The Continental Divide of the Americas is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas. The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Hudson Bay.
The Mohawk River is a 149-mile-long (240 km) river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in Cohoes, New York, a few miles north of the state capital of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. A major waterway, in the early 19th century, the river's east-west valley provided the setting and water for development of the Erie Canal, as a key to developing New York. The largest tributary, the Schoharie Creek, accounts for over one quarter (26.83%) of the Mohawk River's watershed. Another main tributary is the West Canada Creek, which makes up for 16.33% of the Mohawk's watershed.
The Merced River, in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a 145-mile (233 km)-long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through the southern part of Yosemite National Park, where it is the primary watercourse flowing through Yosemite Valley. The river's character changes dramatically once it reaches the plains of the agricultural San Joaquin Valley, where it becomes a slow-moving meandering stream.
The Wind River Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately 100 mi (160 km). The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,802 ft (4,207 m), is the highest peak in Wyoming; and also Fremont Peak at 13,750 ft (4,191 m), the third highest peak in Wyoming. There are more than 40 other named peaks in excess of 12,999 ft (3,962 m). With the exception of the Grand Teton in the Teton Range, the next 19 highest peaks in Wyoming after Gannett are also in the Winds.
The Kobuk River, also known by the names Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, and Putnam, is a river located in the Arctic region of northwestern Alaska in the United States. It is approximately 280 miles (451 km) long. Draining a basin with an area of 12,300 square miles (32,000 km2), the Kobuk River is among the largest rivers in northwest Alaska, with widths of up to 1,500 feet and flows reaching speeds of 3–5 miles per hour in its lower and middle reaches. The average elevation for the Kobuk River Basin is 1,300 feet (400 m) above sea level, ranging from sea level at its mouth on the Bering Sea to 11,400 feet near its headwaters in the Brooks Range.
Gannett Peak is the highest mountain peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming at 13,810 feet (4,210 m). It lies in the Wind River Range within the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Straddling the Continental Divide along the boundary between Fremont and Sublette counties, it has the second greatest topographic prominence in the state (7076') after Cloud Peak (7077'), and is the highest ground for 290.36 miles in any direction.
Shoshone National Forest is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly 2,500,000 acres (1,000,000 ha) in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest is managed by the United States Forest Service and was created by an act of Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Benjamin Harrison in 1891. Shoshone National Forest is one of the first nationally protected land areas anywhere. Native Americans have lived in the region for at least 10,000 years, and when the region was first explored by European adventurers, forestlands were occupied by several different tribes. Never heavily settled or exploited, the forest has retained most of its wildness. Shoshone National Forest is a part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a nearly unbroken expanse of federally protected lands encompassing an estimated 20,000,000 acres (8,100,000 ha).
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a jökulhlaup. The dam can consist of glacier ice or a terminal moraine. Failure can happen due to erosion, a buildup of water pressure, an avalanche of rock or heavy snow, an earthquake or cryoseism, volcanic eruptions under the ice, or massive displacement of water in a glacial lake when a large portion of an adjacent glacier collapses into it.
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 is well documented and is one of the effects of climate change. The retreat of mountain glaciers provide evidence for the rise in global temperatures since the late 19th century. Examples include mountain glaciers in western North America, Asia, the Alps in central Europe and tropical and subtropical regions of South America and Africa. Since glacial mass is affected by long-term climatic changes, e.g., precipitation, mean temperature, and cloud cover, glacial mass changes are one of the most sensitive indicators of climate change. Retreat of glaciers is also a major reason for sea level rise. Excluding peripheral glaciers of ice sheets, the total cumulated global glacial losses over the 26-year period from 1993 to 2018 were likely 5500 gigatons, or 210 gigatons per yr.
The Colville River is a 60-mile (100 km) long tributary of the Columbia River in northeastern Washington in the United States. The Colville River begins in southern Stevens County, Washington at the confluence of Sheep Creek and Deer Creek. It flows northwest past Colville and into the Columbia River near Kettle Falls.
Dinwoody Glacier is located in Shoshone National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming on the east side of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range. Completely within the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, Dinwoody Glacier is one of the largest glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains, and as of 1989 was ranked fourth in area. In a 1989 study which examined repeat photography and stream flow analysis, Dinwoody Glacier was determined to have retreated rapidly between 1958 and 1983, though most of the reduction has been in the thickness of the glacier rather than its surface area. In the same 25-year period, the glacier lost an average of 23.4 m (77 ft) in thickness. Radar mapping of 72 locations on the glacier resulted in an average thickness of 54 m (177 ft) and a maximum measured depth of 111 m (364 ft). The 1989 study was commenced to examine the impact on water supplies to streams and rivers from glacier retreat of both Dinwoody and Gannett Glaciers.
J Glacier is located in Bridger-Teton National Forest, in the US state of Wyoming on the west of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range. J Glacier is in the Bridger Wilderness, and is part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains. J Glacier flows down from the northwest slope of Klondike Peak and a proglacial lake has formed at the toe of the glacier.
Grasshopper Glacier is located in Shoshone National Forest, in the US state of Wyoming on the east of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range. Grasshopper Glacier is in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, and is part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains. The glacier flows north, and glacial runoff supplies water to Grasshopper Creek, flowing eventually into the Wind River. The glacier shares a glacial margin with Klondike Glacier, located to the south. The glacier is named for grasshoppers that have been found entombed in the ice.
Gooseneck Glacier is located in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, Shoshone National Forest, in the US state of Wyoming. The glacier is east of the Continental Divide in the northern Wind River Range and on the southeast flank of Gannett Peak, the tallest mountain in Wyoming. Gooseneck Glacier is separated from Dinwoody Glacier by a rocky outcropping and they are part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains.
Mammoth Glacier is in the Bridger Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The glacier is on the west side of the Continental Divide which separates it from Dinwoody Glacier to the east. Mammoth Glacier is the largest glacier on the west side of the Continental Divide of the Wind River Range and occupies a large, north facing cirque on the north slopes of Twin Peaks and just west of Mount Woodrow Wilson. Mammoth Glacier is part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains.
Mount Woodrow Wilson is located in the Wind River Range in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Mount Woodrow Wilson is the eighth-highest mountain in the range and the ninth-highest in Wyoming. The summit is located in the Bridger Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest on the Continental Divide, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) south of Gannett Peak. The flanks of the mountain are covered in snowfields and glaciers, including Dinwoody Glacier to the northeast, Mammoth Glacier to the west and Sphinx Glacier to the south.
Sphinx Glacier is in the Wind River Range, Bridger-Teton National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The glacier is situated on the southern slope of Mount Woodrow Wilson and immediately west of the Continental Divide. The glacier is flanked on the east by a mountain known as The Sphinx. Sphinx Glacier is on the opposite side of the Continental Divide from Dinwoody Glacier.
Rocky Run is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 2.3 miles (3.7 km) long and flows through Salem Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of 1.83 square miles (4.7 km2). In the early 1900s, the stream had a high level of water quality and was proposed for use as a water supply. The construction of a dam on it was proposed, but no formal plans were ever made. There are coal mines in the watershed, but they have been abandoned since the late 1800s. Wisconsinan Till, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, Boulder Colluvium, Wisconsinan Bouldery Till, coal dumps, and bedrock consisting of sandstone and shale all occur in the watershed. The drainage basin is designated as a Coldwater Fishery.
Mill Run is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long and flows through Tunkhannock Township and Overfield Township. The stream is not designated as an impaired waterbody. In its upper reaches, it flows through glacial drift, while in its lower reaches, it passes over a waterfall. Lakes in the stream's watershed include Flow Pond.
