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

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

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 ...

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 Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

, 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 characte ...

. 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 system, becoming a subterranean river.

Examples

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

(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 Mediterranea ...

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 = , capi ...

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 th ...

's ria 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 Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The ...

); Zalomka- Buna/ Bunica/ Bregava;

Vrljika The Vrljika is short sinking river in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, belonging to Neretva River basin. Its source is located on the outskirts of village Proložac near town of Imotski, Croatia. The Vrljika River is home of endangered endemi ...

- Trebižat; 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 between Immendingen and Möhringen in an area of

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

. New Zealand *The Selwyn River / Waikirikiri normally disappears below ground as it flows down the Canterbury Plains due to overlaying a deep and porous aquifer, re-emerging about 15 kilometres away from its output at Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora. 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, 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 holes of the type that are abundant in the

land of southern Indiana. *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

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, 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 gre ...

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. The ...

of Hardy County in the Eastern Panhandle region of the state. It flows into an underground channel northeast of

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, 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 Si ...

along West Virginia Route 259 at "the Sinks" and reappears near Wardensville as the Cacapon River.

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