Drainage basin - Wikipedia
WEBA drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide, [1] made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills.
Drainage basin | Definition, Example, & Facts | Britannica
WEBdrainage basin, area from which all precipitation flows to a single stream or set of streams. For example, the total area drained by the Mississippi River constitutes its drainage basin, whereas that part of the Mississippi River drained by the Ohio River is the Ohio’s drainage basin. The boundary between drainage basins is a drainage divide ...
Watersheds and Drainage Basins | U.S. Geological Survey
WEBJun 8, 2019 · The word "watershed" is sometimes used interchangeably with drainage basin or catchment. Ridges and hills that separate two watersheds are called the drainage divide. The watershed consists of surface water--lakes, streams, reservoirs, and wetlands--and all the underlying groundwater. Larger watersheds contain many smaller watersheds.
Drainage Basin - Education | National Geographic Society
WEBOct 19, 2023 · A watershed is an entire river system —an area drained by a river and its tributaries. It is sometimes called a drainage basin. Watersheds can cover wide areas. Runoff water from a large watershed in the mid continental United States drains into the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi River system. The Amazon River watershed is …
13.2: Drainage Basins - Geosciences LibreTexts
WEBApr 24, 2024 · Metro Vancouver’s water supply comes from three large drainage basins on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, as shown in Figure 13.2.3 13.2. 3. This map illustrates the concept of a drainage basin divide. The boundary between two drainage basins is the height of land between them.
18.1: The Stream System - Geosciences LibreTexts
WEBFeb 19, 2022 · A drainage basin is a portion of the Earth's surface that contains a main stream and its tributaries and is bounded by a drainage divide. The drainage divide represents the boundary between adjacent drainage basins and determines into which basin precipitation flows. There is no upper or lower limit to the size of a drainage basin.
13.2 Drainage Basins – Physical Geology
WEB13.2 Drainage Basins. A stream is a body of flowing surface water of any size, ranging from a tiny trickle to a mighty river. The area from which the water flows to form a stream is known as its drainage basin. All of the precipitation (rain or snow) that falls within a drainage basin eventually flows into its stream, unless some of that water ...
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