What is it called when a river flows into another?

What is it called when a river flows into another?

A tributary is a freshwater stream that feeds into a larger stream, river or other body of water. The larger, or parent, river is called the mainstem.

What are the terms associated with rivers?

A Glossary of River Words

  • Thalweg. noun 1 : subsurface water percolating beneath and in the same direction as a surface stream course 2 : the middle of the chief navigable channel of a waterway which constitutes a boundary line between states.
  • Oxbow.
  • Alluvium.
  • Delta.
  • Riparian.
  • Fluvial.
  • Meander.

What is it called when a river splits into two?

River bifurcation (from Latin: furca, fork) occurs when a river flowing in a single stream separates into two or more separate streams (called distributaries) which then continue downstream. Some rivers form complex networks of distributaries, typically in their deltas.

What is another name for a river that flows into the ground?

In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to geographic features,…

What is the point where two rivers meet called?

The point where the two bends intersect is called a meander cut-off. Static map. The low-lying area on either side of a river is called a floodplain. The floodplain is covered with water when the river overflows it banks during spring floods or periods of heavy rain.

What happens to the water in a river when it bends?

The water flows faster in these deeper sections and erodes material from the river bank. The water flows more slowly in the shallow areas near the inside of each bend. The slower water can’t carry as much sediment and deposits its load on a series of point bars.

Where does the Arkansas River start and end?

The Arkansas River originates high in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains near Leadville, Colorado, and it ends in eastern Arkansas at the confluence with the Mississippi River where the town of Napoleon (Desha County) once stood. The river is 1,460 miles long and flows across three states before making its way into Arkansas.