When two RIVER meets

There is a special word, which geographers use to designate an area where two or more body waters meet, — confluence.

It can be a place, where a tributary flows into a main river, or a place, where two rivers meet flowing together and creating a new river that has different name.

Here, you will find a number of pictures that show us clearly the boundary between two rivers.

These photos have been collected from all over the world. So, let’s enjoy them!

1. This is a place of confluence of the rivers Rhona and Arve in Geneva, Switzerland. Here is the Rhona in the left part of the picture (the river has its source from Lake Leman). And in the right part there is the Arve flowing from many glaciers in the Chamonix Valley, and then the river flows to the north-west, flowing into the Rhona at the eastern part of Geneva. The Arve has higher level of silt in its water than the Rhona has, and that is why we can see clearly the boundary between them.

2. This is the place, where the rivers Uelzen and Inn meet in Passau, Germany. The Uelzen is rather small torrent carrying blue water, and the Inn is one of the great rivers flowing from Salzburg. The Inn has more powerful stream than the Danube, however, the river flowing out of the city is called the Danube.

3. This is a place of confluence of the rivers Ohio and Mississippi in Cairo, Illinois, the USA. The river Ohio is a tributary of the Mississippi, and flows into it to the south of Cairo, a small town in Illinois. The brown split water of the river Ohio differs greatly from the green and transparent water of the Mississippi (it flows from the north-west to the south). The usual color of the rivers differs from the color of picture, and this is because of strong rain. The waters of the rivers do not mix even 5-6km downstream. (NASA)

4. This is the junction of the rivers Jialing and Chang Jiang in Chongqing, China. The river Jialing is transparent, and its length reaches 119km. It flows into the river Chang Jiang in the city of Chongqing. The transparent Jialing meets the brown Chang Jiang. Taking up the Jialing, the Chang Jiang becomes more powerful and flows through The Three Gorges Dam.

5. Here, we can see a place, where the rivers Rio Negro and Solimoyns meet near Manaus, Brazil. The Rio Negro water has practically black color, and the Solimoyns has sandy-color water. They flows together “side by side” for 6 kilometers. This is one of the most known places of interest in Manaus, Brazil. The waters of the rivers do not practically mix; the reasons of the phenomenon are the difference in temperatures, currents and densities of water of the two rivers. The Rio Negro flows at a speed of 2 kilometers per an hour, and the temperature of its water is 28°C; and at the same time the Solimoyns flows at a speed of 4-6km/h, and its temperature is 22°C. (Immelman284)

6. Here is a place, where the rivers Green and Colorado meet in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, the USA. The river Green is a very long stream in Rocky Mountains. It flows to the south of the Utah, turning to the east and flowing into the Colorado, and then turns to the south again.

7. This is a place of junction of the rivers Thompson and Fraser in Lytton, Britain Columbia, Canada. The river Thompson (transparent) ends in Lytton, Canada, where it flows into the Fraser (turbid). (siacob on Flickr)

9. Here, we can see a place of confluence of the rivers Mosel and Rhine in Koblenz, Germany. Here, in Koblenz the river Mosel flows into the Rhine. The name of the city — Koblenz — means “confluence”. (Photo by PETER JANSEN @ Panoramio.com)

10. Here is the place where the rivers Drava and Danube meet not far from the city of Osijek, Croatia. Osijek is situated on the right bank of the river Drava, 25 kilometers away from the place of junction of the rivers. (WWF: Amazon of Europe)