Does the canal connecting the Chicago River to the Mississippi mean that the eastern United States is a separate continent from the rest of North America?

19 comments

1. [deleted]

2. no I don’t think that is true

3. Not really. If the Cape Cod Canal (which has no lock arrangements) doesn’t render Cape Cod an island, this one doesn’t count either.

4. Inasmuch as the word “continent” even has a rigid definition, man-made bodies of water don’t normally count.

5. Generally canals and rivers don’t count.

6. No, that’s not how continents work.

7. No it’s the same continent but a different watershed. The continents are tied to tectonic plates and subduction zones.

8. I had to check to make sure you weren’t grapp.

   No the word continent has a definition and is based on geology, not hydrology.

9. No, it doesn’t. If the Mississippi River doesn’t divide North America into two continents, why would a man-made canal do so?

10. No

11. This sounds like something one of those “cool facts” instagram accounts would post in 2015

12. Continent doesn’t have a super rigid geographic definition. From a pure geography standpoint, I’ve seen arguments for there being 15 continents and arguments for there being 4. Exactly how many land masses are considered continents is typically more of a cultural thing than a scientific thing. The US uses the 7 Continent Model which defines the continents as: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

    I’m not familiar with any continent model that splits North America into two pieces.

13. No. Continents are split by continental shelves, not rivers.

14. And Florida’s was almost an island. Cape Cod is though and it doesn’t even have a lock.

    We’d have two continental divides in the country which would be weird

15. Rivers do not divide Continents.

16. Are Great Britain and Sicily no longer part of Europe then?

17. Definitely not a different continent, though you could argue it’s an island separate from the rest of the continent—but that’s generally not how that works either.

18. Geologist here. No. North America is all one continent. Canals are manmade features and rivers are geographic features that exist on top continents. They do not chop through them.

    The only thing that can bust apart a continent is a tectonic process called rifting. A modern example is the East African Rift Valley, which is ripping apart Africa. If it continues to grow, ocean waters will eventually enter the rift.

19. Welcome back, Nemo.