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.