The essence of many things surrounding a person is unstable. Everything around is fleeting and changeable, including natural phenomena. Our planet at first glance seems stable, but in fact, complex processes are constantly taking place on Earth, many of them cyclical, but some quite rare and inexplicable. One of these phenomena is the bifurcation of rivers. What does this mean? Let's find out.
Bifurcation Overview
This term is used in many scientific fields. In general, it means dividing one whole into two parts, and it concerns not so much static objects as a dynamic system. So, it can be a bifurcation of rivers, mountain ranges, blood vessels, nerves.
A similar definition is also used in the organizational system of the educational process, when a group of students is divided into two streams, provided that they are engaged in different activities and are no longer compatible.
Branching of the river
However, to a greater extent this concept is applicable precisely in physical geography. According to encyclopedic manuals, river bifurcation is a bifurcation of one river stream into two or more separate branches.
In addition to the fact that there is a direct separation of the water artery, in connection with this process, new valleys are formed from which the newly appeared sources feed. Also, water flows resulting from a phenomenon such as river bifurcation most often flow into different water bodies, and even systems.
Natural anomaly
This process is an extremely interesting phenomenon, which happens quite rarely. In the history of geographical studies and observations, river bifurcation is described, but in reality there were not so many precedents.
A similar division of water flows occurred in the past, it occurs in the present. The geography of the prevalence of the phenomenon is quite wide. The most characteristic and most studied examples are the separation of the Orinoco (South America) and Niger (Africa) rivers . A similar split occurred on the territory of Russia. So, river bifurcation in the Vladimir region took place in the eighteenth century. Other cases that can be observed now are described. It is worth noting that these examples have different causes of river bifurcation. What is this phenomenon and why is it happening?
Lake District
There are rivers that, in the course of their course, “stumble” on mild dividing objects, which become one of the reasons for their bifurcation. Probably, the branching of the flow occurs as a result of the fact that water erodes the fuzzy boundaries of the channel.
With regard to bifurcation, there is one condition - the river after its divergence should not again return to its original channel, however, sometimes this happens.
This phenomenon is very interestingly demonstrated by the Niger River mentioned above, and similar streams with it, which are often blocked by waterfalls and islands that unfold the mainstream channel.
However, do not mix the concepts of bifurcation and seasonal or permanent drying of rivers, which occurs due to the inconstancy of their feeding.
Back to square one
The culprits of the branching of rivers can also be called seasonal floods and floods. The first occurs as a result of intensive growth of water in the river delta. This may be the result of heavy and prolonged rains, sharp melting of snow, runoff from precipitation in the mountains, they occur spontaneously, regardless of the time of year. High water occurs every year at the same time, most often as a result of increased water content in the river.
After a seasonal increase in the water level in the river and the associated bifurcation, the water, as a rule, remains in the main channel, and the additional branch disappears before the subsequent flood.
Human factor
The past few centuries have shown how much humanity can influence the course of natural and natural things on Earth, and beyond. Not always the impact of people has positive consequences, often it turns into disasters, and a negative result is one hundred times greater than any benefits of such an activity.
First of all, this refers to a person’s unsuccessful experience in changing river channels. Partially implemented was a project with the Amu Darya, which fed the already disappeared Aral Sea. This river, at the peak of filling, bifurcated into two branches in a natural way, however, when the Soviet authorities decided to use its resource for economic activities, a thoughtless influence on the fragile balance led to the depletion of this water artery.
Fortunately, the absolutely fantastic project to turn Siberian rivers, which involved not only a change in their direction, but also a bifurcation in order to balance the “unfair” distribution of the water resource, failed. Indeed, in Siberia the water was "superfluous", but in Central Asia it was sorely lacking.
Precedents
There are many rivers in the world that are prone to branching:
- Orinoco (South America) - at the bifurcation point, the Casikyare River departs from it .
- Chu (Kyrgyzstan) - once a year gives part of the water to the Kutemalda River.
- Nerodimka (Serbia) - branches and forms the Ibar and Lepanets rivers.
- Echimamish (Canada) - diverges into two sources flowing into the Hudson and Haise.
In Europe (between Sweden and Finland) the river flows. Tourna, in the course of its course, it is divided into four different rivers.
In Russia there are also quite a lot of similar cases. The most indicative are the Kula River (flows in the European part of our country, in the northeast direction), Tansy (Arkhangelsk region), which is divided into Mezen and Pechersk, Rosson - has two branches - the Luga and Narva rivers. You can also add Big Egorlyk, Kalaus and Delkyu to this list, which we will talk about in more detail.
Delkyu river
This flow begins in the Far East, at the slope of Mount Beryl. Its length is 221 km, it flows through the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory. In its upper part, the river splits into two branches. The main name, Delkyu-Okhotsk, is preserved beyond the main channel, the branch of the river is Delkyu-Kuydusunskaya. The first flows into the Pacific Ocean, the second ends its journey in the Arctic Ocean.
It is noteworthy that the name of the river in translation from the Even language means “trousers, trousers”, it is likely that the bifurcation of the Delkyu river is “guilty”.
This water stream has a rather important tourist value. Experienced professional athletes kayaking on this river. The level of difficulty of the route is high. The alloy is so dangerous that it sometimes takes human lives.
Rpen
Another described branching of the aquatic artery by people has long been forgotten. We are talking about the river Rpen, which flows in the Vladimir region. River bifurcation in this territory was observed as early as the eighteenth century. This is evidenced by old maps. Also, if you believe such sources, we can say that Rpen repeatedly changed its position and even partly the course. This is due primarily to the construction of a thermal power plant and chemical plant near the river.