A number of rivers are known to have reversed the direction of their flow, either permanently or temporarily, in response to geological activity, weather events, climate change, or direct human intervention.
![]() | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2019) |
River | Original outlet | Current outlet | Continent | Date of reversal | Cause of reversal | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon River | Pacific Ocean | Atlantic Ocean | South America | Cretaceous period | Formation of Andes Mountains | [1] |
Chicago River | Lake Michigan | Mississippi River | North America | 1900 | Construction of Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal | [1] |
Wisconsin River | Great Lakes Basin | Mississippi River | North America | Pleistocene Epoch | Pre-Illinoian Glaciers | [2] |
All tidal sections of rivers reverse their flow with the tide about twice a day (or semidiurnally), by definition. The following are notable examples.[3]
River | Outlet | Continent | References |
---|---|---|---|
Hudson River | Upper New York Bay | North America | [3] |
Saint John River (Reversing Falls) | Bay of Fundy | North America | [4] |
River | Outlet | Continent | Cause of reversal | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Krupa River | Neretva River | Europe | High water levels of the Neretva River | [5] |
Petexbatún River | Pasión River | Central America | Winter rain flooding of the Pasión River | [6] |
Qiantang River | Hangzhou Bay | Asia | Tidal bore in Hangzhou Bay | [7] |
Tonlé Sap River | Mekong River | Asia | Monsoon flooding of the Mekong River | [8] |
Hurricane storm surges often cause temporary reversals of coastal rivers.[1]
River | Outlet | Continent | Date of reversal | Cause of reversal | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago River[lower-alpha 1] | Mississippi River | North America | 2017 and others[lower-alpha 2] | Storm surge | [9] |
Mississippi River | Gulf of Mexico | North America | 1812 | Tectonic uplift caused by New Madrid earthquakes | [10] |
2005 | Storm surge from Hurricane Katrina | [1] | |||
2012 | Storm surge from Hurricane Isaac | [1][11] | |||
2021 | Storm surge from Hurricane Ida | [12] |
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