Intermittent stream

Japanese: 間欠河流 - かんけつかりゅう（英語表記）intermittent stream

A river that does not have constant flow like rivers in humid regions, but only flows when it rains or during the rainy season. Also called an intermittent river. They are often found in arid and semi-arid regions, and are called wadis in Arabia and northern Africa. A distinction is sometimes made between rivers that only have flow for a very short period of time during rainfall and rivers that have constant flow during the rainy season but no flow during the dry season. Generally, the latter is referred to when referring to intermittent rivers. When it rains, the river suddenly overflows, forming many new clefts, and on gentle slopes it floods in a wide braided pattern, and when there is no rainfall or in the dry season, traces of the clefts and braided pattern remain.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

湿潤地帯の河川のように恒常的に流水がみられず，降雨時や雨期にのみ流水がみられる河川。間欠河川ともいう。乾燥地域や半乾燥地域に多くみられ，アラビアやアフリカ北部ではワジと呼ばれる。降雨時の非常に短い間だけ流水がみられる場合と，雨季には恒常的に流水があるが，乾季に流水がみられなくなる場合とで，区別することもある。一般に間欠河流という場合には，後者を指すことが多い。降雨時には，新たな雨裂を多数発生させながら急激に出水し，こう配の緩い斜面では幅広く網状流をなしてはんらんし，降雨のない時や乾季には，雨裂や網状流の跡が残される。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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