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Drainage basin of the Ohio River, part of the Mississippi River drainage basin. In hydrology, the drainage basin is a logical unit of focus [clarification needed] for studying the movement of water within the hydrological cycle. The process of finding a drainage boundary is referred to as watershed delineation. Finding the area and extent of a ...
Watershed delineation is the process of identifying the boundary of a watershed, also referred to as a catchment, drainage basin, or river basin.It is an important step in many areas of environmental science, engineering, and management, for example to study flooding, aquatic habitat, or water pollution.
Drainage areas are delineated in a hierarchical fashion, with "level 1" watersheds at continental scales, subdivided into smaller level 2 watersheds, which are divided into level 3 watersheds, and so on. Each watershed is assigned a unique number, called a Pfafsetter Code, based on its location within the overall drainage system. [1]
A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, [1] watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges , and may be in the form of a single range of hills or mountains , known as a dividing range .
Watersheds of North America are large drainage basins which drain to separate oceans, seas, gulfs, or endorheic basins. There are six generally recognized hydrological continental divides which divide the continent into seven principal drainage basins spanning three oceans ( Arctic , Atlantic and Pacific ) and one endorheic basin.
Dendritic drainage: the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Tibet, seen from space: snow cover has melted in the valley system. In geomorphology, drainage systems, also known as river systems, are the patterns formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin. They are governed by the topography of land, whether a particular region is ...
[clarification needed] Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow. [3] A drainage basin may also be referred to as a watershed or catchment. [3] Strahler diagram. Only a segment of the mainstem gets the highest number.
A drainage basin is an area of land where all surface water converges to a single point at a lower elevation. In North America, "watershed" is used for this sense, while elsewhere terms like "catchment" or "drainage area" are used. A drainage divide is the line that separates neighboring drainage basins. In English-speaking countries outside of ...