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 it called when rivers meet the sea?

Estuaries: Where the River Meets the Sea.

Where does the water come from at the start of a river name 2 places?

A river can have more than one source. Some rivers begin where a natural spring releases water from underground. The source of the River Thames is a spring. Some rivers begin in mountains or hills, where rain water or snowmelt collects and forms small channels, .

Where two or more small stream of rivers join the main river is called?

tributary
A tributary is a freshwater stream that feeds into a larger stream or river. The larger, or parent, river is called the mainstem. The point where a tributary meets the mainstem is called the confluence.

What is tributary and distributary?

Tributaries are small streams of water that originates from the glacier and join together to form a river. Distributaries are formed when the river breaks down into small streamlets or channels.

What is the end of the river called?

mouth
The headwater can come from rainfall or snowmelt in mountains, but it can also bubble up from groundwater or form at the edge of a lake or large pond. The other end of a river is called its mouth, where water empties into a larger body of water, such as a lake or ocean.

What happens when river meets sea?

When river water meets sea water, the lighter fresh water rises up and over the denser salt water. Sea water noses into the estuary beneath the outflowing river water, pushing its way upstream along the bottom. Often, as in the Fraser River, this occurs at an abrupt salt front.

What happens as a river ages?

Old Age: A stage in the development of a landscape when streams have a low gradient (slope) and meander back and forth across broad floodplains. The landscape is marked by meander scars, oxbow lakes, levees, point bars and swamps. Its course is graded to base level and running through a peneplain, or broad flat area.

Where does water come from in rivers?

The amount of water in rivers and lakes is always changing due to inflows and outflows. Inflows to these water bodies will be from precipitation, overland runoff, groundwater seepage, and tributary inflows.

Where do two rivers join together?

A confluence occurs when two or more flowing bodies of water join together to form a single channel. Confluences occur where a tributary joins a larger river, where two rivers join to create a third or, where two separated channels of a river, having formed an island, rejoin downstream.

What do you call when two water streams join?

The meeting of two or more rivers or any other bodies of water is called a confluence. This phenomenon happens when tributaries join a larger river or when streams join to become one river. Confluences happen all over the world.