I feel its worth asking questions about the talk page. Specifically:
> Most of the data in this article is sourced from somebody calling himself Intergalactic Power and Light. Some random guy's personal web page does not constitute a reliable source. Dricherby (talk) 18:24, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
The link is unfortunately broken, but if anyone has more details that would be fascinating.
The individual pages for each of the rivers (or atleast the first three I tried) have the discharges with different seemingly more trustworthy sources, if anyone wants to edit the page
oh the talk page comment is old enough that I assume its mostly been fixed, although the Urubamba-Caura length discrepancy noted by someone else on the talk page is still there. I was commenting more at the fascination of 'Intergalactic Power and Light' maintaining for a while a webpage focused on river lengths. It feels like a callback to an earlier era
I am surprised that the Nile is only at 105th, far below even the Danube and the Volga. It holds such prominence in Western history that I naively expected it to be in the top 5.
The Nile is 2nd longest, for what it's worth, behind only the Amazon. And, to understate matters a little bit, it's in quite an arid region, so that its waters were quite literally the lifeblood of all Egyptian civilizations.
The Yellow River -- which, for its part, is quite literally the cradle of Chinese civilization -- is in a very similar position. It's the 6th largest river by length, but 113th by flow rate.
Perhaps, as others have just speculated, flow rate was once a lot higher, and now water is being diverted to agricultural and other projects, so that a much smaller fraction of it reaches the sea.
My understanding is that discharge is what's left once the river reaches the sea. I am actually surprised that there is anything left, and I don't think there will be in the future. (both from Egypt and Ethiopia leveraging the river more for their needs).
I am also surprised. This might be because the river is highly seasonal, and it is a source of significant irrigation, so its discharge into the Mediterranean is limited.
I was also surprised not to see the Niagara River on the list, which is the largest river near me and, when seen up close, clearly transports a staggering amount of water.
Reviewing the Wikipedia article about the Niagara [1], it appears that this is an oversight, because with an average discharge rate of 5,796 m3/s, it should be #49 on this list. I went to edit the page to fix that issue, but it looks like doing so requires manually updating the "No" (number) column, which I don't have time for right now.
I remember taking a flight from Nairobi to Luxor which flew along the Nile for a long long way... It doesn't really surprise me - it is flowing through vast deserts for an awfully long distance.
The sverdrup [0] is a unit used in oceanography to measure the volumetric flow of ocean currents, although as a unit of flow it can describe rivers as well. The flow of the Amazon — a full order of magnitude above any other river — is only about 0.2 Sv.
About five million years ago, the Mediterranean basin was disconnected from the Atlantic and almost completely dessicated. During the Zanclean flood [1], the Atlantic reconnected with the basin and refilled it at a rate of ~100 Sv, carving the Strait of Gibraltar in the process.
Imagine a river about the width of the Amazon — perhaps wider, but not by too much — but with five hundred times the flow, filling the Mediterranean by up to ten meters a day. It must have been incredible.
This oversimplifies a complex issue. What about seasonal variation? The Amazon varies in flow rate by a factor of 1-2, other rivers vary by a factor of 20, between the months of greatest and least flow. Yearly variation also exists:
The St. Lawrence river is massive. The total watershed is larger than the Hudson , Connecticut, Merrimack and four largest rivers of Maine combined.
Unrelated, but the Robert-Bourossa dam spillway can discharge water at a rate similar to the capacity of the St. Lawrence as it flows near Quebec City.
The scale of hydropower in QC is absolutely staggering. Even decades after the last major dam was finished, they still get >90% of their power from hydroelectric with very little other sources.
Fun fact, the dam reservoirs are so large that they actually caused a slight climate change effect causing harsher winters in nearby parts of the province.
During wet season its widest point can reach 30 miles. This means that if you're on a boat in the middle of the river, you can't see nothing but water in any direction. To cross it on foot, over some imaginary bridge, would take you over 8 hours.
I wonder what the breakdown in sources for the disparity is. I can think of three potential differences, that are all likely contributors:
- Rainfall levels in the drainage area
- Evaporation over the course of the river
- Diversion for human use
I have to think the third is a substantial factor with the Nile vs the Amazon, considering that the Nile is essentially the only water source for two high-population countries (agriculture in Brazil is ostensibly supported by rainfall as well as by the river).
Had to look up the Colorado river because it wasn't big enough to even make the list, it's 37th in US alone. Wow, so many people rely on such a small river.
Try to follow the Colorado River downstream of Lake Mead on Google Maps with satellite imagery turned on. It's quite interesting to see how much water is diverted away from it, primarily for irrigation.
Readit News
> Most of the data in this article is sourced from somebody calling himself Intergalactic Power and Light. Some random guy's personal web page does not constitute a reliable source. Dricherby (talk) 18:24, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
The link is unfortunately broken, but if anyone has more details that would be fascinating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_River
"Page created 2003-08-23 and last revised 2005-07-31."
Page also has no sources of its own.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/b3463307-en/index.html?i...
Annual - 475 km3 - 475*1000*1000*1000/365/24/3600 = 15062 m3/s
Any others seem odd?
The Yellow River -- which, for its part, is quite literally the cradle of Chinese civilization -- is in a very similar position. It's the 6th largest river by length, but 113th by flow rate.
Perhaps, as others have just speculated, flow rate was once a lot higher, and now water is being diverted to agricultural and other projects, so that a much smaller fraction of it reaches the sea.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nile_River_and_del...
Reviewing the Wikipedia article about the Niagara [1], it appears that this is an oversight, because with an average discharge rate of 5,796 m3/s, it should be #49 on this list. I went to edit the page to fix that issue, but it looks like doing so requires manually updating the "No" (number) column, which I don't have time for right now.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_River
About five million years ago, the Mediterranean basin was disconnected from the Atlantic and almost completely dessicated. During the Zanclean flood [1], the Atlantic reconnected with the basin and refilled it at a rate of ~100 Sv, carving the Strait of Gibraltar in the process.
Imagine a river about the width of the Amazon — perhaps wider, but not by too much — but with five hundred times the flow, filling the Mediterranean by up to ten meters a day. It must have been incredible.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sverdrup
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood
https://www.encyclopedie-environnement.org/en/water/hydromet...
Unrelated, but the Robert-Bourossa dam spillway can discharge water at a rate similar to the capacity of the St. Lawrence as it flows near Quebec City.
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/09/the-colossal-stepped-s...
Fun fact, the dam reservoirs are so large that they actually caused a slight climate change effect causing harsher winters in nearby parts of the province.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bay_Project#Local_climat...
Deleted Comment
I guess tributaries mean its double counting the same water, but still.
The Hudson river in NY (which I'm close to) doesn't even rank, despite being 3+ miles wide at one point, and 175' deep. Just a piss stream.
- Rainfall levels in the drainage area
- Evaporation over the course of the river
- Diversion for human use
I have to think the third is a substantial factor with the Nile vs the Amazon, considering that the Nile is essentially the only water source for two high-population countries (agriculture in Brazil is ostensibly supported by rainfall as well as by the river).
I live in Vegas.
Not very comforting.
I expected the Colorado to be in the top 50.
Shocked it's not even in the list!
Scary that the Colorado, which 40 million people rely on, doesn't even make the list.
Shows how water starved the American southwest really is.