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The Rivers Portal

Introduction

A river is a natural freshwater stream that flows 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 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 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 carves 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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The Jiloca in Calamocha, Teruel

The Jiloca (Spanish pronunciation: [xiˈloka]) is a river in Aragón, Spain, a tributary of the river Jalón, and part of the watershed of the Ebro basin. The course of the river runs through the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza. It has a length of 126 kilometres (78 mi) and an average flow rate of 2.1 cubic metres per second (74 cu ft/s), although this varies between the seasons. The river flows in a generally north easterly direction from its source near Monreal del Campo.

The valley was an historic route between the Meseta Central and the Mediterranean coast. Roman bridges remain in many pueblos and remains of watermills can be seen. The water is generally of good quality and supports a range of wildlife. Cleaning works by the regional government have been criticised by environmental organisations who claim that the ecology has been damaged. The watershed covers an area of 2,957 square kilometres (1,142 sq mi). (Full article...)

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St. Johns River Columbia River Colorado River Aliso Creek (Orange County) Balch Creek Big Butte Creek Bull Run River (Oregon) Chetco River Willamette River Rogue River (Oregon) Columbia Slough Fanno Creek Johnson Creek (Willamette River tributary) Jordan River (Utah) Larrys Creek Little Butte Creek Plunketts Creek (Loyalsock Creek tributary) River Parrett Tryon Creek Waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park White Deer Hole Creek Covering of the Senne Neepaulakating Creek River Welland Sava Estuaries of Texas Great Zab Hudson River River Torrens Adams River (British Columbia) List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem) Stony Brook (Charles River tributary, Boston) Mud Creek (Chillisquaque Creek tributary) Ombla River Brue Petitcodiac River River Torrens Missouri River Kissena Creek Little Fishing Creek River Avon, Bristol Merced River Severn bore Minnehaha Park (Minneapolis) Shimna River Messers Run River Hull Gowanus Canal River Tone Scotch Run (Catawissa Creek tributary)

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I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river is a strong brown god—sullen, untamed and intractable. — T. S. Eliot, "Four Quartets," in The Dry Salvages

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Photograph: Poco a poco

Gran Valira river spanned by the Pont de la Margineda in Andorra

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

Image 1New Zealand longfin eels can weigh over 50 kilograms. (from River ecosystem)
Image 2Devil's Throat Cave subterranean river from above (from Subterranean river)
Image 3Rafting 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 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 5The Puerto Princesa cave can be entered by boat. (from Subterranean river)
Image 6Flowing rivers can act as dispersal vectors for plant matter and invertebrates. (from River ecosystem)
Image 7A forest stream in the winter near Erzhausen, Germany (from River ecosystem)
Image 8In Dante's Inferno, Charon ferries souls across the subterranean river Acheron. (from Subterranean river)
Image 9Leaf litter is an allochthonous energy source. (from River ecosystem)
Image 10Common water hyacinth in flower (from River ecosystem)
Image 11Cascade in the Pyrénées (from River ecosystem)
Image 12Pondweed is an autochthonous energy source. (from River ecosystem)
Image 13The 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 14This stream operating together with its environment can be thought of as forming a river ecosystem. (from River ecosystem)
Image 15Periphyton (from River ecosystem)
Image 16Whitewater at Yosemite (from Whitewater)
Image 17A subterranean river in the Cross Cave system of Slovenia. (Scale shown by people in photograph.) (from Subterranean river)
Image 18A weir on the River Calder, West Yorkshire (from River ecosystem)
Image 19Example 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 20Co-occurrence network of a bacterial community in a stream (from River ecosystem)
Image 21Rapids in Mount Robson Provincial Park (from River ecosystem)
Image 22The brook trout is native to small streams, creeks, lakes, and spring ponds. (from River ecosystem)
Image 23Anthropogenic 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 24Different biofilm components in streams. Principal components are algae and bacteria. (from River ecosystem)
Image 25A pensive Cooplacurripa River, NSW (from River ecosystem)
Image 26Map of the world showing elevation levels (from Upland and lowland)
Image 27Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park (from River ecosystem)

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Did you know?

... that the Kettle Creek (pictured) watershed contains eight percent of the Class A Wild Trout Streams in Pennsylvania?
... that water from the Little Applegate River was used in the mine in Sterlingville, the largest hydraulic mine in Oregon and possibly the entire western United States?
... that there are at least 35 sources of acid mine drainage in the Mahanoy Creek watershed?

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Photograph: Fredlyfish4

Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi

Topics

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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