Confluence (geography)

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Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river. The German city name Koblenz indicates, in Germanicized form, its site at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle.<ref>Touristik & Kultur. Stadt Koblenz. Retrieved on 2006-03-11.</ref>

The term is also used to describe the meeting of tidal or other non-riverine bodies of water, such as two canals<ref>The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refers to the confluence of the Assawoman Canal with the Bethany Loop Canal in Delaware. See: CENAP-OP-R-Quarterly Report, 2004-05-12 . Philadelphia Engineer District. Retrieved on 2006-03-11.</ref> or a canal and a lake.<ref>Engineers in New Orleans refer to the confluence of the 17th Street Canal and Lake Pontchartrain. See: Interim Closure Structure at 17th St. Canal. Task Force Guardian. Retrieved on 2006-03-11.</ref> A one-mile (1.6 km) portion of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans accommodates the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal; ergo those three waterways are confluent there.

One of the more famous occurences of a confluence is the merging of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. This merging point is the beginning of the Ohio river, thus forming a confluence in Pittsburgh. This point was the inspiration for the name Three Rivers Stadium where both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates played for 30 years. It is also a topic of discussion for NFL broadcaster John Madden. Every time Madden and sidekick Al Michaels broadcast a Steelers game in Pittsburgh, Madden will wait for an aerial shot and circle the confluence of the rivers and explain to the TV audience what makes a confluence. Of course, this doesn't end the discussion for Madden as he will also illustrate where the old stadium used to be and which end the most famous "illegal catch" was made. Referring, of course, to the immaculate reception which Madden was the coach on the losing end.

Confluence also describes a location where integer latitude and integer longitude lines cross. The point in extreme northeastern New Jersey at 41°0′0″N, 74°0′0″W is such a confluence point. The Degree Confluence Project endeavors to catalog and photograph all such points on the globe.<ref>DCP: Information. Degree Confluence Project. Retrieved on 2006-03-11.</ref>