![Ocean drainage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Ocean_drainage.png)
A triple divide or triple watershed is a point on the Earth's surface where three
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
s meet. A triple divide results from the intersection of two
drainage divides. Triple divides range from
prominent mountain peaks to minor side peaks, down to simple slope changes on a ridge which are otherwise unremarkable. The elevation of a triple divide can be thousands of meters to barely above sea level. Triple divides are a common hydrographic feature of any terrain that has rivers, streams and/or lakes.
Topographic triple divides do not necessarily respect the
underground path of water. Thus, depending on the infiltration and the different geological layers, the hydrologic triple divide is often offset from the topographic triple divide.
A hydrological apex is a triple divide whose waters flow into three different
ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
s.
Triple Divide Peak in the US State of Montana is the only such place on Earth.
North America
![Snow Dome+Dome Glacier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Snow_Dome%2BDome_Glacier.jpg)
North America has 3 triple divides in the United States which are intersections of continental divides, and a fourth one in British Columbia. Waters at these triple divides flow into three different oceans, seas or gulfs.
Triple Divide Peak in Montana is considered the triple divide "hydrological apex" of North America, though
Snow Dome on the
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
-
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
border also has a claim depending on how the Arctic and Atlantic oceans are defined. North America is the only continent that has a triple point dividing basins draining into three different oceans. Where the Continental Divide splits and joins to form the boundary of the Great Divide Basin, it forms two triple points.
Other points are often considered to be triple divides because they separate basins of continental rivers.
*
Headwaters Hill in
Saguache County, Colorado
Saguache County (suh-WATCH ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,368. The county seat is Saguache.
History
Saguache County was formed December 29, 1866 in the Territory of Colorado ...
, near Chester (
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
,
Rio Grande River
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, Colorado River). This point has only a weak claim to being a continental triple divide because both the Rio Grande and Arkansas Rivers flow into the Gulf of Mexico. ()
The highest elevation () significant triple divide in the lower 48 states of the United States, located in Kings Canyon National Park in Fresno/Inyo counties, California, is a sub-peak of Mount Wallace of the central Sierra Nevada:
*
Crumbly Spire or
Mount Wallace South Peak, Fresno/Inyo counties, California (
Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake () ( Spanish: ''Laguna de Tache'', Yokuts: ''Pah-áh-su'') is a freshwater dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. After Lake Cahuilla disappeared in the 17th century ...
via
Kings River,
Owens Lake
Owens Lake is a mostly dry lake in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. It is about south of Lone Pine, California. Unlike most dry lakes in the Basin and Range Province that have been dry for ...
via
Owens River
The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...
, Pacific Ocean via
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...
) ()
Numerous other triple divide points result from intersection of river basin divides, including:
*
Young Lick Knob,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
(
Savannah,
Apalachicola, Mississippi) ()
South America
There are triple points in South America where the divide splits.
Europe
![Pass Lunghin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Pass_Lunghin.jpg)
*
Africa
* An
unnamed hill on the border between the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
and
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
: the exact point is at . Water from this point flows to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
via the
Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
, to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
via the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...
, or to endorheic
Lake Chad. At this point meet the second, third and eighth largest drainage basins in the world, making it one of the most important triple divides on earth.
Australia
Australia has two Continental Drainage Divide Tripoints, both close to each other along Queensland's
Great Dividing Range. Both are named after two 1845 exploration party leaders who sought to solve the question of Australia's rivers,
Thomas Mitchell and
Edmund Kennedy
Edmund Besley Court Kennedy J. P. (5 September 1818 – December 1848) was an explorer in Australia in the mid nineteenth century. He was the Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales, working with Sir Thomas Mitchell. Kennedy explored the interio ...
.
* Mitchell Junction is in
North Queensland, on Triple C Pastoral Station, near the
White Mountains National Park
White Mountains is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1156 km northwest of Brisbane, and 140 km south-west of Charters Towers
Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by r ...
. Water falling on the tripoint can flow either to the Pacific Ocean via the
Burdekin River
The Burdekin River is a river located in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea a ...
, to the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
, via the
Flinders River
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes o ...
flowing to the
Gulf Of Carpentaria and the
Indonesian Throughflow
The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF; ) is an ocean current with importance for global climate as is the low-latitude movement of warm, relative freshwater from the north Pacific to the Indian Ocean. It thus serves as a main upper branch of the glob ...
and lastly to
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains th ...
via Cooper Creek. approximately
* Kennedy Junction is in
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...
, on
Caldervale Station, near
Carnarvon National Park
Carnarvon National Park is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt bioregion in the Maranoa Region in Central Queensland, Australia. The park is 593 km northwest of Brisbane. It began life as a reserve gazetted in 1932 to protect Carnarvon ...
. Water falling on the tripoint can flow either to the Pacific Ocean via the
Fitzroy River, to the Southern Ocean, via
Murray/Darling River and to
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains th ...
via
Cooper Creek
The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its t ...
.
Asia
Asia is dominated by endorheic basins. There is a point in southern China where the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and endorheic basins meet and another point in northern China where the Pacific Ocean, endorheic and Arctic Ocean basins meet.
Antarctica
Antarctica is completely circled by the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
, and so it has no triple divides.
Older definitions of the oceans did not include the Southern Ocean, and instead had the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans touch the shores of Antarctica. Based on this outdated definition,
Dome Argus
Dome A or Dome Argus is the loftiest ice dome on the Antarctic Plateau, located inland. It is thought to be the coldest naturally occurring place on Earth, with temperatures believed to reach . It is the highest ice feature in Antarctica, consis ...
is the highest point in the East Antarctic ice sheet and could be considered a triple divide if you assume that the ice forms a watershed. ()
See also
*
Continental divide
References
* {{Cite book, title=Landscape Evolution in the United States: An Introduction to the Geography, Geology, and Natural History, author=Joseph A. DiPietro, publisher=Newnes, date=2012-12-21
Drainage basins
Hydrology
Drainage divides