Why do rivers generally flow form North to South?

[Axeman]

I don't understand this, gravity pulls towards the center of Earth, and Earth is a sphere so why is it a natural thing for almost all rivers to flow from North to South.

Does it have something to do with magnetic fields in the atmosphere, or the fact that earth is tilted at 35 degrees? Or am I totally off base.

[Nakharar]

I sware its got to do with the moon or something like that, but it depends it flows because is downhill or if its in a river basin it flows towards the sea from the uphill bit

[Banned]

I don't understand this, gravity pulls towards the center of Earth, and Earth is a sphere so why is it a natural thing for almost all rivers to flow from North to South.

Does it have something to do with magnetic fields in the atmosphere, or the fact that earth is tilted at 35 degrees? Or am I totally off base.

All rivers flow downhill regardless of the magnitude of magnetic field and even gravitational pull. The source of a river is usually a hill or mountain. If the source is in north and at a higher elevation, then the river flows towards the south direction; if the same is in south at higher elevation, then the river flows towards the north direction. Niagara river is one such which flows from south to north.

[Pivra]

nile flows from south to north but the wind blows north to south..

[Syron]

Most rivers don't flow north to south though!

In fact out of the worlds longest rivers, only couple flow north to south.

[Pivra]

wow, i love moon rivers.... lol

[Axeman]

So its just basically coincidence that the rivers flow from elevations in the North to the South? I thought it had something deeper inside of it.

[Tankfriend]

Pretty much coincidence; they are just flowing from high elevation to lower elevation if the terrain alows it.
Be it North to South, South to North or whatever possibility else is totally insignificant, as all of those are both possible and present (as MARCVS, Pivra and Syron have pointed out already).

[Trax]

So its just basically coincidence that the rivers flow from elevations in the North to the South?

But they don't, just look at the Siberia.

[Axeman]

Well thanks for those enlightening facts guys.

[Sator Mortis]

Where did you get the notion that rivers always flow north to south anyway? It all depends on your geographical location; rivers here generally flow either east to west or south to north. It all depends where the higher ground is, so it's perfecty possible for most rivers in your area to flow in the same direction, but that doesn't say anything about other areas.

[Copperknickers II]

May i just remind you guys that strictly speaking, the equator is farther away from the earth's core than the poles. Ie it is an oblate spheroid.

[christof139]

All nor most rivers do not flow from north to south. Examples: the New River S to N (2nd oldest river in the world) in West Virginia etc.; the Amazon River W to E; the Nile River S to N; the great Chinese rivers W to E; many Russian rivers S to N as well as N to S; the Congo River E to W; etc.

It has to do with the direction of the slope of the land and what geologic strata the rivers cut through.

If it depended soley on gravity the water would just eventually sink into the earth.

Chris

[the_mango55]

I went fishing on the New River just the other day. It goes right through my county.

This has nothing to do with science, I just saw New River and was reminded how much I enjoy fishing. I hope to do some tubing soon.

[Dayman]

I went fishing on the New River just the other day. It goes right through my county.

This has nothing to do with science, I just saw New River and was reminded how much I enjoy fishing. I hope to do some tubing soon.

New River, Ohio? That's the oldest river in the world IIRC. Susquehanna is two or three. The Appalachians and atlas mountains are some of the oldest in the world. For example Mt. Nittany in the middle of PA, about 3,000 ft. was once Himalayan size, but all the years worn them down.

The thing is that most rivers don't flow north to south. Or, more accurately, I'm not sure what the average is, but there are plenty of rivers that flow in every direction. I think the major US rivers (Mississippi, Hudson, Delaware, Missouri, Susquehanna, Ohio) flow generally N-S, but even there is a difference in west-east alignment. And then the St. Lawrence flows S-N.

but the wind blows north to south..

Wind is either west-east in the North or east-west in the South (with exceptions around the equator)

Anything else is local patterns or frontal.

[Simetrical]

May i just remind you guys that strictly speaking, the equator is farther away from the earth's core than the poles. Ie it is an oblate spheroid.

I considered that when reading this. Moving away from the equator increases the force of gravity, but I don't know what it does to potential, i.e., I don't know if gravity tugs away from or towards the equator, or neither. At any rate the effect here is probably negligible.

[the_mango55]

New River, Ohio? That's the oldest river in the world IIRC. Susquehanna is two or three. The Appalachians and atlas mountains are some of the oldest in the world. For example Mt. Nittany in the middle of PA, about 3,000 ft. was once Himalayan size, but all the years worn them down.

In NW North Carolina, but runs through several states, I didn't know it got to ohio though.



I'm in that little yellow tooth shaped county in NC

[ivan_the_terrible]

I don't understand this, gravity pulls towards the center of Earth, and Earth is a sphere so why is it a natural thing for almost all rivers to flow from North to South.

As far as I know they just go down the path that offers the least resistance. And its not almost all rivers. Take a look at any map, say Europe, youll get rivers flowing in all sorts of directions. Not to mention that the longest river in the world flows from south to north.

or the fact that earth is tilted at 35 degrees? Or am I totally off base.

Tilted relative to what?

[H_man]

Relative to the axis of its spin in relation to the imaginary line perpendicular to its orbital path, the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees. This tilt has a negligible effect on the rivers and pull of gravity we are discussing here, but is the reason we experience the phenomenon commonly known as "seasons". Any object, regardless of latitude, will be pulled directly toward the center of the Earth, and its gravitational field.

[Dayman]

But not the equator...

Regardless Canada and Siberian rivers are all S-N.