Distributary
Topic: Landforms and their Evolution: Rivers, Groundwater, Glaciers, Waves and Wind · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Landforms and their Evolution"
Meaning
A distributary is a branch channel that flows away from the main river and does not come back. It carries part of the river's water and sediment to the sea or across a plain. Distributaries form where a river slows down and drops its load, mostly on deltas and alluvial fans. The dropped sediment blocks the main channel, so the water splits into new branches. This spreads sediment widely and helps build up the land.
Example
The Hooghly in West Bengal is a distributary of the Ganga. It branches off and flows past Kolkata to the Bay of Bengal.
Don't confuse with
- Tributary: a tributary joins a main river and adds water to it. A distributary leaves the main river and takes water away.
Related concepts
- Alluvial fan
- Delta
- Estuary
- Floodplain
- Natural levee
- Point bar
- Meander
- Slip-off slope and undercut bank
- Oxbow lake
- Braided channel