It is entirely dependent on what part of the country the river is located in. Generally, it will flow from higher to lower elevation.
With the mountain ranges near the east coast (Adirondacks), anything east of the range will flow toward the Atlantic Ocean.
With the mountain ranges near the west coast (Rockies), anything west of the mountains will flow toward the Pacific Ocean.
For rivers between the two ranges (on the Central Plains, basically) most rivers flow north-to-south ... meaning they dump into the Gulf of Mexico. A few flow south-to-north and empty into the Great Lakes.
And then there's Alaska ... whose rivers empty either into the Pacific Ocean (off the south coast) or into the Arctic Ocean (off the north coast).
2007-02-27 08:57:17
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answer #1
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answered by CanTexan 6
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I live about 20 miles west of an Historical Monument just east of Three Lakes, Wisconsin. The monument states that point is the top of the "Watershed Divide" in the United States. In general, everything east of that point flows east. Everything west flows west. However, because we are on high ground and the geography slopes downward as you go farther south, the waters will combine and eventually flow directly into the Mississippi river to empty into the Golf of Mexico. West of the Rocky mountains rivers flow into the Pacific. Get a map and trace the the basic river foliage. In the northern hemisphere, rivers generally flow south toward the equator. In the southern hemisphere they flow north, again toward the equator. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but as I recall, the exception is the Amazon river in South America which flows north to south because of the topography.
2007-02-27 11:23:32
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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Rivers to the West of the Rocky Mountains (also called Continental Divide) flow toward the Pacific Ocean and Rivers to the east flow toward the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
2007-02-27 08:58:20
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answer #3
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answered by rscanner 6
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Some of the rivers flow toward the Atlantic(East Coast) some flow toward the Pacific(West Coast)
2007-02-27 08:48:41
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answer #4
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answered by science teacher 7
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Rivers flow to the Atlantic ocean, the Pacific ocean, the Great Lakes, the Caribbean and the Artic ocean
2007-02-27 08:47:57
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answer #5
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answered by Nick W 3
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NO. extremely not. while you're conversing on the subject of the USA, the continental divide is interior the rocky mountains. A continental divide is an imaginary line that shows certainly shows which direction rivers will flow. On one ingredient of the line, they finally sell off water into the pacific ocean. on the different ingredient of the line, river water finally dumps into the atlantic ocean.
2016-10-16 21:53:42
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answer #6
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answered by didden 4
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The rivers flow toward the Gulf of Mexico, which is not an ocean.
2007-02-27 08:47:52
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answer #7
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answered by Daniel-san 4
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Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic!
2007-02-27 08:52:20
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answer #8
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answered by Jerry P 6
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