Distributary

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A distributary is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary. Distributaries usually occur as a stream nears a lake or the ocean, but they can occur inland as well, such as in an endorheic basin, or when a tributary stream bifurcates as it nears its confluence with a larger stream.

Contents 1 North America 2 South America 3 Europe 4 Asia 5 Africa

[edit] North America

In Louisiana, for example, the Atchafalaya River splits from the Mississippi River. In some cases, a distributary can "steal" so much water from its parent that it can become the main route. This is actually a serious problem for New Orleans, because the Atchafalaya takes a steeper route to the Gulf of Mexico, and therefore takes more and more water from the Mississippi. This was recently stopped by the construction of the Old River Control Structure, a dam to control the outflow from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya.

An example of inland distributaries is the Teton River, a tributary of Henrys Fork River in Idaho, which splits into two distributary channels, the North Fork and South Fork, which join Henrys Fork miles apart.

[edit] South America

The Casiquiare is a distributary of the upper Orinoco, which flows southward into the Rio Negro and forms a unique natural canal between the Orinoco and Amazon river systems. It is the largest river on the planet that links two major river systems.

[edit] Europe

• The IJssel, the Waal and the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine) are the three principal distributaries of the Rhine.
• The Akhtuba River is a major distributary of the Volga.
• The Pripet River near the Belarus-Ukraine border is a distributary that flows out of the Western Bug River into the Dnieper.

[edit] Asia

Other notable distributaries are the Kollidam River, a distributary of the Kaveri River, and the Hoogli River, a distributary of the Ganges River, both in India.

[edit] Africa

The Okavango River ends in many distributaries in a large inland delta called the Okavango Delta. It is an example of distributaries that do not flow into any other body of water.