River mouth

A river mouth is the place where a river discharges into a sea, lake, or another river. Its form depends on water flow, sediment, tides, waves, and the receiving basin.

Estuary: A partly enclosed coastal water body where river water mixes with seawater. Many river mouths broaden into tidal zones where fresh and salt water mix.
River discharge: The volume of water flowing through a river channel per unit of time. Discharge affects how strongly a river pushes into the receiving basin.
Mississippi River Delta: A large delta complex formed where the Mississippi River delivers sediment to the Gulf of Mexico. Its shifting distributaries illustrate how sediment-rich river mouths build and abandon land.
Estuarine ecosystem: A community of organisms and ecological processes in a tidal area where freshwater and seawater mix. Mixing and nutrient delivery make many river mouths productive habitats.
Delta: A landform built from sediment deposited where a river enters a standing body of water. When sediment accumulates faster than waves and currents remove it, a river mouth can build a delta.
Tidal range: The vertical difference between high tide and low tide at a location. A large tidal range can strengthen mixing and maintain broad, branching channels.
Nile Delta: The triangular delta formed by the Nile River at the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Its reduced sediment supply demonstrates how dams can alter a deltaic mouth.
Coastal wetland: A low-lying coastal area where water saturates or covers the soil for part or all of the year. Wetlands around river mouths can trap sediment and buffer storm surges.
Alluvial fan: A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed where a stream flows onto flatter ground. It resembles a delta but forms on land, not where a river enters a receiving water body.
Wave action: The effects of surface waves on water movement, shorelines, and sediment. Waves can flatten deposits and reshape the coast around a river opening.

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