river
Also known as rivers
thumb|upright=1.2|A boat floats on the Mekong in Laos thumb|upright=1.2|South America's Amazon River (dark blue) and the rivers which flow into it (medium blue). The darker green marks the Amazon's [[drainage basin or watershed]]
AI overview
A river is a large natural stream of water that flows across land, typically toward an ocean, sea, or lake. Rivers matter because they provide water for drinking and agriculture, support diverse ecosystems, enable transportation, and shape the landscape around them.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
155,000 papers- Backwater makes the tributaries of large river becoming phosphorus "sink".ReviewWater research · 2024Cheng B, Zhang Y, Xia R et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122012
- The Urban River Syndrome: Achieving Sustainability Against a Backdrop of Accelerating Change.ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Richardson M, Soloviev MDOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126406
- A river's pulse.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Moutinho SDOI: 10.1126/science.adg4958
- Global meta-analysis of river bacterial communities and responses to human activities.Journal of environmental management · 2025Tan Q, Wang X, Xing Y et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127658
Article
29 sectionsContents
- Topography
- Definition
- Source and drainage basin
- Flow
- Non-perennial rivers
- Subterranean rivers
- Terminus
- Classification
- Ecology
- Models
- River Continuum Concept
- Flood pulse concept
- Fish zonation concept
- Movement of organisms
- Human uses
- Infrastructure
- History
- Pre-industrial era
- Industrial era
- Politics
- Religion and mythology
- Threats
- Extraterrestrial rivers
- See also
- General
- Crossings
- Transport
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.2|A boat floats on the Mekong in Laos thumb|upright=1.2|South America's Amazon River (dark blue) and the rivers which flow into it (medium blue). The darker green marks the Amazon's [[drainage basin or watershed]]
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it runs out of water, or only flow during certain seasons. Rivers are regulated by the water cycle, the processes by which water moves around the Earth. Water first enters rivers through precipitation, whether from rainfall, the runoff of water down a slope, the melting of glaciers or snow, or seepage from aquifers beneath the surface of the Earth.