Drainage basin facts for kids
Drainage basin is a geographic term about rivers. It is also called catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, and water basin.
It is an area of land. All water that falls on that land flows into one river. It can flow directly into the river or go through tributaries (smaller rivers that flow into the bigger river) first.
One river can drain a large area. For example, more than half of the United States is drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries. The Amazon basin is similarly large.
River basins are an open system with inputs and, outputs. Water comes in as precipitation and goes out as discharge.
Contents
Watershed
This term can have two main meanings:
- Meaning drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
- Meaning drainage basin in North American usage. (an area of land where surface water converges)
There are also a number of figurative meanings as a metaphor.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Digital terrain map of the Latorița River's drainage basin in Romania
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Digital terrain model of the Latorița River's drainage basin in Romania
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Major continental divides, showing how terrestrial drainage basins drain into the oceans. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans
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Drainage basin of the Ohio River, part of the Mississippi River drainage basin
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The Mississippi River drains the largest area of any U.S. river, much of it agricultural regions. Agricultural runoff and other water pollution that flows to the outlet is the cause of the hypoxic, or dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
See also
In Spanish: Cuenca hidrográfica para niños
