Home > Continental divide
This article is about continental divides in general terms. For the Atlantic/Pacific divide, see Continental Divide. Continental Divide is also the title of a 1981 movie starring John Belushi and Blair Brown.
A continental divide is a line of elevated terrain which forms a border between two drainage basins such that water falling on one side of the line eventually travels to one ocean, and water on the other side travels to another, generally on the opposite side of the continent. Since the exact border between oceans is usually not clearly defined, the continental divide is not always definite for any continent. (The International Hydrographic Organization's publication Limits of Oceans and Seas defines exact boundaries of oceans, but it is not universally recognized.) Moreover some rivers empty into the desert and don't end up in the oceans.
1 Examples
- North America has a clear continental divide from northwestern Canada along the crest of the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. Then, it follows the crest of MexicoThis article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see Mexico (disambiguation The United Mexican States or Mexico ( Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico regarding the use of the variant spelling Mejico see section The name below) is a co's Sierra Madre Occidental. East of this divide is draining into the Atlantic OceanFor other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation The Atlantic Ocean is Earth's second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. The ocean's name, derived from Greek mythology, means the " Sea of Atlas". This ocean occupies an elongated, and the west into the Pacific OceanFor other meanings of pacific see pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean (from the Spanish Pacifico meaning peaceful is the world's largest body of water. It encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179. 7 million kmē (69. 4 mill.
- The Eastern Continental DivideThe Eastern Divide or Eastern Continental Divide is a continental divide in the United States that separates the Gulf of Mexico drainage from the watersheds that flow directly into the Atlantic Ocean. The Eastern Continental Divide runs down the Appalachi runs down the Appalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains are a system of North American mountains running from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to Alabama in the United States, although the northernmost mainland portion ends at the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec. The system is divided into, most prominently from Georgia to VirginiaVirginia is one of the original 13 states of the United States that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution and is generally classified as part of the South. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Virginia it is one of four Commonwealth, dividing the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico. Peachtree Street, the main street in Atlanta, sits atop this divide.
- Another continental divide runs east-west between the two, separating the Gulf from the Arctic Ocean. The lack of mountains along its route makes it less-defined.
- In South America, the Continental Divide lies along the Andes.
- Australia has less distinct ocean boundaries around it, and less prominent mountain ranges, making it hard to define a single divide.
Every continent except for Antarctica has a continental divide.
