how does the continental divide affect the flow of rivers in the western united states
Continental Divide of the Americas
short
separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean
The Continental Divide of the Americas ( also known as the Great Divide , the Continental Gulf of Division , or merely the Continental Divide ) is the principal , and largely mountainous , hydrological divide of the Americas . The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan , and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean ( including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea ) and , along the northernmost reaches of the Divide , those river systems that drain into the Arctic Ocean .