Portal:Rivers

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The Rivers Portal

Introduction

A river is a natural flowing freshwater stream, flowing on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it runs out of water, or only flow during certain seasons. Rivers are regulated by the water cycle, the processes by which water moves around the Earth. Water first enters rivers through precipitation, whether that be from the runoff of water down a slope, the melting of glaciers or snow, or seepage from aquifers beneath the surface of the Earth.

Rivers flow and merge together in confluences to form drainage basins, areas where all water eventually flows to a common outlet. Rivers have a great effect on the landscape around them. They may regularly overflow their banks and flood the surrounding area, spreading nutrients to the surrounding area. Sediment or alluvium carried by rivers shapes the landscape around it, forming deltas and islands where the flow slows down. Rivers rarely run in a straight line, instead they bend or meander; the locations of a river's banks can change frequently. Rivers get their alluvium from erosion, which serves to carve rock into canyons and valleys.

Rivers have sustained human and animal life for millennia, including the first human civilizations. The organisms that live around or in a river such as fish, aquatic plants, and insects have different roles, including processing organic matter and predation. Rivers have produced abundant resources for humans, including food, transportation, drinking water, and recreation. Humans have engineered rivers to prevent flooding, irrigate crops, perform work with water wheels, and produce hydroelectricity from dams. People associate rivers with life and fertility, and have strong religious, political, social, and mythological attachments to them. (Full article...)

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Mud Creek looking downstream in Derry Township

Mud Creek is a tributary of Chillisquaque Creek in Columbia County and Montour County in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 8.3 miles (13.4 km) long and flows through Madison Township, Columbia County and Derry Township, Montour County. The main tributaries of the creek are unnamed tributaries. The creek's watershed has an area of 17.70 square miles and is in West Hemlock Township, Montour County as well as the two townships it flows through. The watershed is mostly agricultural and forested and the main developed areas are Washingtonville and Jerseytown.

As of 2011, the daily load of sediment in Mud Creek is 24,165.59 pounds (10,961.33 kg) and the daily load of phosphorus is 16.64 pounds (7.55 kg). Various other compounds and metals are also found in the creek. The main rock formations in the watershed include the Hamilton Group, the Trimmers Rock Formation, and the Onondaga and Old Port Formations. The main soil series are the Watson-Berks-Alvira series, the Chenango-Pope-Holly series, and the Berks-Weikert-Bedington series. The watershed is in the ridge and valley region of the Appalachian Mountains. (Full article...)

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Dordogne in Perigord, south-western France, near Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

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The following are images from various river-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A forest stream in the winter near Erzhausen, Germany (from River ecosystem)
Image 2Anthropogenic influences on river systems. Examples are mainly from settings with a modest technological influence, especially in the period of about 10,000 to 4000 cal yr BP. (from River ecosystem)
Image 3The brook trout is native to small streams, creeks, lakes, and spring ponds. (from River ecosystem)
Image 4The cave of source of the Buna can be entered by boat and dived through a cave system serving as an effluence of the Zalomka. (from Subterranean river)
Image 5In Dante's Inferno, Charon ferries souls across the subterranean river Acheron. (from Subterranean river)
Image 6Pondweed is an autochthonous energy source. (from River ecosystem)
Image 7New Zealand longfin eels can weigh over 50 kilograms. (from River ecosystem)
Image 8Different biofilm components in streams. Principal components are algae and bacteria. (from River ecosystem)
Image 9Common water hyacinth in flower (from River ecosystem)
Image 10A weir on the River Calder, West Yorkshire (from River ecosystem)
Image 11A subterranean river in the Cross Cave system of Slovenia. (Scale shown by people in photograph.) (from Subterranean river)
Image 12Cascade in the Pyrénées (from River ecosystem)
Image 13Whitewater at Yosemite (from Whitewater)
Image 14This stream operating together with its environment can be thought of as forming a river ecosystem. (from River ecosystem)
Image 15Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park (from River ecosystem)
Image 16Rafting is a watersport where buoyancy aids, helmets and wetsuits are mandatory and often imposed by law, due to the constant risk of falling off the boat and into the rapids (from Whitewater)
Image 17Leaf litter is an allochthonous energy source. (from River ecosystem)
Image 18A pensive Cooplacurripa River, NSW (from River ecosystem)
Image 19Devil's Throat Cave subterranean river from above (from Subterranean river)
Image 20The Puerto Princesa cave can be entered by boat. (from Subterranean river)
Image 21Example of a river food web. Bacteria can be seen in the red box at the bottom. Bacteria (and other decomposers, like worms) decompose and recycle nutrients back to the habitat, which is shown by the light blue arrows. Without bacteria, the rest of the food web would starve, because there would not be enough nutrients for the animals higher up in the food web. The dark orange arrows show how some animals consume others in the food web. For example, lobsters may be eaten by humans. The dark blue arrows represent one complete food chain, beginning with the consumption of algae by the water flea, Daphnia, which is consumed by a small fish, which is consumed by a larger fish, which is at the end consumed by the great blue heron. (from River ecosystem)
Image 22Rapids in Mount Robson Provincial Park (from River ecosystem)
Image 23The Effra is one of the subterranean rivers of London. It empties into the Thames by Vauxhall Bridge, from which this photograph was taken. (from Subterranean river)
Image 24Map of the world showing elevation levels (from Upland and lowland)
Image 25Periphyton (from River ecosystem)
Image 26Co-occurrence network of a bacterial community in a stream (from River ecosystem)
Image 27Flowing rivers can act as dispersal vectors for plant matter and invertebrates. (from River ecosystem)

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Did you know?

... that 25 million tourists—more than twice the population of the entire state—visited the Mandakini River in Uttarakhand in 2011?
... that for three years, an illegal gold-mining settlement on the Amur river went on to host high-class hotels, have public healthcare, and even have a casino?
... that Boom Hall was named after a defensive structure on the River Foyle that was breached during the 1689 Siege of Derry?

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The Indus River near Leh, Ladakh, India

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v t e Rivers, streams and springs
Rivers (lists)	Alluvial river Braided river Blackwater river Channel Channel pattern Channel types Confluence Distributary Drainage basin Subterranean river River bifurcation River ecosystem River source Tributary
Streams	Arroyo Bourne Burn Chalk stream Coulee Current Stream bed Stream channel Streamflow Stream gradient Stream pool Perennial stream Winterbourne
Springs (list)	Estavelle/Inversac Geyser Holy well Hot spring list list in the US Karst spring list Mineral spring Ponor Rhythmic spring Spring horizon
Sedimentary processes and erosion	Abrasion Anabranch Aggradation Armor Bed load Bed material load Granular flow Debris flow Deposition Dissolved load Downcutting Erosion Headward erosion Knickpoint Palaeochannel Progradation Retrogradation Saltation Secondary flow Sediment transport Suspended load Wash load Water gap
Fluvial landforms	Ait Alluvial fan Antecedent drainage stream Avulsion Bank Bar Bayou Billabong Canyon Chine Cut bank Estuary Floating island Fluvial terrace Gill Gulch Gully Glen Meander scar Mouth bar Oxbow lake Riffle-pool sequence Point bar Ravine Rill River island Rock-cut basin Sedimentary basin Sedimentary structures Strath Thalweg River valley Wadi
Fluvial flow	Helicoidal flow International scale of river difficulty Log jam Meander Plunge pool Rapids Riffle Shoal Stream capture Waterfall Whitewater
Surface runoff	Agricultural wastewater First flush Urban runoff
Floods and stormwater	100-year flood Crevasse splay Flash flood Flood Urban flooding Non-water flood Flood barrier Flood control Flood forecasting Flood-meadow Floodplain Flood pulse concept Flooded grasslands and savannas Inundation Storm Water Management Model Return period
Point source pollution	Effluent Industrial wastewater Sewage
River measurement and modelling	Baer's law Baseflow Bradshaw model Discharge (hydrology) Drainage density Exner equation Groundwater model Hack's law Hjulström curve Hydrograph Hydrological model Hydrological transport model Infiltration (hydrology) Main stem Playfair's law Relief ratio River Continuum Concept Rouse number Runoff curve number Runoff model (reservoir) Stream gauge Universal Soil Loss Equation WAFLEX Wetted perimeter Volumetric flow rate
River engineering	Aqueduct Balancing lake Canal Check dam Dam Drop structure Daylighting Detention basin Erosion control Fish ladder Floodplain restoration Flume Infiltration basin Leat Levee River morphology Retention basin Revetment Riparian-zone restoration Stream restoration Weir
River sports	Canyoning Fly fishing Rafting River surfing Riverboarding Stone skipping Triathlon Whitewater canoeing Whitewater kayaking Whitewater slalom
Related	Aquifer Aquatic toxicology Body of water Hydraulic civilization Limnology Riparian zone River valley civilization River cruise Sacred waters Surface water Wild river
Rivers by length Rivers by discharge rate Drainage basins Whitewater rivers Flash floods River name etymologies Countries without rivers

v t e River morphology
Large-scale features	Alluvial plain Drainage basin Drainage system (geomorphology) Estuary Strahler number (stream order) River valley River delta River sinuosity
Alluvial rivers	Anabranch Avulsion (river) Bar (river morphology) Braided river Channel pattern Cut bank Floodplain Meander Meander cutoff Mouth bar Oxbow lake Point bar Riffle Rapids Riparian zone River bifurcation River channel migration River mouth Slip-off slope Stream pool Thalweg
Bedrock river	Canyon Knickpoint Plunge pool
Bedforms	Ait Antidune Dune Current ripple
Regional processes	Aggradation Base level Degradation (geology) Erosion and tectonics River rejuvenation
Mechanics	Deposition (geology) Water erosion Exner equation Hack's law Helicoidal flow Playfair's law Sediment transport List of rivers that have reversed direction
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