Thalweg

In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg (/ˈtɑːlvɛɡ/) is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg (/ˈtɑːlvɛɡ/) is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the boundary line between states. Also under international law, thalwegs can acquire special significance because disputed river borders are often deemed to run along the river's thalweg. The word thalweg is of 19th-century German origin. The German word Thalweg (modern spelling talweg) is a compound noun that is built from the German elements Thal (since Duden's orthography reform of 1901 written Tal) meaning valley (cognate with dale in English), and Weg, meaning way. It literally means 'valley way' and is used, with its modern spelling talweg, in daily German to describe a path or road that follows the bottom of a valley, or in geography with the more technical meaning also adopted by English. In hydrological and fluvial landforms, the thalweg is a line drawn to join the lowest points along the entire length of a stream bed or valley in its downward slope, defining its deepest channel. The thalweg thus marks the natural direction (the profile) of a watercourse.