Geographically, the summit of Triple Divide Peak lies at the point where the Northern Divide (or Laurentian Divide) meets the Great Divide (or, what many people call "The Continental Divide").
While hiking to Medicine Grizzly Lake this past summer I wondered how many other triple divides existed in the world. After doing a little research on the internet I really couldn't find a definitive answer to this question. On its Triple Divide Peak page, Wikipedia states that it's "one of the few places on the Earth whose waters feed three oceans".
However, the article on continental divides on Wikipedia has a world map showing drainage areas into the major oceans and seas of the world. The map uses data from the USGS Hydro1k project from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Looking at the map below (click here for a larger version) you can see there are several places around the world that have triple divides. Look a little closer and you'll notice that most have drainage areas flowing into two oceans, but the other flowing into a sea, such as the Mediterranean, or the Gulf of Mexico. One such triple divide lies near Hibbing, Minnesota, where water either flows north into the Arctic Ocean, east into the Atlantic, or south into the Gulf of Mexico. In my view though, the Gulf and the Atlantic are one in the same.
I guess the real question I had was how many triple divides have water flowing into three of the four great oceans of the world. Surely there had to be at least two on the European-Asian continents. Again, looking at the map below, you'll see at least four triple divides on the Euro-Asian continents. However, in all four cases, one of the drainage areas flows into what is known as an endorheic basin, where water doesn't drain into an ocean. A perfect example of this is the Great Basin, which covers much of Nevada, and parts of Wyoming, California, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. According to this map, most of south-central Asia doesn't drain into an ocean.
Therefore, from what I can gather, it appears that Triple Divide Peak is the only place in the world that has water flowing into three of the four great oceans of the world.
Please let me know if I am incorrect on this assumption.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
3 comments:
I actually never imagined that anything drained into three big bodies of water like that, but to drain into three oceans is astounding.
Geologists consider the Gulf of Mexico a separate ocean rom the Atlantic Ocean because it was formed separately from the Atlantic Ocean. IT actually connected first with the Pacific.
There is a triple Divide in Pennsylvania near the village of Gold in Potter County. HEre the Allegheny River Pine Creek and the Genesee River rise within the same field to flow to the Gulf of Mexico (Allegheny), The Atlantic Ocean (Pine Creek), and The Gulf of St. Lawrence(Genesee River).
Charles
Hi
I, Atutova Natalya from Siberia, subjects of my research is related to watershed points - places of juncture of three big river basins. My father Timur Zhalsarain wrote in his article that there are nearly thirty (30) significant watershed points on the planet. Hi pointed out four (4) of them as especially remarkable. One of this points he calls a point which is located on the crest of the Rocky Mountains in North America. Only because of the article and data from Internet we understood that is Triple Divide Peak.Because his article we established Amuro-Leno-Yenisseysk joint not far from city Chita and mountain Khundlen -Ul in Mongolia. I am continuing reseaches of my father. In May I will be in USA. Tne purpose of my tripis to visit Triple Divide Peak and get connections with scientists are working on the identical tipe of reseaches. I hope your helping. Natasha https://www.facebook.com/natalya.atutova
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