Arroyo (watercourse)

For other uses, see Arroyo (disambiguation).
Las Cruces Arroyo in New Mexico
An arroyo in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona
A flash flood hits a dry streambed in the Gobi Desert
Aerial view of El Paso's Arroyo Park, or Billy Rogers Arroyo, providing a path for runoff of rain on the Franklin Mountains behind

An arroyo (/əˈrɔɪoʊ/), from Spanish arroyo (Spanish: [aˈroʝo], "brook"), also called a wash, is a dry watercourse that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain.[1] Flash floods are common in arroyos following thunderstorms. It's akin to the Catalan rambla, which stems from the Arabic rámla, "dry river".

Similar landforms are referred to as wadi (in North Africa and Western Asia), chapp in the Gobi, laagate in the Kalahari, donga in South Africa, nullah in India, fiumare in Italy, and dry valley in England.[2][3]

The desert dry wash biome is restricted to the arroyos of the southwestern United States. Arroyos provide a water source to desert animals.

  1. ^ "Arroyo Definition". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  2. ^ "Torrent valley". Insight on the Scriptures. Vol. 2: Jehova – Zuzim and Index. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York. 1988. p. 1115. The term "wadi" (Arabic) is also used to designate a torrent valley ... whereas others are torrents during the rainy season but dry up completely during the rainless season.
  3. ^ Ortuño, Vicente M.; Gilgado, José D.; Jiménez-Valverde, Alberto; Sendra, Alberto; Pérez-Suárez, Gonzalo; Herrero-Borgoñón, uan J. (2013). "The "Alluvial Mesovoid Shallow Substratum", a New Subterranean Habitat". PLOS ONE. 8 (10): e76311. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...876311O. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076311. PMC 3790681. PMID 24124544.