Thalweg (OED; an English word compounded from the German elements Thal (since Duden's orthography reform of 1901 written Tal) meaning valley, and Weg, meaning way) is a term adopted into English usage for geography and geomorphology. It signifies the deepest continuous line along a valley or watercourse. In hydrology, the thalweg (sometimes called the "valley line") is a line drawn to join the lowest points along the entire length of a streambed or valley in its downward slope, defining its deepest channel. It thus marks the natural direction (the profile) of a watercourse. The thalweg is almost always the line of fastest flow in any river. The term is also sometimes used to refer to a subterranean stream that percolates under the surface and in the same general direction as the surface stream. In geomorphology, the thalweg is the continuous line that follows

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