ancient river
Prehistoric flowing water
An ancient river is a watercourse that flowed in the geological past but no longer exists in its original form—dried up, buried under sediment, or rerouted by tectonic shifts.
Geologists identify ancient rivers through satellite imagery, sediment patterns, and rock formations that reveal former channels: Ancient rivers once carved through what is now the Sahara Desert.
- NileAfrica's longest river
- TigrisWestern Asian river
- EuphratesMajor Iraqi river
- deltaSymbol denoting variation
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
floodplain · meander · oxbow · silt · fertile · valley · cradle · civilization · lost civilization · dried · dry riverbed · bed · canyon · gorge · tributary · source · mouth · banks
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