Drainage basin

Drainage basin is a geographic term about rivers. It is also called catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, and water basin.^[1]

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.

1. ↑ Lambert, David (1998). The Field Guide to Geology. Checkmark Books. pp. 130–13. ISBN 0-8160-3823-6.