A losing stream, disappearing stream, influent stream or sinking river is a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

that loses water as it flows downstream. The water infiltrates into the ground recharging the local

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

, because the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

is below the bottom of the stream channel. This is the opposite of a more common ''gaining stream'' (or ''effluent stream'') which increases in water volume farther downstream as it gains water from the local

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

. Losing streams are common in arid areas due to the climate which results in huge amounts of water evaporating from the river generally towards the mouth. Losing streams are also common in regions of

karst topography Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

where the streamwater may be completely captured by a

cavern A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

system, becoming a

subterranean river A subterranean river is a river that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground surface – one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth. It is distinct from an aquifer, which may flow like a river but is contained within a per ...

Examples

There are many natural examples of subterranean rivers including: Bosnia and Herzegovina * Unac; Mušnica-

Trebišnjica The Trebišnjica ( sr-cyrl, Требишњица) is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It used to be a sinking river, long above the ground. With a total length of above and under the ground, it is one of the longest sinking rivers in the world ...

- Krupa/

Ombla The Ombla is a short river in Croatia, northeast of Dubrovnik. Its course is approximately long, and it empties into the Rijeka Dubrovačka, ria formed by the Adriatic Sea near Komolac in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Rijeka Dubrovačka is actually ...

(Trebišnjica is considered to be one of the largest sinking rivers in the world; one of its effluents, Ombla, springs out of huge cave near

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and after about 30 metres empties into

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a Drainage system (geomorphology)#Dendritic dr ...

called

Rijeka Dubrovačka Rijeka Dubrovačka (Italian: ''Val d'Ombla'') is a ria (coastal inlet) to the north of Dubrovnik, Croatia, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The Ombla The Ombla is a short river in Croatia, northeast of Dubrovnik. Its course is approximately lo ...

); Zalomka- Buna/

Bunica The Bunica ( sr-cyrl, Буница) is a short river in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a left bank tributary of the Buna. Its source (Vrelo Bunice), located in a place called Parila under sharp cliffs between the two villages of Hodbina and Malo Polj ...

Bregava The Bregava ( sr-cyrl, Брегава) is a sinking river in Bosnia and Herzegovina that passes through the town of Stolac. It is a left tributary of the Neretva river. The river Bregava and its buildings - bridges, mills and stamping mills over ...

; Vrljika-

Trebižat Trebižat is a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 1991 census, the village is located in the municipality of Čapljina Čapljina ( sr-cyrl, Чапљина, ) is a city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of ...

; Lištica-Jasenica; Šuica-Ričina Germany *The

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

disappears in the

Danube Sinkhole Sinkhole in the Danube near Möhringen Schematic of the sinkhole locations and the route to Aachtopf Completely dry Danube riverbed right , Sink hole on the southern bank of the Danube, at the main sinkhole site below Immendingen Sign i ...

between

Immendingen Immendingen is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany located on the Upper Danube. It is famous for the Danube Sinkhole. Geography Immendingen is located on the Upper Danube. On the municipal area are par ...

and Möhringen in an area of

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

. New Zealand *The

Selwyn River / Waikirikiri The Selwyn River / Waikirikiri flows through the Selwyn District of Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. Description The river has its source in the Southern Alps and flows east for before emptying into Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora, ...

normally disappears below ground as it flows down the

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in t ...

due to overlaying a deep and porous aquifer, re-emerging about 15 kilometres away from its output at

Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora is a broad, shallow coastal lake or waituna, in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is directly to the west of Banks Peninsula, separated from the Pacific Ocean by the long, narrow, sandy ...

. US *There are two rivers in Idaho, the Big Lost River and the Little Lost River, which both flow into the same depression and become subterranean, feeding the Snake River Plain Aquifer. Via the

and numerous springs, they are tributaries of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. *The Lost River in Indiana rises in

Vernon Township, Washington County, Indiana Vernon Township is one of thirteen townships in Washington County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 669 and it contained 261 housing units. Geography According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of ...

, and discharges into the East Fork of the White River. The Lost River is about long and its name is derived from the fact that at least of the primary course of the river flows completely underground. The river disappears into a series of

sink hole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s of the type that are abundant in the

land of

southern Indiana Southern Indiana is a region consisting of the southern third of the state of Indiana. The region's history and geography has led to a blend of Northern and Southern culture distinct from the remainder of Indiana. It is often considered to be p ...

. *The Lost River of New Hampshire is a

in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It is part of the

Pemigewasset River The Pemigewasset River , known locally as "The Pemi", is a river in the state of New Hampshire, the United States. It is in length and (with its tributaries) drains approximately . The name "Pemigewasset" comes from the Abenaki word ''bemijijoase ...

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

. The Lost River begins in

Kinsman Notch Kinsman Notch (elev. ) is a mountain pass located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, United States. It is the westernmost of the major notches through the White Mountains (the others being Franconia Notch, Crawford Notch, and Pinkham Notch ...

, one of the major passes through the White Mountains. As it flows through the notch, it passes through Lost River Gorge, an area where enormous boulders falling off the flanking walls of the notch at the close of the last

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

have covered the river, creating a network of boulder caves.New Hampshire GRANIT state geographic information system
*The Lost River of West Virginia is located in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

Hardy County Hardy County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,299. Its county seat is Moorefield. The county was created from Hampshire County in 1786 and named for Samuel Hardy, a distinguished Vi ...

in the

Eastern Panhandle The Eastern Panhandle is the eastern of the two panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia; the other is the Northern Panhandle. It is a small stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Some sources a ...

region of the state. It flows into an underground channel northeast of

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

along

West Virginia Route 259 West Virginia Route 259 (WV 259) is a state highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The state highway runs from the Virginia state line near Mathias north to the Virginia state line at High View. At both termini, the road continues as Virgi ...

at "the Sinks" and reappears near Wardensville as the

Cacapon River The Cacapon River ( ; meaning Medicine Waters), located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region, is an shallow river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and wilderness scenery. As part of the Potomac ...

References

{{reflist, 2
Tom Aley, Karst Groundwater, Missouri Conservationist Online, Mar. 2000 – Vol. 61 No. 3
* Hydrology Dinaric karst formations * Karst formations Karst Geomorphology

Examples

See also

References