And I'm sort of asking if anyone knows of any real-world examples of this happening. If so, then I'm content to include it in my world. If there's no real world examples, then I'm prepared to call it unrealistic and thus dismiss it entirely.
There seems to be no geological reason why this cannot happen occasionally. However, my Google Fu is failing me, and I cannot find a real life example. (On the other hand, Gor...)
This is some general advice that helps me when I'm trying to create maps:
I check Wikipedia. Not meaning to be snarky, here - Wikipedia can be more helpful than you would expect. For example, if I check their entry for "Lake," I can get general information on what a lake is, as well as an explanation of different kinds of lakes. Wikipedia says that most lakes have a natural outflow, but some do not and only lose their water through seepage and evaporation, and that these latter kinds of lakes have a special term. If I was interested in those, I would have a good keyword to look for.
It's also a great place to look for ideas if you think you want something unusual, but don't know what yet.
Rivers typically flow down out of oceans, converge with one another, then pool here and there in lakes before eventually flowing into the ocean.I'm not sure if this is just a wording mistake, but assuming it's not, then you're mistaken
( ... )
Yeah, wording mistake. And one I've since corrected. I was just getting ahead of myself, I think...! I meant mountains, or at least areas of high elevation.
I'd think it more likely if the lake was (more or less) on top of a mountain and had outlets either side, so the rivers would flow down opposite sides of the mountain: ie, one flowing east, one west.
Of course it's possible that one river could flow northeast, one southeast, and they could still avoid each other.
In any case, I'd try to make the overall geography very clear before reaching the lake, so readers would understand the reason why, before encountering the fact.
Water takes the path of least resistance. It could be imaginable for two exits to both present exactly identical levels of resistance, but for that to happen for any length of time, there could never be any fluctuations in the resistance levels of the two paths. For example, there couldn't be a tree fall into one river, or one suffer more erosion than the other, because then that would affect the speed of the rivers and one would have more silt settle in it than the other and ultimately become smaller and smaller until the silt piles up and cuts it off. I think the only way two such rivers could plausibly be sustained, is by magic. You won't see it in nature, other than in a marsh.
"In a marsh" leaves plenty of room. ;-) I'm remembering marshes at high altitudes. With slow input to the 'lake' from surrounding marshes, and slow wide outputs seeping out through more marshland, a single tree falling won't change enough flow fast enough to carve one channel deeper, before other things happen to the other channel.
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I check Wikipedia. Not meaning to be snarky, here - Wikipedia can be more helpful than you would expect. For example, if I check their entry for "Lake," I can get general information on what a lake is, as well as an explanation of different kinds of lakes. Wikipedia says that most lakes have a natural outflow, but some do not and only lose their water through seepage and evaporation, and that these latter kinds of lakes have a special term. If I was interested in those, I would have a good keyword to look for.
It's also a great place to look for ideas if you think you want something unusual, but don't know what yet.
Rivers typically flow down out of oceans, converge with one another, then pool here and there in lakes before eventually flowing into the ocean.I'm not sure if this is just a wording mistake, but assuming it's not, then you're mistaken ( ... )
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Of course it's possible that one river could flow northeast, one southeast, and they could still avoid each other.
In any case, I'd try to make the overall geography very clear before reaching the lake, so readers would understand the reason why, before encountering the fact.
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