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How Rivers Reveal Past History

A new geometric method of analyzing river boundaries allows scientists not only to reconstruct past landscapes but to predict landscapes of the future.

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Credit: Courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife

A new geometric method of analyzing river boundaries allows scientists not only to reconstruct past landscapes but to predict landscapes of the future. According to an article in Science, the rules by which rivers run can be used, by means of statistical analysis, to reveal what rivers looked like in the past and what they will look like in the future, including how stable the edges of a watershed have been and whether the watershed will remain stable in the future.

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