What is an "influx"? What is the meaning of this word? Where did it come from? In our article you will find answers to all these questions. In addition, we will tell you about what is called a tributary in hydrology, and also list the largest river tributaries of our planet.
The influx is ... The meaning and origin of the word
A word has several meanings. In its broadest sense, an inflow is a process denoting an action. In a figurative sense, this is a kind of increase, amplification, rise, or replenishment of something. The term is widely used in science, in particular in hydrology and geography.
The word tributary is a masculine noun (in the plural, tributaries) with zero ending. It comes from the ancient Russian verb flow, leak. The root of the word inflow: -current-. Formed with the prefix - (see diagram below).
Here are just a few examples of the use of this word in modern speech:
“An influx of fresh air. What is it?".
"The influx of foreign investment in the economy."
"The influx of vitality."
“Rapid cash inflow to the budget. What is it like?".
Synonyms for the word "influx": rise, tide, arrival; and also a river. Antonym - outflow.
In hydrology?
In geography and hydrology, this term has its own, highly specialized meaning. A tributary is a natural watercourse that flows into another larger watercourse. In this case, the so-called mouth is formed - the place where two water flows merge at a certain angle.
How is the tributary different from a regular river? By and large - absolutely nothing. After all, any inflow, in fact, is the same river. Moreover, the vast majority of existing natural watercourses on Earth are precisely tributaries, because only a few of them carry their waters to the seas or oceans.
Sometimes tributaries are also called small streams and streams that flow into a large lake or reservoir.
Types and sizes
All river tributaries are usually divided into left and right (depending on which side they flow into the main river). They are also divided into orders - from one to twenty or more. So, the tributary directly flowing into the main watercourse is called the first-order tributary. In turn, second-order tributaries flow into it, and so on (for clarity, see the diagram below).
River tributaries can be of completely different sizes. So, some of them reach a length of only a few hundred meters. But others stretched for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers! For example: the tributary of the Ob Irtysh in its total length significantly exceeds the Dnieper, the Danube, and even the Volga.
The five largest tributaries of our planet include: Irtysh, Missouri, Purus, Madeira and Zhurua. The length of each of these rivers exceeds three thousand kilometers. Another curious fact: three tributaries from the listed list (namely Purus, Jurua and Madeira) belong to the Amazon river system - the largest on planet Earth.
How do you determine which of the watercourses is the main, and which is only its tributary? Most often, two main criteria are taken into account: the total length of the river to the confluence point, as well as its water content (water flow in the channel). But in some cases, other factors are also taken into account - geological, geomorphological, historical and cultural, and others. In a word, in the article we examined this issue.