What is the source? What is the meaning of this word? In what sciences and spheres of human life is it used? We will try to answer all these questions in our article.
What is the source? Meaning and usage of the word
There are a huge number of words that are used in several meanings at once. "Source" is one of those words. In what areas of human activity is it used? And what is the source?
In general, the interpretation of this word is as follows: the source is the beginning of something. In this sense, it can be found in many different phrases. For example: “origins of ancient Greek culture”, “folk origins”, “origins of spirituality”, “origins of life”, etc.
In addition, this term is used in three scientific disciplines:
- in hydrology (as the place where a natural stream begins);
- in physics (as one of the FET electrodes);
- in hydrodynamics (as a point of a field line with positive divergence).
The word "source" has many synonyms: beginning, primary source, cause, source, spring, outflow and others.
The source of the river is… Interesting facts about the origins of rivers
Any riverplanets are known to flow from top to bottom. And any river, even the smallest one, has its beginning and its end.
So, what is a source in hydrology and geography? This is the place where any natural watercourse (river or stream) begins. Various geographic objects can act as a river source. It can be a spring, a thermal spring, a glacier, a lake or a swamp. Quite often, the source is considered to be the confluence of two smaller rivers.
Sometimes it can be quite difficult to determine the source of a particular river (due to the large number of "applicants" for this title). In this case, it is determined by two main criteria:
1) choose the most abundant source;
2) choose the source that is as far as possible from the mouth of the river.
Our nature is incredibly bizarre and diverse. And she never ceases to amaze us. So, sometimes it swaps the source and mouth in the same river! A vivid example of this is the modest rivulet Rosson, which connects Luga and Narva. When the water level in the Luga rises, the Rosson flows in one direction. And when it rises in Narva, it radically changes its direction.
It also happens that the sources of completely different streams are located very close to each other. Another quirk of mother nature! For example, such rivers as the Dnieper, Volga and Zapadnaya Dvina are born within the same Valdai Upland. But they all carry their waters to completely different seas.
Sources of the largest rivers in Russia
Sources of many large rivers very often become popularattractions. In such places, as a rule, small monuments or information signs are installed, places for recreation are arranged. Tourists and travelers willingly come here. This tradition is also popular within Russia (in the photo below - the source of the Volga River).
The table below shows the location of the sources of the ten largest and most famous rivers in Russia in case our reader wishes to visit one of these symbolic and iconic places.
| River name | Where the river flows into | Geographic address of source | Source height (in meters) |
| Ob | Kara Sea | 52º 25' 56" N 84º 59' 07" E | 160 |
| Cupid | Sea of Okhotsk | 53º 20' 00" N 121º 28' 53" E | 304 |
| Lena | Laptev Sea | 53º 56' 00" N 108º 05' 01" E | 1465 |
| Yenisei | Kara Sea | 51º 43' 40" N 94º 27' 06" E | 620 |
| Volga | Caspian Sea | 57º 15' 04" N 32º 28' 04" E | 228 |
| Irtysh | Ob River | 47º 24' 52" N 90º 12' 55" E | 2803 |
| Lower Tunguska | Yenisei River | 58º 02' 42" N 105º 40' 39" E | 543 |
| Ural | Caspian Sea | 54º 42' 03" N 59º 25' 02" E | 668 |
| Don | Sea of Azov | 54º 00' 44" N 38º 16' 40" E | 181 |
| Pechora | Barents Sea | 62º 12' 06" N 59º 25' 55" E | 630 |
Thus, we found out what the source is, considered the meaning and use of the word.
