Why dooes trhe river discharge change downstream?

Question

i would appreciate as much detail as possible

Answer 1

i gotta concur with Caitie C.

Answer 2

water, sediment and everything else dumped into it from its source to its terminus ....

Answer 3

I'm not sure what you mean exactly, but if you're referring to the fact that river water upstream is often quite different from river water downstream, it's because of the fact that as a river runs its course, it picks up stuff (silt, debris, minerals, etc.) along the way.  Thus, the tributaries of the river that are located upstream often have a higher water quality than tributaries near the river's end.  The Mississippi river illustrates this quite nicely.  Here's a picture of the Mississippi river in Iowa: http://www.traveliowa.com/images/gallery...

Very pretty, bright blue...  Quite nice looking.  As it winds its way south, it picks up a considerable amount of silt, as well as pollutants from the many ships that utilize the river.  Here's what it looks like in New Orleans: http://content.answers.com/main/content/...

(Kind of unpleasant.)

I hope that helped!

- PhD Student in Geography