one of several outlet streams draining a river, esp on a delta
Examples of 'distributaries' in a sentence
distributaries
The dolphin population in this river and its tributaries and distributaries has declined steeply in the recent past.
Muhammed Khairujjaman Mazumder, Freeman Boro, Badruzzaman Barbhuiya, Utsab Singha 2014, 'A study of the winter congregation sites of the Gangetic River Dolphin in southernAssam, India, with reference to conservation', Global Ecology and Conservationhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989414000304. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
In the distributaries, a recovery was observed in the present-day sediments, whereas no individuals were collected in the main channel.
López-González, N., Borrego, J., Abad, M., Ruiz, F. 2007, 'Los ostrácodos como trazadores ambientales en medios contaminados: el ríoOdiel (SO España)', Estudios Geologicoshttp://estudiosgeol.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosgeol/article/view/191/191. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
These microorganisms have a differential behaviour according to the sedimentary environment studied (ebb-end channels, distributaries, main channels).
López-González, N., Borrego, J., Abad, M., Ruiz, F. 2007, 'Los ostrácodos como trazadores ambientales en medios contaminados: el ríoOdiel (SO España)', Estudios Geologicoshttp://estudiosgeol.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosgeol/article/view/191/191. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)