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A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger
At the butt of a river, the change in flow condition can cause the river to drop any sediment it is carrying. This
A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such a ...
, such as another river, a lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
/reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
, a bay/ gulf, a sea, or an 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 ...
. At the river mouth, sediments are often deposited due to the slowing of the current reducing the carrying capacity of the water.
The water from a river can enter the receiving body in a variety of different ways. The motion of a river is influenced by the relative density of the river compared to the receiving water, the rotation of the earth, and any ambient motion in the receiving water, such as tides or seiches.
If the river water has a higher density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
than the surface of the receiving water, the river water will plunge below the surface. The river water will then either form an underflow or an interflow within the lake. However, if the river water is lighter than the receiving water, as is typically the case when fresh river water flows into the sea, the river water will float along the surface of the receiving water as an overflow.
Alongside these advective transports, inflowing water will also diffuse
Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical p ...
.
Landforms
At the butt of a river, the change in flow condition can cause the river to drop any sediment it is carrying. This sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...
deposition can generate a variety of landforms, such as deltas, sand bars, spits, and tie channels. Landforms at the river mouth drastically alter the geomorphology and ecosystem. Along coasts, sand bars and similar landforms act as barriers sheltering sensitive ecosystems that are enriched by nutrients deposited from the river. However, damming of rivers can starve the river of sand and nutrients creating a deficit at the river mouth.
Cultural influence
As river mouths are the site of large scale sediment deposition and allowed for easy travel and ports, many towns and cities are founded there. Many places in the United Kingdom take their names from their positions at the mouths of rivers, such as Plymouth (i.e. mouth of the Plym River), Sidmouth (i.e. mouth of the Sid River), and Great Yarmouth (i.e. mouth of the Yare River); in Celtic, the term is Aber or Inver. Due to rising sea levels as a result of climate change, the coastal cities are at heightened risk of flooding. Sediment starvation in the river compounds this concern.See also
* Confluence *River delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...
* Estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
* Liman
References
Fluid dynamics Fluvial landforms Mouth {{hydrology-stub