River bifurcation

Bifurcation in Hoefelhof , Germany

Bifurcation of rivers (from the Latin. Bifurcus - “forked”) - separation of the river bed and river valley into two branches, which later do not merge, form independent streams and flow into different water bodies or river systems.

A classic example of bifurcation is the Orinoco River, from which the Cacikyara is separated, which flows into the Rio-Negro River of the Amazon Basin .

Bifurcation of rivers mainly occurs on flat low watersheds .

During floods or floods on many rivers, a seasonal bifurcation occurs, which disappears after the water level drops. You should also distinguish the bifurcation of rivers from intermittent rivers with a non-permanent channel.

In Russia, a bifurcation is observed on the Rosson River, which connects the Narva River and the Meadows . In the past, bifurcation was also observed on the Bolshoi Egorlyk and Kalaus rivers, which branched to reach the thalweg of the Kumo-Manych depression . The channel going from this point ( ) to the north and further to the west, to the Manych-Gudilo lake, became the beginning of the Western Manych ; the channel going south and further east became the beginning of the Eastern Manych . Subsequently, the Kalaussky dam was built in this place, preventing the flow of Kalaus water to the East Manych; thus, Kalaus became the source (or inflow) of only the Western Manych. ^[one]

In the Far East of Russia, a bifurcation is observed on the Delkyu River : approximately 177 km from the source of the river, several channels flow into the Delkyu-Kuydusunskaya river, 57 km long (a tributary of the Kuydusun River, the Indigirka basin). Below the bifurcation zone before flowing into the Hunt, the river is called Delkyu-Okhotskaya. Delkyu is the only river that carries its waters into two oceans at once - the Pacific and the Arctic ^[2] .