What is Drainage basin?
'''Drainage basin''' is a [[geography|geographic]] term about [[river]]s. It is also called '''catchment''', '''catchment area''', '''catchment basin''', '''drainage area''', '''river basin''', and '''water basin'''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lambert|first=David|authorlink=|title=The Field Guide to Geology|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetogeol00lamb_0|publisher=Checkmark Books|series=|year=1998| pages=[https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetogeol00lamb_0/page/130 130]–13|doi=|isbn=0-8160-3823-6}}</ref> 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 [[tributary|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 (hydrology)|discharge]]. == Watershed == This term ''watershed'' 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 == *[[Basin (geology)]] *[[Endorheic basin]] *[[River system]] == References == {{reflist}} {{geo-stub}} [[Category:Drainage basins| ]]