Coastal river

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A coastal river is a rather short river that flows into the sea and does not belong to a larger river system . Coastal rivers are significantly smaller than streams and, apart from streams, usually do not take in any major tributaries. There are naturally many coastal rivers on islands or peninsulas , whereas they are rather rare on continents.

Demarcation

The term “coastal river” is hardly defined; a clear demarcation between streams , rivers and streams is avoided. Definitions are only found for streams that provide clear information on length, size or flow rate - but here too there are different approaches.

Two older German-language but fuzzy definitions of the term "coastal river" are, for example:

"Streams are all larger watercourses that flow directly into the sea, while small such watercourses are called coastal rivers."

- Armin Schoklitsch : The course of the river

"The smaller rivers on the coast, which also flow directly into the sea, are called coastal rivers, especially if there is no mountain breakthrough on the way from the origin to the coast."

- Otto Streck : Basics of water management and hydrology

meaning

Coastal rivers are not navigable or only for short sections. That is why there are usually no cities or industrial settlements on their shores and thus only a correspondingly low level of pollution. However, they are often used to irrigate the agriculturally used areas near the shore. Here are pesticides and fertilizers washed out and discharged via the respective flows, leading to algae growth can result and oxygen depletion. Since coastal rivers are usually not dammed, they form a kind of “nursery” for many fish and bird species and a reasonably natural and therefore ecological breeding and retreat area. At first glance, the rather regional importance of coastal rivers changes from this perspective to a supra-regional one.

Examples

Examples of rivers with a maximum length of 200 kilometers and a drainage area of ​​a maximum of 10,000 square kilometers.

Europe

Deveron (Scotland)
Couesnon in the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel

Asia

Africa

America

Australia & Oceania

Kalgan River (Western Australia)
Motu River (New Zealand)

Individual evidence

  1. Hartmut reader (ed.): Diercke Dictionary General geography (=  dtv . Band 3422 ). 13th edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-423-03422-X , p. 469 .
  2. Armin Schoklitsch: The course of the river . In: Armin Schoklitsch (Ed.): The hydraulic engineering . Springer, Vienna 1930, p. 142 .
  3. Otto Streck: Fundamentals of water management and hydrology . Springer, Berlin 1953, p. 169 .