I have recently been made aware of an erroneous assumption I have been harboring in regard to North America's geographical status. It has always been my belief that there is only one continental divide in North America... until I received enlightenment today! There are in fact four continental divides in North America. The largest and most well-known of the four is the Great Divide. However, as you can see from the map above there are also the Northern, Eastern and St. Lawrence Divides. 
The reason I have taken an interest in the continental divides is because I happened to pass by the North/South Continental Divide while driving through the great state of Indiana on U.S. 31 Bypass. The water on the north side of the divide is carried up by the St. Joseph River into the Great Lakes and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Water on the southern side of the divide will be carried by the Kankakee River into the Gulf of Mexico. For more information about all four of the continental divides in North America I recommend a visit to this site.
3 comments:
I love your blogs. You have such a way with words. I wish I could remember all the information you give us to read. Very informative.
Thanks, Grandma. And you don't have to remember everything because you can just come back to it when you need a refresher!
I drove by this divide yesterday. I knew about watersheds but had not seen this map. Always interesting to come across information that makes you go "Ah Ha!" I would probably have written North/South water divide on the sign. Or Mississippi and St Lawrence Seaway divide. Thanks for the information.
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