Characteristics of rivers: basic parameters

To date, no one can tell exactly how many rivers the world has. After all, everything depends on what can be considered a river, and what - a stream. So, for example, if you add the length of all rivers in Russia, you will get more than 8 million kilometers. The total number, if you count large and small, is close to 2.5 million. The largest rivers on the entire globe are not more than 50, and their total length is about 200,000 km. But what does the river consist of , what is the source and mouth of the river?

Geographical significance of the river

The river is a stream of fresh water, which moves in a fixed bed and replenishes mainly due to precipitation. Before you understand the characteristics of freshwater flows, you need to remember a few key terms:

• The riverbed is a depression, along which flows the river's water. It is usually fixed, meandering with alternating small and deep places. Due to geographical changes or other factors, the riverbed may change, leaving pits and hollows behind it. So, for example, in India there is the Kosi River, it almost annually paves a new path, washing away everything that meets on its way.

• The source is the beginning of the river. They can be a spring, a melting glacier, any other pond or place of confluence of two water streams.
• The mouth is the place where the river ends, it flows into the sea, the ocean or another water stream.
• The river system is not only the river itself, but also its tributaries.
• The river basin is a certain territory with which all the water is collected. All the basins are divided by watersheds, their role is played by uplands.

The main parameters of the characteristics of rivers

The main characteristic of rivers is the size, flow speed, water flow, runoff, drop and type of power.

The difference is the difference between the source and mouth heights. The higher the fall, the greater the flow velocity in the river.

The flow velocity is measured in m / sec. Not everywhere it will be the same, the sites have different terrain and the slope of the riverbed is different.

The water flow rate shows how many cubic meters passed in 1 second through the cross-section of the channel.

The river feeds in several ways: rainwater, after the melting of ice, from underground sources and glaciers. Feed on the rain rivers located in the tropics. Snow fed by the rivers of temperate belts and located in the northern hemisphere, and glacial has mountain rivers. There are several main types of feeding rivers:

1. Equatorial - only rains all year round.
2. Subequatorial - the river feeds at the expense of rains, but it is uneven, and seasonal.
3. Subtropical - rain with a rise in the level of the river in winter and shallowing in summer.
4. Subarctic is a snow-fed food that provides a water level rise in the summer and a sharp shallowing in winter, when most of the rivers freeze.
5. Lake - the river is fed all the year round fully and does not depend on other types of food.
6. Mountainous - in the high mountains at night the rivers become shallow, and in the daytime they are replenished due to the melting of glaciers and snow.

Also very often you can hear about the regime of the river. But not everyone knows what the regime of the river is. What does it depend on? The answer is very simple, the regime of rivers is the course of perennial, seasonal and diurnal river flow changes in the riverbed. Changes can occur very quickly, it all depends on where and in what conditions the river flows.

Rivers flow among the plains, flow down from the mountains, in their entire life they can change their path several thousand times, become shallower or, on the contrary, become more full.

Features of the flow of rivers

What is the source and mouth of the river, it is already known, but what features of the water flow in each of them? After all, it is known that there are rivers with standing water and a quiet current, and there are those where water runs at such a speed that it can carry any, even the biggest, obstacle on its way.

The nature of the current and the speed of the river depend on the relief, incline and water drop. On the plains the river streams are wide, calm, and the slope of the fall is small. These rivers include the Volga, the Danube, the Dnieper, the Neman. But there are also those that flow among the mountain hills. They are characterized by rapid and strong flows, many rapids and sometimes high waterfalls are found on their way. Such rivers have a huge amount of fall, which means that the nature of the current is quite different. These streams include Terek, Rioni, Tiger and Yangtze.

The climate depends on the high water content, the regime, and sometimes the feeding of rivers. In humid conditions, rivers remain full at any time of the year, and in dry climates they dry up very often and feed only on precipitated precipitation, and there are not very many of them in a year.

Mountain rivers are cold, because they feed on melting glaciers located on tops. But if you walk along the whole riverbed, at the very end of the river the water can be very warm, as during its journey it is heated under the scorching sun rays.

What is a mountain and flat river?

Already managed to figure out what the regime of the river is, but what kind of river are there? After all, they can simply run among the plains or go down from high mountains.

Plain rivers are water streams that pass through a flat terrain with small clones and flow velocity. Similar rivers flow in the developed valleys with a winding channel, where swells and rolling alternate.

Mountain rivers originate in the mountains or foothills. They have steep slopes and stony channels, cluttered with fragments of rocks. For such rivers, there are large slopes and flow velocity, small depths. Often on the way of these rivers there are waterfalls and rapids, also erosion processes prevail.

There are also mountain-plain rivers, which start far in the mountains, then gradually pass into a quiet flat river.

The 5 largest rivers in the world

The name of the rivers, the largest in the whole world, is known to every person. A list of the world's 5 largest and deepest rivers is headed by the Amazon, which is considered the heart of South America. Until recently, it was considered 2 in the list of the largest after the Nile. But after scientists took a small source of Ucayali for the true beginning of the river, it began to be considered the longest. Its length is more than 7 thousand km.

In second place was the African river Nile. It is considered a sacred river, because only because of it can survive people living in the harsh and very dry climate of Africa. During the rainy season, the river spills, allowing the population of Africa to engage in agriculture, on its banks grow rice. The length of the second major river of the world is slightly more than 6800 km, and the river basin has an area of more than 3 million square meters. Km.

The Yangtze is another major river in the world, considered the most important deep-water stream in Eurasia. This river can be considered a mountain-plain, since it originates in the Tibetan Plateau, after passing the Sino-Tibetan Mountains and further merges into the Sichuan Basin. The length of this very deep river is about 6.3 thousand km, and the area of the basin is about 1.8 million sq. Km. Km.

The Yellow River , or the Yellow River, is another major river in the world, with a source in the mountains of Tibet. Its length is about 5 thousand km, and the pool area - 700 thousand square meters. Km.

The name of the rivers located on the territory of Russia can be found on the map. Among them there is one that is included in the list of the five largest - it is the Ob. Its length is slightly more than 5,400 km, and the pool area is almost the same as that of the Nile - 3 million square meters. Km. This water flow originates in Russia, and then passes through Kazakhstan and ends its journey in China.

The large rivers of the world are of great importance for the industrial and economic development of the states on whose territory they flow. Rivers give life-giving moisture to people. In addition, there are many fish in the rivers, which feed not only animals but also humans.

List of the smallest rivers in the world

But not only large rivers are on the planet. There are also the smallest ones that have their significance for people living on its shores. The smallest rivers:

• Reprua - this river flows in Abkhazia, and its length is only 18 meters. In addition, it is considered the coldest river on the Black Sea coast.
• Kovasselva - this water stream is located on the Norwegian island of Khitra, and its length is no more than 20 meters.

Amazing rivers of the world

The characteristics of rivers are not only information about whether they are large or small in size. Also on the planet there are unusual and amazing water currents, which attract attention by their originality.

Cagno Cristales is the most colorful river, it is in Colombia. Most often, it is called the river of five colors. Such a bright and unusual variety of shades the river gets thanks to the algae living in its water. If you look at the water in it, you might think that the rainbow fell into the water.

Tsitarum is the dirtiest river on the planet. It is located in Indonesia, and dirty because in its basin there are more than 5 million people. All the waste people throw into its waters. If you look at the river from afar, you can not even immediately understand what it is, there is a feeling that you are looking at a dump.

Congo is the deepest river on the planet. It flows in Central Africa, in some places its depth reaches 230 meters, and perhaps even more.

El Rio-Vinegre is the most acidic river. It flows past the Puraza volcano in Colombia. In its water contains more than 11 parts of sulfuric acid and 9 parts of hydrochloric acid. In this river there can not be any living creatures.

Life in rivers: plants

The characteristics of rivers are not only food, extension and other parameters, but also animals with plants. After all, every water flow, whether it is the largest or small, has its own life. In each fast or quiet river, many plants have found their shelter, which adapt themselves to life in a particular stream, with its flow characteristics, water temperature and other parameters.

Plants of rivers can be divided into 5 main groups:

1. Plants that are in the water and on land. They begin their growth at the bottom of the river, and the upper part of them rises above the water. These include reed, cane, horsetail, cattail and arrowhead.
2. Plants whose roots are attached to the bottom, and the leaves float on the surface of the water. Such plants are the white water lily and the river bed floating.
3. Plants with roots at the bottom, whose leaves remain in the water - it's ubulet and rdest ordinary.
4. Plants are floating, not having roots at the bottom. One of such plants is duckweed.
5. Plants that inhabit the middle layer of water - hornwort, filamentous algae and elodea.

Life of rivers: animal life

The characteristics of rivers are also animals that can not exist anywhere except in water. In the rivers lives not only a large number of species of fish, but also other living organisms:

• Plankton are living organisms living in the water column, they seem to soar in a pond and are surrendered to the power of the current. Plankton is the main food for many fish.
• Benthos. This group includes benthic organisms.
• Necton is actively moving animals, able to overcome the current. To date, there are more than 20 thousand species of nekton, they include fish, squid, cetaceans, pinnipeds, turtles and others.
• Neuston - animals and plant organisms that live on the surface of the water, bordering the atmosphere.
• Pleiston are animals and plant organisms semi-submerged in water, that is, capable of living simultaneously in both water and air.
• Epineuston refers to organisms that live on a surface film.
• Hyponeuston - organisms associated with a surface film, but living under it.
• Peripheron - organisms living on the surface of submerged objects.

In the rivers live also mammals: beavers, otters, muskrats, and reptiles: turtles, snakes, crocodiles.

How are the rivers used?

People in ancient times believed that water is life. They often built houses on the banks of rivers and ponds, so that it would be easier for them to deal with everyday life. The use of the river helps not only to do household chores, but also to manage their own economy. Water from rivers is used for drinking, cleaning it beforehand, it prepares food for themselves and animals, they are used for watering plants.

Today, water from rivers is cleaned at special stations and piped to the houses of large megacities. Also, rivers are often used for rafting wood, as a way of traveling over long distances. In the rivers they bathe and fish. The rivers are also very beautiful landscapes, because it's nice to sit on the beach and enjoy the fresh moist air, admiring the surroundings.

And how much water is needed for industrial enterprises, which also build closer to the rivers ?! Due to this neighborhood, any enterprise can eat water from the reservoir. In remote countries - Africa or South America - where the climate is very dry and the rivers often dry out, these rivers are the main source of drinking for wild animals, even if they are dry in some places. But in the rainy season, they again become full.

Without rivers our planet would not be so beautiful and real. They, like water sleeves, braid the globe and give life-giving moisture, but the task of mankind is to exert all its forces to preserve their purity and beauty.