A Complete list of Terms related to the Drainage System
The Drainage System or the River system that flows through the certain pattern formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin. They are guided by the topography of the land, whether a particular region is dominated by hard or soft rocks and the gradient of the land.
A Complete list of Terms related to the Drainage System
| Terms related to the Drainage System |
Definition |
| Source of a river |
A place where the river begins its journey. |
| Water Divide |
It is the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins. |
| Confluence |
A place where streams merge or flow together. |
| Tributary |
A branch of river that flows into the main stream. |
| Distributary |
A branch of a river that flows away from the main stream and does not re-join it. |
| Mouth of a river |
It is a place where river ends its journey. |
| River basin |
It is an area which is drained by a river and its tributaries. |
| Catchment Area |
It is the area from which rainfall flows into a river, lake, or reservoir. |
| Watershed |
A ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems. |
| River Rejuvenation |
It is the process by which a river adjusts to a new base level. |
| River Regime |
It is a pattern of the seasonal flow of water in a river channel over a year. |
| River Discharge |
It is the volume of water flowing through a river channel. |
| Discordant Drainage |
It is types of drainage pattern in which stream follows its initial path irrespective of the changes in topography. |
| Antecedent Drainage |
It is the stream that existed before the upheaval of the Himalayas and cut their courses southward by making gorges in the mountains. |
| Superimposed Drainage |
It is formed when a stream with a course originally established on a cover of rock removed by erosion, so that the stream or drainage system is independent of the newly exposed rocks and structures. |
| Concordant Drainage |
It is a pattern of drainage in which the confluence of a tributary with the main stream is characterised by a discordant junction. |
| Consequent Streams |
The streams which follow the general direction of slope. |
| Subsequent Streams |
It is a tributary of stream that is eroded along an underlying belt of non-resistant rock after the main drainage pattern. |
| Obsequent Streams |
It is a stream that flows in the opposite direction of the consequent drainage pattern. |
| Resequent Streams |
It is a stream whose course follows the original relief, but at a lower level than the original slope. |
| Dendritic Drainage Pattern |
It is a pattern of drainage which is branching, ramifying or dichotomising, thereby giving the appearance of a tree. |
| Trellis Drainage Pattern |
It is a rectangular pattern formed where two sets of structural controls occurs at right angles. |
| Rectangular Drainage Pattern |
The drainage pattern marked by right-angled bends and right-angled junctions between tributaries and the main stream. |
| Radial Drainage Pattern |
It is a pattern characterised by out flowing stream, away from a central point, analogous with the spokes of a wheel. |
| Annular Drainage Pattern |
It is one of the drainage pattern in which the stream follow curving or actuate courses prior to joining the consequent stream. |
| Parallel Drainage Pattern |
It is types of drainage pattern, in which the streams flow almost parallel to each other. |
| Centripetal Drainage Pattern |
It is the opposite of a radial drainage pattern, in which the streams drain in towards the centre of a basin, like the spokes of a wheel. |
| Deranged Drainage Pattern |
It is an uncoordinated pattern of drainage characteristic of a region recently vacated by an ice-sheet. |
| Barbed Drainage Pattern |
In this pattern of drainage, the confluence of a tributary with the main river is characterised by a discordant junction—as if the tributary intends to flow upstream and not downstream. |
Above list of the terms related to the drainage system will help the readers to understand the drainage system as well drainage pattern of the rivers or streams.