Why do all rivers flow North to South?

Question

Do rivers below the equator go in the opposite direction?
Also I know about the few exceptions like the Nile and such so there's no need to point that out.

Answer 1

They don't and the equator has nothing to do with it. Pull out a detailed topographic map and you'll see rivers going in all directions but always to lower elevations.

Rivers flow from higher elevations to lower elevations in which ever direction offers the least resistance to the flow of water.

Answer 2

Water, regardless of the geographic location flows from high areas to low areas. It is the relative position of Mountains and plains that determines the direction of a river. The Mississippi, in the USA flows east, then south. The tributaries flow east to west. West to east, north to south and South to North.
As a rule of thumb - the general trend is for rivers to f low from mountains to the sea. If there is a high ground barrier, the river will for a lake the the lowest end of travel, regardless of the direction. The Salton Sea and Great Salt lake are examples of this.

As for exceptions - even a main stream river can flow north at some point and south at other parts. It all depends of terrain.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why do all rivers flow North to South?
Do rivers below the equator go in the opposite direction?
Also I know about the few exceptions like the Nile and such so there's no need to point that out.

Answer 4

I could add the St Johns river that starts in Indian River County in Florida and enters the ocean 310 miles north in Jacksonville, Florida. I remember being told that the only other river that flows north is the Nile, but in reality, there are hundreds or rivers that flow north all over the world. http://floridaswater.com/stjohnsriver/

Answer 5

Not all rivers flow north to south. Not even close to all. They flow from high terrain to low terrain.

The exceptions are not "few," they are many. You probably live in the US, where most of the country is drained by the south-flowing Mississippi river (the largest on the continent) and its tributaries, so you think of rivers as flowing south. But the second-largest river on the North American continent flows north.

Answer 6

The Columbia, one of the world's great rivers, starts in British Columbia and flows northwest, then it turns south and then east, then southwest, then west, then southwest, then east, then southeast, then west, then north and finally west where in enters the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon.

The Amazon River flows mostly east, the Nile flows mostly north, the Missouri initially flows north, then east then southeast and east again. The Ohio flows west, south, southwest, northwest, and then southwest to enter into the Mississippi. The Platte River most flows east. Almost all the rivers in Siberia from from south to north to enter into the Arctic Ocean.

I'd say that your term "all" is a rather sweeping generalization that does not hold up to scrutiny.

Answer 7

Rivers may flow in any direction. It usually flows from high to low ground.

As you realize there are always exceptions. There is a river near Maun in Botswana where the flow can be in both directions depending on the water level in the Okavango swamps.

Answer 8

If the source of a river is at a higher elevation than the mouth, that river will run from the source to the mouth. However, if that (higher) source is to the south of the mouth, that river will then flow to the north (downhill).

Answer 9

it is the fact that the rivers had lost their map and on their last meeting they planned to go north to south but rivers life nile did not agree so they move as they like

Answer 10

It s not te issue of north to south....As rightly observed rivers flow from high terrain to low terrain... there cant be exceptions due to gravity. If some big block is therre, river has to change its course and again from its level to lower terrain.......if some one says. exceptions.. do they mean from low to high...I don t think so....