Channels by Mrs. Dorzweiler

Channels are where the water flows in a river. A channel goes all the way from the beginning of the river to the end. The channel is usually steeper near the beginning of the river, where there is a slope. The channel gets flatter near the end of the river, because the river bed is flatter here. A famous channel is the English Channel. It is a large body of water between the countries of England and France. The English Channel connects the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. It is 350 miles long. The narrowest part of the English Channel is called the Strait of Dover. Large channels like the English Channel may have been caused by melting ice that flooded low land during the end of the Ice Age. In rivers there is usually one channel. Sometimes the water has to go around islands so it splits into different channels for a while before coming back together. Sometimes there is silt at the mouth of a river that causes the water to split into many channels. When channels are restored they can help bring back wild fish.

Information Sources

Archbold, Mike. "Tides Rechanneling Nisqually River." EBSCO. River channels + landforms

Sepehri, Sandy. Rivers. 2008.

World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 6, 2002.

World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 16, 2002.