- Fact 2 - All rivers start at the
highest point in an area called the source. As it flows
downstream, it gains more water from other streams, rivers,
springs, rainfall, and other water sources.
- Fact 3 - Rivers have been a source
of food since pre-history
- Fact 4 - The riverbed is the ground
at the bottom of rivers - often made up of sand and stones
- Fact 5 - The gravel and sand,
generated and moved by rivers are extensively used in
construction
- Fact 6 - A Confluence is where two
rivers meet
- Fact 7 - Downstream is the
direction that rivers flow - towards the mouth of rivers
- Fact 8 - A Drainage Basin is the
area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries. The
boundary of a river basin is called the watershed.
- Fact 9 - An Estuary occurs near or
at the mouth of rivers, where the tide meets the current and the
fresh and salt waters mix.
- Fact 10 - Flooding occurs when
rivers are filled with too much water. The water breaks through
the river banks and spreads over the surrounding land.
- Fact 11 - The flood plain is the
flat land of the river valley close to the river banks. The
floodplain is usually found in the lower course of a river. It
is a fertile area of land, used for agriculture and growing
crops.
- Fact 12 - The Mouth is the end of
the river
- Fact 13 - Rapids are fast-flowing
stretches of water formed where the river surface breaks up into
waves because rocks are near to the surface.
- Fact 14 - Sediment is the material
that has been carried by rivers or the sea and then deposited.
Sediment may be called alluvium if it deposited on the bed or a
river.
- Fact 15 - Rivers are divided into
three primary zones: the crenon, rhithron and potamon
- The crenon is the uppermost zone at
the source of rivers
- The rhithron is the upstream
portion of rivers
- The potamon is the downstream
stretch of rivers
- Fact 16 - A watershed is the term
given to the land that drains water into a particular stream,
lake, or river.
- Fact 17 - A waterfall is a sudden
drop in a river as it flows over a rock cliff.
- Fact 18 - The River Nile is the
longest river in the world. It measures 6,695 kilometres from
its source in Burundi to its delta on the Mediterranean Sea.
- Fact 19 - The
Amazon River is
the second longest river in the World approximately 6400
kilometres (4000 miles)
- Fact 20 - The world's shortest
river is the Roe River which is 200 feet (61 meters) long and
flows between Giant Springs and the Missouri River near Great
Falls, Montana.
- Fact 21 - The longest river of
Europe is the River Volga which flows through Russia into the
Caspian Sea. The second longest is the Danube, flows west to
east before entering the Black Sea.
- Fact 22 - The Chang Jiang is the
longest river in China and in Asia and flows east for a distance
of 6300 km before it drains into the Yellow Sea.
- Fact 23 - The 8 largest rivers in
the U.S., based on volume, are (in descending order) the
Mississippi, St. Lawrence, Ohio, Columbia, Yukon, Missouri,
Tennessee and the Mobile.
- Fact 24 - A dam is a barrier built
for holding back water or diverting the flow of water. 600,000
miles of our rivers lie behind an estimated 60,000 to 80,000
dams
- Fact 25 - 1.2 Billion people
world-wide who do not have access to clean water
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