River Continuum Concept is based on the idea that a watercourse is an open ecosystem that is in constant interaction with the bank, and moving from source to mouth, constantly changing. [4] Basis for this change in the overall system is due to the gradual change of physical environmental conditions such as the width, depth, water, flow ...
The five largest river basins (by area), from largest to smallest, are those of the Amazon (7 million km 2), the Congo (4 million km 2), the Nile (3.4 million km 2), the Mississippi (3.22 million km 2), and the Río de la Plata (3.17 million km 2). The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganges, and Congo ...
[6] [7] The land area producing runoff that drains to a common point is called a drainage basin. Runoff that occurs on the ground surface before reaching a channel can be a nonpoint source of pollution , as it can carry human-made contaminants or natural forms of pollution (such as rotting leaves).