drainage basin

drainage basin
the area drained by a river and all its tributaries. Also called catchment area, drainage area. Cf. watershed (def. 2).
[1880-85, Amer.]

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also called  Catchment Area,  or (in North America)  Watershed,  

      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: all the precipitation on opposite sides of a drainage divide will flow into different drainage basins.

      A drainage basin provides a limited surface area within which physical processes pertinent to the general hydrology may be considered. The climatic variables and the water and sediment discharge, water storage, and evapotranspiration may be measured; from these measurements, denudation rates and moisture and energy balances may be derived, each of which is useful in the consideration and understanding of landscape formation.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Drainage basin A — Drainage Basin A, main river in this system is the Limpopo River, but is subdivided into 9 sub drainage basins. A1 is situated along the Botswana border, and is again divided into 3 river basins A10A covers the Ngotwane River up to and including… …   Wikipedia

  • drainage basin — ☆ drainage basin n. the region or area drained by a river system …   English World dictionary

  • Drainage basin — Example of a drainage basin. The dashed line is the main water divide of the hydrographic basin A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit… …   Wikipedia

  • drainage basin — noun the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet flood control in the Missouri basin • Syn: ↑river basin, ↑basin, ↑watershed, ↑catchment area,… …   Useful english dictionary

  • drainage basin — vandens baseinas statusas T sritis ekologija ir aplinkotyra apibrėžtis Sausumos teritorijos dalis, iš kurios vanduo paviršiniu arba požeminiu srautu suteka į vandens objektą (upę, ežerą, jūrą ar kt.). atitikmenys: angl. catchment; catchment area; …   Ekologijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • drainage basin —    The land area from which surface runoff drains into a stream channel or system of stream channels, or to a lake, reservoir, or other body of water [6].    In a karst setting, subsurface drainage (internal drainage) may have boundaries defined… …   Lexicon of Cave and Karst Terminology

  • drainage basin —    A general term for a region or area bounded by a drainage divide and occupied by a drainage system.    GG …   Glossary of landform and geologic terms

  • drainage basin — /ˈdreɪnɪdʒ beɪsən/ (say draynij baysuhn) noun the entire area drained by a river and all its tributaries. Also, drainage area …  

  • drainage basin — the total surface land area drained by a stream or river; often used in the sense of the water bodies in the basin. Not a watershed which is strictly an elevated boundary area separating tributaries draining to different river systems …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • drainage basin — noun A topographic region in which all water drains to a common outlet; a watershed. Syn: watershed, catchment basin …   Wiktionary

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