— Roaring rivers —

Changing course through time

All rivers change their course several times during their 'lifetime'. For example, the Amazon once flowed west, the Victoria Falls are a recent phenomenon, and a small river in Spain delineates one of Europe's greatest geological faults. Of many rivers, only recent history is known, as well-being in great civilizations rose and fell on the ebb and flow of rivers - such as in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, and in the Shongai Empire. To know the deeper geological history of rivers, many missing links need to be deciphered, tributaries of neighbouring rivers joined, and usually those changes are brought about by climate change, sea level, or the movement of the Earth's plates.

Read:

• The Great Bend of the Niger: where two ancient rivers joined.
• On the Guadalquivir river: Drought, Doñana, and the Queen of the Marshes.
  
• The Zambezi River and the Smoke that thunders: how rivers change through time.
• The Valley of the Jerte: Spanish cherries and a Jurassic fault line.