Water gap

Short description: Geological feature formed through a mountain

For other uses, see Earth:Water gap (disambiguation).

The Columbia River cut the Wallula Gap, seen from Main Street in Wallula, Washington

A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today.[1] Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a practical route for road and rail transport to cross the mountain barrier.

## Contents

* 1 Geology
* 2 Notable examples
* 3 References
* 4 See also

## Geology

View of water gaps cut by the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River through Evitts Mountain and Tussey Mountain, facing west from the summit of Kinton Knob, Wills Mountain, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, with the town of Bedford in the foreground

A water gap is usually an indication of a river that is older than the current topography. The likely occurrence is that a river established its course when the landform was at a low elevation, or by a rift in a portion of the crust of the earth having a very low stream gradient and a thick layer of unconsolidated sediment.[2]

In a hypothetical example, a river would have established its channel without regard for the deeper layers of rock. A later period of uplift would cause increased erosion along the riverbed, exposing the underlying rock layers. As the uplift continued, the river, being large enough, would continue to erode the rising land, cutting through ridges as they formed.

Water gaps are common in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of eastern North America.

Alternatively, a water gap may be formed through headward erosion of two streams on opposite sides of a ridge, ultimately resulting in the capture of one stream by the other.

## Notable examples

Two water gaps opened by the same river in central Pennsylvania, foreground and background, separated by settlements in flat lands

* Chicago Portage, Illinois - Saddle Point runs through the city itself.
* Columbia River Gorge, Oregon and Washington, and Wallula Gap, Washington, United States
* Cumberland Narrows, Maryland, United States
* Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, United States[3]
* Digby Gut, Nova Scotia, through which the Annapolis River flows into the Bay of Fundy
* Heavitree Gap, Alice Springs, Australia
* Iron Gates on the Danube River, forming the border between Serbia and Romania
* Kali Gandaki Gorge - cuts through the world's tallest mountain range, the Himalayas in Nepal
* Manawatū Gorge, New Zealand
* Middle Rhine in Germany
* Pongo de Mainique, Peru - on the Urubamba River
* Pongo de Manseriche, Peru - on the Marañón River
* Potomac Water Gap, United States
* Weltenburg Narrows on the Danube River in Bavaria
* Wawa Gorge, Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines

## References

1. ↑ Creation Research Society (2010). Creation Research Society Quarterly Vol. 47 No. 1 Summer 2010. http://archive.org/details/crsq-2010-volume-47-number-1.
2. ↑ "Gap" (in en). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/gap.
3. ↑ "Delaware Water Gap". https://www.nps.gov/dewa/index.htm.

## See also

* Antecedent drainage stream
* Defile (geography)
* Narrows
* Peneplain

* v
* t
* e

Rivers, streams and springs

Rivers|

* Alluvial river
* Braided river
* Blackwater river
* Channel
* Channel pattern
* Channel types
* Confluence
* Distributary
* Drainage basin
* Subterranean river
* River bifurcation
* River ecosystem
* River source
* Tributary
* more...

Streams|

* Arroyo
* Bourne
* Burn
* Chalk stream
* Coulee
* Current
* Stream
* Stream bed
* Stream channel
* Stream gradient
* Stream pool
* Perennial stream
* Winterbourne
* more...

Springs|

* Geyser
* Sacred spring
* Hot spring
* Karst spring
* Mineral spring
* Rhythmic spring
* Spring
* Spring horizon
* more...

Sedimentary processes
and erosion|

* Abrasion
* Anabranch
* Aggradation
* Armor
* Bed load
* Bed material load
* Granular flow
* Debris flow
* Deposition
* Dissolved load
* Downcutting
* Erosion
* Headward erosion
* Knickpoint
* Palaeochannel
* Progradation
* Retrogradation
* Saltation
* Secondary flow
* Sediment transport
* Suspended load
* Wash load
* Water gap

Fluvial landforms|

* Ait
* Alluvial fan
* Antecedent drainage stream
* Avulsion
* Bank
* Bar
* Bayou
* Billabong
* Canyon
* Chine
* Cut bank
* Estuary
* Fluvial terrace
* Gill
* Gulch
* Gully
* Glen
* Meander scar
* Mouth bar
* Oxbow lake
* Riffle-pool sequence
* Point bar
* Ravine
* Rill
* River island
* Rock-cut basin
* Sedimentary basin
* Sedimentary structures
* Strath
* Thalweg
* River valley
* Wadi

Fluvial flow|

* Helicoidal flow
* International Scale of River Difficulty
* Meander
* Plunge pool
* Rapids
* Riffle
* Shoal
* Waterfall
* Whitewater

Surface runoff|

* Agricultural wastewater treatment
* Effluent
* First flush
* Urban runoff
* Wastewater

Floods and stormwater|

* 100-year flood
* Crevasse splay
* Flash flood
* Flood
* Flood barrier
* Flood control
* Flood forecasting
* Flood-meadow
* Floodplain
* Flood pulse concept
* Flooded grasslands and savannas
* Storm Water Management Model
* Return period

River measurement
and modelling|

* Baer's law
* Baseflow
* Bradshaw model
* Discharge (hydrology)
* Drainage density
* Exner equation
* Groundwater model
* Hack's law
* Hjulström curve
* Hydrograph
* Hydrological modelling
* Hydrological transport model
* Infiltration (hydrology)
* Main stem
* Playfair's Law
* Relief ratio
* River continuum concept
* Rouse number
* Runoff curve number
* Runoff model (reservoir)
* Stream gauge
* Universal Soil Loss Equation
* WAFLEX
* Wetted perimeter
* Volumetric flow rate

River engineering|

* Aqueduct
* Balancing lake
* Canal
* Check dam
* Dam
* Drop structure
* Daylighting
* Detention basin
* Erosion control
* Fish ladder
* Floodplain restoration
* Flume
* Infiltration basin
* Leat
* Levee
* Retention basin
* Revetment
* Riparian zone restoration
* Stream restoration
* Weir

River sports|

* Canyoning
* Rafting
* River surfing
* Riverboarding
* Whitewater canoeing
* Whitewater kayaking
* Whitewater slalom

Other topics|

* Aquifer
* Aquatic toxicology
* Body of water
* Limnology
* Riparian zone
* River civilization
* River cruise
* Surface water
* World Rivers Day

Lists of rivers
Rivers by continent
Rivers by length
Rivers by discharge rate
Drainage basins
Whitewater rivers
Flash floods
River name etymologies

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