Drainage Basin (Noun)
Meaning
The entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet; "flood control in the Missouri basin".
Classification
Nouns denoting spatial position.
Examples
- The Amazon River and its many tributaries contribute to one of the largest drainage basins in the world, spanning nearly 40% of the continent.
- The drainage basin of the Mississippi River encompasses almost half of the contiguous United States, including parts of Canada.
- The Nile River drainage basin covers about one-tenth of the African continent, including countries such as Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
- In the United States, the Colorado River drainage basin supplies water to millions of people and irrigates millions of acres of farmland.
- A drop of rain that falls in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range will eventually flow through the Sacramento River drainage basin and into the San Francisco Bay.