Talk:Tributary

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Untitled

Can they really overflow causing massive flooding? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.204.52.6 (talk) 19:07, 31 January 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think that they can. I heard it on the news. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.250.216.247 (talk) 00:17, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Diagram

Having a diagram forthis article can make it better. The League of Crazy M en 11:28, 2 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dutch wikilinks

Please don't put here the Dutch wikilinks as there both tributaries and distributaries are treated. Or else there will be a mess in wikilinks. Andres 12:05, 30 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Consistent Use of term Tributary in Wikipedia

What is and What is not a tributary of a larger river or body of water? If there is no DIRECT connection between the so-called tributary and its parent water, is it a tributary? What I am looking for here is some consistent application of the term to articles on rivers and lakes within Wikipedia.

I personally believe that unless there is a DIRECT connection between the two named waters at a confluence, the lesser water should not be listed as a tributary of the greater water. For example: I would contend that the Firehole River in Wyoming is not a tributary of the Missouri River, but instead a tributary of the Madison River. If this logic is not applied, then articles about very large or significant waters might literally contain 1000's of tributary references. For example, if I were to include Rocky Creek as tributary of the Mississippi River, I would not be totally incorrect as it does flow into the E. Gallatin River, Gallatin River, Missouri River into the Mississippi.

I have posted this on the Confluence talk page as well. If there is a better place to post, let me know? --Mike Cline 14:36, 4 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A related question: What is the determination of which is a tributary and which is the main river? For example, it appears both the Missouri River and the Ohio Rivers are much longer and drain a much larger areas than the Mississippi north of their confluence(s). Why isn’t the river named Missouri or Ohio down to the Gulf? Rtrsr 2600:1702:2440:6620:AC93:D2AC:CC4B:33AD (talk) 13:38, 21 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Because the sizes of the respective catchment areas were not known until well after the rivers were ~~made~~ named! Also, the name Mississippi was applied first to the lower part. —Tamfang (talk) 21:04, 14 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As a Wikipedia reader with no particular agenda other than seeking clarity, I offer that it may be more objective to reword the Article’s heading to read: “This article is about geographic waterways. For other uses, see….”, and revise the first sentence to “A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into another stream or river, or into a lake.”

Other comments:

· A tributary may be shorter or longer (by length), smaller or larger (by water volume or drainage area) than the river into which it flows.

· A river that flows into the sea is termed a main stem or parent river.

Rtrsr 2600:1702:2440:6620:2585:E05D:4638:911E (talk) 18:41, 26 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

pictures

If one looked only at the pictures, one might think tributary means 'small river'. Have we no pictures of small rivers contributing to greater ones? —Tamfang (talk) 16:04, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Done! 😃 Anythingyouwant (talk) 21:03, 15 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]