Mar 13, 2023 10:44
1 yr ago
45 viewers *
French term

tête de bassin

French to English Science Environment & Ecology Rivers
I'm translating the subtitles of a video about the environment in Burgundy, France, and there is a term I'm unsure about:

La Bourgogne est drainée par des cours d'eau de toutes dimensions et est au confluent de trois **têtes de bassin**. Le bassin du Rhône avec la rivière Saône, le bassin de la Loire et celui de la Seine.

I'm struggling to understand the exact meaning of the term and what it would be called in English. Any help would be much appreciated!

Discussion

Conor McAuley Mar 17, 2023:
The term "top of a drainage divide" can also be used, if you want to work that into your text Mark.
Conor McAuley Mar 17, 2023:
Ligne de partage des eaux I think the author is either trying to invent a neologism or is grasping for the term "ligne de partage des eaux", which translates as "drainage divide" according to Wiki.
The tricky word "confluent" can be translated as "meeting-point" (makes me think of a tri-state area).
So, to sum it up, the meeting-point of the three drainage divides is circled in yellow on the map linked to below.

This map shows the situation with the Saône, Loire and Seine drainage basins quite nicely (the Saône joins the Rhône in Lyon):

https://chemindeleau.com/IMG/jpg/6_agences_de_l_eau_directio...

There used to be a sign on the Dijon-Paris motorway (A6) saying "Ligne de partage des eaux" and nothing else.
Presumably that referred to the drainage divide between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

Anastasia Kalantzi Mar 13, 2023:
https://www.123rf.com/photo_104230116_view-of-an-ornamental-...
It might also be something like ''ornamental lake bed'' but I am not sure either..
https://www.alamy.com/a-reed-bed-in-an-ornamental-lake-irela...
philgoddard Mar 13, 2023:

Proposed translations

+2
43 mins
Selected

[gen.] head of catchment; [here] watershed [UK], divide [UK, US]

It is worded strangely, and confluent is the culprit. As the flu part suggests, confluent refers to flows and movement. While it can be used to describe the place where ships or streams of thought converge, its most common use is in respect of rivers, referring to the point where a river and one of its tributaries meet.

Bassin here means 'catchment' or 'catchment area', i.e. the area which drains surface runoff to a single point. It is thus an area surrounded by high points from which water flows in two directions, on each side of the high point (a ridge). As such, in the UK this continuous line of high points is called the 'watershed' (it sheds water on both sides). In the US, however, 'watershed' means 'catchment' (the area into which water is shed from one side of that continous ridge) and 'divide' is used to refer to the [UK] watershed.

To play safe, you can do the usual thing of talking down to Americans and call the watershed a divide since the word is understood that way in UK English too.

You can say 'head of the catchment/watershed' for tête de bassin, but this refers to but one side of the watershed/divide, while your confluent, used bizarrely, seems to refer to the place where several catchments meet.

"Burgundy is drained by rivers or all sizes and lies across the divides of three catchments/watersheds."


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Note added at 45 mins (2023-03-13 11:30:06 GMT)
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They should probably have said ligne(s] de partage des eaux (=divide, watershed) rather than confluent.

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Note added at 50 mins (2023-03-13 11:34:52 GMT)
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https://www.bourgogne-tourisme.com/sites-naturels/point-de-p...

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Note added at 4 hrs (2023-03-13 14:52:00 GMT)
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catchment area In British usage the term refers to the total area from which a single river collects surface runoff. In the USA the term watershed is used this context, and the term catchment area is reserved to describe both the intake area and all areas which contribute surface water to the intake area of an aquifer. In the UK the term catchment area has been used loosely by river authorities that are responsible for the water supply, drainage and flood control, since the statutory boundaries of their catchment boards sometimes extend beyond a single river basin.

divide The area of high ground which separates two different drainage systems. In the UK, but not in the USA, it is synonymous with watershed, interfluve.

drainage basin That part of the land surface which is drained by a unitary river system. Its perimeter is marked by a drainage divide or watershed (English [read 'British'] usage only ...

interfluve The area of higher ground separating two rivers which flow in the same drainage system.

watershed (1) In Britain watershed is used synonymously with divide, i.e. to mean a water-parting from which headstreams flow to separate river systems. (2) In the USA, the term refers to the entire catchment area of a single drainage basin.
[all the above from the Penguin Dict. of Physical Geography. I also grew up reading the books of my father, a civil engineer who worked for the Severn River Board, the NZ Ministry of Works, the South Canterbury Catchment Board (responsible for several catchments), and the Christchurch Drainage Board, and for many years I myself translated texts concerning hydro and irrigation dams for a French dam designer - which involved catchment and river flow analysis, etc].

It is because Burgundy lies across the watersheds/divides of three major rivers (or in one case, of one of its tributaries) that in 'La Billebaude', Burgundy writer Henri Vincenot refers repeatedly to his home region, specifically Le Morvan, as le toit du monde.

Another way to look at it is to consider that tête de bassin refers to the 'headwater streams' (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_source) of a catchment. In French, tête de bassin can refer to streams with a particular Strahler number (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strahler_number): the SDAGE Loire Bretagne, for example, defines têtes de bassins versants as les bassins versants des cours d'eau dont le rang de Strahler est inférieur ou égal à 2 et dont la pente est supérieure à 1 %.. https://www.sevre-niortaise.fr/tetes-de-bassin-versant-sage-...
But this is a notion récente au regard des politiques d’amélioration de la qualité de l’eau et des milieux https://layonaubancelouets.fr/toutes-nos-actions/tetes-de-ba... i.e. the term is more associated with environmental concerns than physical geography.
Moreover, since the headwater streams are those closest to the divides/watersheds, I see little point in going down the 'watery' path since the writer has already screwed up with confluent. So I'd go for the firm, dry (mostly) ground option.
In addition, the real headwater streams of the Loire and Saône/Rhône catchments, i.e. those near the source of the river, miles away, as can be seen in the map below. Sure, there are headwater streams all around the perimeter of a catchment, i.e. on the tributaries flowing in the main river, but 'headwaters' tends to make one think of the head of the main river, not the heads of its tributaries.
headwaters The upper parts of a river drainage system, the source or sources of a river at the head of its catchment area. [Penguin as above].

As inferred above, none of this makes any sense of confluent which logically would refer to the downstream end of a river system, as has been suggested here. However the downstream ends of the 3 systems referred to are a long way from Burgundy, being the mouths of the Seine in Normandy, the Saône/Rhône in Provence, and the Loire in Loire-Atlantique.



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Note added at 4 hrs (2023-03-13 14:53:09 GMT)
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Note added at 5 hrs (2023-03-13 15:45:07 GMT)
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I've just spotted - oops - that you say it's about environmental matters, so I take back my negative opinion of 'headwater streams' which, if we are not talking geography, need not suggest 'headwaters of the main river giving its name to the catchment', so my Answer heading should be:
[gen.] head of catchment; watershed [UK], divide [UK, US]; [env.] headwater streams.

"Headwater streams are the smallest parts of river and stream networks, but make up the majority of river miles in the United States. They are the part of rivers furthest from the river's endpoint or confluence with another stream. Many headwater streams have been lost or altered due to human activities such as urbanization and agriculture, and this can impact species and water quality downstream.
Watershed [catchment] managers have had little guidance to help protect headwaters or assess their condition. Because there are so many headwater streams, monitoring all of them for health and permanence is impractical. Therefore, other methods are needed." https://www.epa.gov/water-research/headwater-streams-studies

Still, I'm having trouble working that around La Bourgogne ... est au confluent [sic] de trois têtes de bassin without including the notion of divide/watershed or catchment/watershed:
Burgundy lies across many of the headwater streams of three [US] watersheds / [UK] catchments.
Peer comment(s):

neutral philgoddard : I think this needs better references. The one you've given is French, and doesn't appear to support your answer.
18 mins
The point is that it shows the situation, i.e. 3 big catchments in the Burgundy area. Anyone can find references by googling those words.
agree Ben Gaia : agree with watershed but you have offered several answers.
7 hrs
Thanks. No, I 'fine-tuned' a single answer ;-)
agree Conor McAuley : Drainage divide would be my preference. See Discussion entry.
3 days 21 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
13 mins

river basin head

I think that this is what they mean here.

I hope this helps,

Sheila

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Note added at 30 mins (2023-03-13 11:14:58 GMT)
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Actually, I think it is probably headwaters - I agree that river basin head is probably not the correct answer.


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Note added at 31 mins (2023-03-13 11:16:39 GMT)
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Because it's 'bassin versant' - so the headwaters of the watershed.
https://umaine.edu/watershedresearch/research/headwater-proc...
All rivers and streams start somewhere, and that somewhere is the headwaters. Near the outer fringes of watersheds, tiny tributary brooks and creeks arise from seeps and swamps, and channel heads form on hillslopes where concentrated precipitation runoff is able to begin eroding the soil. Where these important transitions occur depends on a number of factors, including local topography, soils, land use, groundwater, and precipitation regime, and their distribution affects the transport of water, sediment, nutrients, and pollution from the landscape into river systems.
Peer comment(s):

neutral philgoddard : This looks like machine or non-native translation.
11 mins
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8 hrs

watershed

The area drained by the headwaters. NZ English and general geography.
Something went wrong...
1 day 16 hrs
French term (edited): [La Bourgogne] est au confluent de trois têtes de bassin

[...] is at the triple junction of the watersheds between upper drainage basins of ...

You have to make sense of the whole of

"au confluent de trois têtes de bassin"

"le confluent" would normally be where two rivers join together.

Butin this particular "confluent" there is NO "rivers joining together" - they all keep flowing away / downstream from ALL three "têtes de bassin" [by definition: "une tête de bassin" is the upper catchment area].

If you look the map it's the watersheds (i.e. the boundaries between the three drainage bassins) that "join together" at a triple junction.


La Bourgogne... est au confluent de trois têtes de bassin. Le bassin du Rhône avec la rivière Saône, le bassin de la Loire et celui de la Seine.
=
.. is at the triple junction of the watersheds between three upper drainage basins,

which is technically correct, but could be simplified to:

... is the meeting point of three upper drainage basins - those of ...etc
Peer comment(s):

disagree Lara Barnett : This is a highly non-idiomatic term to use in this context.
4 hrs
You're saying accurate technical terms are "non-idiomatic"? They are perfectly "idiomatic" as far as the relevant specialised terminology is concerned. Or maybe you think water "flowing uphill" is supposed to be "idiomatic"? Yeah, sure ...
agree Emmanuella
15 hrs
Merci!
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2 hrs

mouth of the basin

"MOUTH
The place where a river enters a lake, larger river, or the ocean is called its mouth."
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mouth/

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Note added at 2 hrs (2023-03-13 13:18:33 GMT)
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"MOUTH
...
10. the outfall at the lower end of a river or stream, where flowing water is discharged, as into a lake, sea, or ocean: 'the mouth of the Nile'. "
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mouth


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Note added at 1 day 20 hrs (2023-03-15 07:26:24 GMT)
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IlIt should be clear that a river mouth will cover the top of one river but obviously the bottom of another river should the two converge. (I.e. comments that a mouth of a river must be at the opposite end to the head are completely incorrect and misled.)

"MOUTH OF A RIVER
The MOUTH OF A RIVER is the place where a river enters another river, sea, ocean or lake. A river mouth is a good place to catch fish as this is where the river deposits different species of fish into the lake or sea..."
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/parenting-wiki/mouth-of-a-river#:~:...



.
Example sentence:

"The average annual rainfall is about 52 inches in the northern third of the Pearl River basin and increases to 64 inches or more from the Jackson area to the MOUTH OF THE BASIN."

"Used as a berth for commercial shipping and as a dry dock for vessel repairs, the MOUTH OF THE BASIN was sealable with floodgates."

Peer comment(s):

agree Anastasia Kalantzi
5 hrs
Thank you.
disagree Daryo : No. That would at the other end of / downstream from "une tête de bassin".// YOU are "misled"/ ***confusing the start and the end points*** - revise basic geography: where rivers come FROM (tête de bassin) and where rivers flow TO (the mouth).CL5++
1 day 12 hrs
Unfortunately you are misled. I suggest you read up on usage of this term.// An end of one end of river/waterway can often lead to the mouth of another - yep, sure!
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Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

see

https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/construction-ci...

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Note added at 1 heure (2023-03-13 11:58:08 GMT)
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254241059_Hydrology...

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Note added at 1 heure (2023-03-13 12:01:39 GMT)
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https://www.documentation.eauetbiodiversite.fr/notice/000000...


headwaters?
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree philgoddard : It's funny that the chosen answer came from Bourth, who gave a very convincing dictionary reference :-)
3 hrs
agree Anastasia Kalantzi
3 days 3 hrs
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2 hrs
Reference:

Les têtes de bassin versant

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