As the river approaches the sea, the speed of the flowing water decreases and the river begins to break up into a number of streams called ______.

समुद्र तक पहुँचते-पहुँचते नदी का प्रवाह धीमा हो जाता है तथा नदी अनेक धाराओं में विभाजित हो जाती है, जिनको ______ कहा जाता है।

When a river approaches the sea or a lake, its gradient becomes almost zero, causing the water velocity to decrease significantly. Due to this reduced speed, the river deposits sediment and splits into several smaller channels. These channels are called distributaries. They branch off from the main river and are commonly found in delta regions. In contrast, a tributary is a smaller stream that flows into a larger river. A levee is a natural or artificial embankment along a river, while a floodplain is the flat area adjacent to a river that gets inundated during floods. Distributaries are characteristic of deltas and help in the formation of deltaic landforms.