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A tributary, [1] or an affluent, [2] is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (main stem or "parent"), river, or a lake. [3]
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. [1] Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone.
Side valleys and tributary valleys are valleys whose brooks or rivers flow into greater ones. Upstream, the valleys can be classified in an increasing order which is equivalent to the usual orographic order : the tributaries are ordered from those nearest to the source of the river to those nearest to the mouth of the river .
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. [2] In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word riparian is derived from Latin ripa, meaning "river bank". [3]
The Mississippi River drainage basin with the mainstem highlighted in dark blue. In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries".
Yazoo stream [1]. A Yazoo stream (also called a Yazoo tributary [2]) is a geologic and hydrologic term for any tributary stream that runs parallel to, and within the floodplain of a larger river for considerable distance, before eventually joining it.
A river that feeds into another is a tributary, and the place they meet is a confluence. [4] Rivers must flow to lower altitudes due to gravity . [ 3 ] The bed of a river is typically within a river valley between hills or mountains .
Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, water basin, [3] [4] and impluvium. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] In North America, they are commonly called a watershed , though in other English-speaking places, " watershed " is used only in its original sense, that of the drainage divide line.