Wednesday word: thalweg

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thalweg: [tahl-veg or tahl-veyk]

Noun:

1. In geography and fluvial geomorphology:

a : A line following the lowest part of a valley whether under water (as in a river) or not. When underwater, the thalweg is

the longitudinal outline of a riverbed from source to mouth, measured from the deepest part of the river.

b : The line of continuous maximum descent from any point on a land surface or one crossing all contour lines at right angles. c : Subterranean water flowing beneath and in the same direction as a surface stream course.

2.  In international law:
The middle of the chief navigable channel of a waterway which constitutes a boundary line between states and countries.

Origin: 1831.  An English loan word from German. Thal meaning "valley" and weg meaning "way."  In German, the modern spelling of the word is Talweg.