river channel
Water's carved route
A river channel is the physical pathway through which a river flows—the depression in land carved by moving water.
The term distinguishes the watercourse itself from the broader floodplain or valley: The river channel narrowed as it passed through the gorge.
Engineers may modify river channels for flood control or navigation.
- riffleRapid page flipping
- meanderTo travel without direction
- tributaryStream entering larger river
- alluviumWater-deposited loose sediment
- water flowMovement of liquid mass
streamflow · canalization · delta · cutbank · gravel bar · sinuosity · avulsion · braiding · erosion · incision · flow rate · waterway · deep · bed · flood stage · low water · flow · confluence
- flood controllevee, levees, flood channels, dike, dikes
- floodplainsalluvium, flood zone, backswamp, bottomland, floodway
- Temporary Waterswadi, arroyo, dry wash, wash, freshet
- landformsmountain, cliff, valley, volcano, mountain ridge
- CanyonsGrand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, slot canyon, Antelope Canyon
- ChannelsTV channels, cable channels, radio station, news channels, local channels
fluvial geomorphology
river channelfloodplain
Flood-prone riverside lowland
flood plain · bottomland · backswamp · levee · oxbow lake
river, stream, channel, riverside, rivulet, riverbank, channeling, riverbed, riverboat