River (Geography): Definition, Characteristics & Europe

Have you ever heard of the Amazon or Mississippi? These are two very large rivers. If you were to lay both rivers one behind the other, it would reach from Germany to Japan.3 But not all rivers are that long, because there are many rivers of different lengths. Rivers also differ not only in their length, but also in their characteristics.

But which rivers actually exist in Europe and Germany and what actually is a river delta?

River – Definition

It will Tributaries and Main rivers differentiated. Tributaries flow into other rivers, whereas main rivers end in a terminal lake or a sea. A Endsee is a lake with no further outflow from rivers or similar watercourses.

A river is one of them rivers.

Flowing water includes ditches, streams, rivers or canals.

Rivers – characteristics

Rivers can have various characteristics that can influence their appearance and use. Typical features that characterize a river are:

Flow – size

Rivers can choose according to their Flow size and length can be categorized.

Length is determined by measuring the distance from the beginning of the river to the end of the river.

The flow rate is divided into four different categories: 1

• Streams with an average flow of up to 20 m3/s
• small rivers with an average flow of 20 to 200 m3/s
• large rivers with an average flow of 200 to 2,000 m3/s
• and streams with a flow of at least 2,000 m3/s

The average flow means the average amount of water that flows through the watercourse in one second. This is stated in cubic meters per second, abbreviated m3/s.

River – water network

Rivers have a finely branched structure water network, which extends across the catchment area. You can imagine the network like a tree. Many small branches meander through the catchment area.

Flow – structure

Rivers are usually always structured in a similar way. They begin in a spring and end in an estuary. The entire structure looks like this:

1. source
2. Upper reaches
3. Middle reaches
4. Underflow
5. mouth

The source symbolizes the beginning of the river. Perhaps you have seen a spring like this before, with water just gently trickling out of a rock. Often several springs converge and form a stream that later expands into a river.

The Upper reaches of a river is the part of the river that comes after the source. It is characterized by steep terrain, which makes the water one high flow rate reached.

In the Middle reaches you can River loops find. These are curves in the river, as you can see in Figure 1. Experts speak of this Meander.

Fig. 1 – River Meander

The water in Underflow hardly shows any currents anymore, as there is only little gradient in the lower reaches. Due to the low current, the water masses take up little bank area and the banks are overgrown with plants. The river is widest in its lower reaches.

The end of the river is the mouth. The river either ends in a final lake from which there is no further outlet, or it ends in the sea.

The mouth is often a River delta.

River delta

A river delta is also described as a delta mouth, estuary delta or estuary. As the names already tell you, these are the Mouth of a river into a lake or sea. The mouth has an approximately triangular floor plan and shows the Bifurcation of the main stream into several estuarine arms.

In Figure 2 you can see the Lena river delta – a river in Russia. Here you can clearly see that the river branches into several small estuaries.

Fig. 2 – Lena river delta in false color representation

River delta – formation

With that one River delta can arise, the flow speed of the river must drop to zero. This usually happens through an increasingly decreasing gradient.

The material carried by the flow speed and friction forces – such as earth masses from the bank and plants – is stored as a result of the reduction in the flow speed sediment at the river bottom.

If the sea level remains constant, the river moves its mouth further out to sea over the centuries. The reason for this is the continuous dumping of sediments on the river bottom. After some time, such a large amount of sediment has been deposited that the mouth area silts up.

siltation means that the deposited sediments block the river’s path to the sea or lake. As a result, the river divides further into small estuaries that wind around the silted areas. This creates the typical river delta shape that you can see in Figure 2.

Largest rivers in the world

The two largest rivers in the world are the Nile and the Amazon’s. It is disputed which of the two is considered the longest river in the world. This depends on which source is set as the origin.

The Nile flows through Africa and flows into the Mediterranean. It supplies the dry desert regions of North Africa with water and therefore provides a basis for life for those who live there.

The Amazon, on the other hand, flows through nine different states in South America and shapes the landscape of the Amazon rainforest.

Amazon river

The Amazon River has an approximate length of 6,400 kilometers – depending on which source is defined as the origin.4 It arises in the To the – a mountain range in Peru – and flows into the Atlantic Ocean on the Brazilian coast.

In the rainy season, the water level of the Amazon is at its highest, so that it can sometimes reach depths of 100 meters. During this time, 300 million liters of water per second flow down the Amazon.4

Mississippi river

The Mississippi is with 3,766 kilometers the longest river in North America. The catchment area of ​​the Mississippi is 3.23 million km2, which corresponds to approximately 40 percent of the land mass of the USA.5 It rises in Minnesota and flows into many tributaries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rivers in Europe

The three longest rivers in Europe are: 6

• Volga with 3,530 kilometers
• Danube with 2,845 kilometers
• Dneper with 2,285 kilometers

The Volga is the longest river in Europe. It finds its source in Russia and flows into the Black Sea. It flows right through Russia.

The second longest river in Europe is the Danube. The peculiarity of the Danube is that it flows through 10 countries. It extends through: Germany, where it originates, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine.

The third longest river in Europe is the Dneperwhich also originates in Russia.

Rivers in Germany

Large and important rivers in Germany are:

• the Rhine
• the Danube
• the Elbe
• the Oder
• the Weser

These rivers partly flow through Germany and originate or flow out there. The Danube is the only named river that rises in Germany, more precisely in the Black Forest. The Elbe and the Weser originate in neighboring countries but flow into the North Sea.

In Germany the rivers are used as waterways. Many goods and people are transported across the rivers, including coal, food and clothing in large container ships.