continental divide

Continental Divide, the "backbone" of a continent. In North America, from N Alaska to New Mexico, it moves along the crest of the Rocky Mts., which separates westward-flowing streams from eastward-flowing waters. In SW New Mexico the divide crosses an area of low relief; it becomes more distinct in N Mexico, where it follows the Sierra Madre Occidental. In the United States it has been called the Great Divide, a name also occasionally used to designate the whole Rocky Mt. system, especially the southern section, where the high, rugged ranges presented an almost impenetrable barrier to westbound explorers and settlers. Glacier, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain national parks lie on the Continental Divide, and the

Continental Divide National Scenic Trail runs along it (see National Parks and Monuments, table).

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Continental Divide

Most notable watershed of the North American continent. The mountains comprising it extend generally north-south, thus dividing the continent's principal drainage into waters flowing eastward (e.g., into Hudson Bay in Canada or the Mississippi River in the U.S.) and waters flowing westward (into the Pacific Ocean). Most of the divide runs along the crest of the Rocky Mountains, through British Columbia in Canada and through the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico in the U.S. Its central point is Colorado, where it has many peaks above 13,000 ft (3,962 m). It continues southward into Mexico, roughly paralleling the Sierra Madre, and into Central America.

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continental divide [¦känt·ən¦ent·əl di′vīd]

(geology)

A drainage divide of a continent, separating streams that flow in opposite directions; for example, the divide in North America that separates watersheds of the Pacific Ocean from those of the Atlantic Ocean.