Main European drainage divides (red lines) separating catchments (gray regions).

A drainage divide, water divide, or simply divide is the separation between neighbouring drainage basins (catchments). In hilly country, the divide lies along topographical peaks and ridges, but in flat country or on a high plateau (especially where the ground is marshy) the divide may be invisible – just a more or less notional line on the ground on either side of which falling raindrops will start a journey to different rivers, and even to different sides of a country or continent. Drainage divides are important geographical, and often also political, boundaries. Roads (such as ridgeways) and rail tracks often follow divides to minimise grades (gradients) and the need for bridges. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 608 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 1184 pixel, file size: 588 KB, MIME type: image/png) Grafik zeigt die Europäischen Flußeinzugsgebiete und Hauptwasserscheiden. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 608 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 1184 pixel, file size: 588 KB, MIME type: image/png) Grafik zeigt die Europäischen Flußeinzugsgebiete und Hauptwasserscheiden. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (blue outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (green lines) of a contiguous area. ... For discussion of land surfaces themselves, see Terrain. ... The Matterhorn, a classic peak A pyramidal peak, or sometimes in its most extreme form called a glacial horn, is a mountaintop that has been modified by the action of ice during glaciation and frost weathering. ... This article is about the use of the term in geography and physical geology. ... For the books called Geography by Ancient Greek authors, see Geographia (Ptolemy) and Geographica (Strabo) For the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, see Geographical (magazine) Geography is the study of the earth and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Border (disambiguation). ... There are several places named Ridgeway: In England: Ridgeway, Derbyshire The Ridgeway National Trail, often referred to as The Ridgeway. In Canada: Ridgeway, Ontario In the United States: Ridgeway, Alaska Ridgeway, Iowa Ridgeway, Ohio Ridgeway, Missouri Ridgeway, New York Ridgeway, South Carolina Ridgeway, Virginia Ridgeway, Wisconsin Ridgeway (town), Wisconsin Ridgeway... Rail tracks. ... A grade (or gradient) is the pitch of a slope, and is often expressed as a percent tangent, or rise over run. It is used to express the steepness of slope on a hill, stream, roof, railroad, or road, where zero indicates level (with respect to gravity) and increasing numbers...

A divide is also known as:

• In British Isles usage, a watershed, the line between drainage basins – shedding is an old term for splitting or dividing, so it is the line which divides the water (however in North America watershed is used instead for the drainage basin itself);
• a water parting;
• a height of land (in Canada).

This article explains the archipelago in north-western Europe. ... Watershed has more than one meaning: Look up watershed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (blue outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (green lines) of a contiguous area. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (blue outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (green lines) of a contiguous area. ...

Types of drainage divide

Drainage divides can be grouped in three types:

• Continental divide — A divide in which the waters on each side flow to different oceans (example: the Nile and Congo divide, Lunghin Pass triple divide)
• Major drainage divide — The waters on each side of the divide never meet again, but do flow into the same ocean (example: the divide between the Yellow River basin and the Yangtze)
• Minor drainage divide — The waters part but eventually meet again at a river confluence (example: the Mississippi and Missouri divide)

Drainage divides are a hindrance to river navigation. In pre-industrial times water divides were crossed at portages. Later canals were built to connect the adjoining drainage basins. A continental divide is a line of elevated terrain which forms a border between two watersheds such that water falling on one side of the line eventually travels to one ocean or body of water, and water on the other side travels to another, generally on the opposite side of... There is also Nile, a death metal band from South Carolina, USA. The Nile in Egypt Length 6 695 km Elevation of the source 1 134 m Average discharge 2 830 m³/s Area watershed 3 400 000 km² Origin Africa Mouth the Mediterranean Basin countries Uganda - Sudan - Egypt The... For other Yellow Rivers, see Yellow River (disambiguation). ... The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), or Drichu in Tibetan (Tibetan: འབ; Wylie: bri chu) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa, and the Amazon in South America. ... For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ... The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States. ... This article is about determination of position and direction on or above the surface of the earth. ... For the Gentoo Linux package manager, see Portage (software). ... For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ...

See also

• European Watershed