Image Cache: As the US election nears, America can at times feel like a hideous and hateful place. Let this map of the United States’ river basins made by Imgur user Fejetlenfej remind you that, at the very least, it can be beautiful. Fejetlenfej — a geographer who sells their maps on Etsy — created the image using QGIS software, which is an open-source geographic information system. The map depicts both “the permanent and temporary streams and rivers,” the creator explained. They divided the streams into catchment areas, which show when rainfall flows into a river, lake or reservoir. Using the Strahler Stream Order Classification, which is a system used by geologists to define stream sizes, Fejetlenfej explained that on the map, “the higher the stream order, the thicker the line”.
Image: Fejetlenfej/Imgur
Browse through the cool photos, animations and diagrams in Gizmodo’s Image Cache here.
Bask in the beauty of America’s river basins for a moment today. Before it’s too late.
[Imgur via the Daily Mail]