Rivers often change their course, but they do not always do so gradually. River avulsions are a bit like earthquakes — they happen suddenly and with disastrous potential. Researchers find Keep reading
Tag: rivers
Meandering
The banks of rivers are in constant flux, a pattern most easily captured from above. This satellite image shows a section of the Ivalo River in Finland, swollen with snowmelt Keep reading
Making a Miniature River
Despite wide differences in ecology and geology, rivers around the world share certain fundamental features. Physicists study these characteristics by creating small-scale rivers in the laboratory, like the experiment featured Keep reading
Preventing Flooding
The Dutch have been exceptional water engineers for centuries, a necessity in a country where more than a quarter of its territory lies below sea level. After a devastating flood Keep reading
How Canal Locks Work
For thousands of years, boats have been a critical component of trade, efficiently enabling transport of goods over large distances. But water’s self-leveling creates challenges when moving up and downstream Keep reading
Renewing the Colorado River
The Glen Canyon Dam lies on the Colorado River, upstream of the Grand Canyon. Because the dam blocks sediment from upstream, the region’s only sediment sources are two tributary rivers Keep reading
Siberia’s Rivers
Each winter the Kolyma River in Siberia freezes to a depth of several meters. But by June the river thaws and discharges its annual 136 cubic kilometers of water into Keep reading
Forming an Oxbow
Without human intervention, meandering rivers become more sinuous over time. This is driven by the flow around a river bend, which tends to push sediment from the outer bank of Keep reading
Namibia From Above
From above, we see an all-new perspective on the flows of air and water that shape our world. Although they look like abstract art, these aerial photographs of Namibia by Keep reading
Watery Veins
Glacial river veins wend and meander through these aerial photographs of Iceland by photographer Stas Bartnikas. Rivers naturally change their course over time, but here seasonal melts and the slow Keep reading