Rio Grande
Rio Grande is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 29.89°, -102.32°
About Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ), in the United States, or the Río Bravo (del Norte), in Mexico (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o ˈβɾaβo ðel ˈnoɾte]), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio Grande is 1,896 miles (3,051 km), making it the fourth longest river in the United States and in North America by main stem. It originates in south-central Colorado, in the United States, and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande drainage basin (watershed) has an area of 182,200 square miles (472,000 km2); however, the endorheic basins that are adjacent to and within the greater drainage basin of the Rio Grande increase the total drainage-basin area to 336,000 square miles (870,000 km2).
The Rio Grande with its fertile valley, along with its tributaries, is a vital water source for seven U.S. and Mexican states, and flows primarily through arid and semi-arid lands. After traversing the length of New Mexico, the Rio Grande becomes the Mexico–United States border, between the U.S.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Rio Grande (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Rio Grande in Depth
Geography
The Rio Grande rises in the western part of Rio Grande National Forest, in the U.S. state of Colorado, and is formed by the joining of several streams at the base of Canby Mountain, in the San Juan Mountains, due east of the Continental Divide of the Americas. From the Continental Divide, the Rio Grande flows through the San Luis Valley, then south into New Mexico, and passes through the Rio Grande Gorge, near Taos, then toward Española, afterwards collecting additional waters from the Colorado River basin via the San Juan-Chama Diversion Project and from the Rio Chama.
History
The sedimentary basins forming the modern Rio Grande Valley were not integrated into a single river system draining into the Gulf of Mexico until relatively recent geologic time. Instead, the basins formed by the opening of the Rio Grande rift were initially bolsons, with no external drainage and a central playa. An axial river existed in the Espanola Basin as early as 13 million years ago, reaching the Santo Domingo Basin by 6.9 million years ago. However, at this time, the river drained into a playa in the southern Albuquerque Basin where it deposited the Popotosa Formation. The upper reach of this river corresponded to the modern Rio Chama, but by 5 million years ago, an ancestral Rio Grande draining the eastern San Juan Mountains had joined the ancestral Rio Chama.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Rio Grande (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Rio Grande: Key Facts
| Length | 3,051 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 85 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 471,900 km² |
| Mouth | Gulf of Mexico |
| Drainage system | Rio Grande basin |
| Tributaries | Pecos River, Rio Conchos, Alamito Creek, Alamosa River, Chacon Creek, Conejos River, Culebra Creek, Rio Salado |
Facts from Wikidata Q160636 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Rio Grande: Quick Answers
- Where is Rio Grande?
- Rio Grande is located in United States and Mexico, at 29.8941° N, 102.3218° W.
- Are there dams on the Rio Grande?
- No dam on the Rio Grande is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.