Stream capture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stream capture, or stream piracy, is a geomorphic phenomenon that occurs when a stream or river from a neighboring drainage system or watershed erodes through the divide between two streams and "captures" another stream which then is diverted from its former bed and now flows down the bed of the capturing stream. This can occur through headward erosion of one stream valley into another or through lateral erosion of meanders through the sediments between parallel streams.
One instance of a stream capture is the capture of the Rio Grande which before capture flowed into a closed basin, Lake Cabeza de Vaca, but after capture flowed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Within an area of karst topography streams may sink or flow underground (sinking or losing streams) and reappear in a nearby stream valley. An example of this karst stream capturing currently developing in Germany is the Donauversickerung (Danube Sink), where a big portion of the upper parts of the Danube river sink into the limestone bedrock, and resurface in Aachtopf spring, a tributary to the Rhine river.
An example is the Teays River, captured by the Ohio River. It is also likely that much of the Grand Canyon developed as a result of headward erosion and stream piracy.
