Drainage Basin Flashcards
Define drainage basin.
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
Including water found on the surface soil and near surface geology.
Open system.
How is the drainage basin an example of an open system?
It has inputs, stores, transfers and outputs.
Other than an open system, what type of system can a drainage basin be seen as?
A cascading system - its outputs are the inputs to another.
Name 6 features of the drainage basin.
Source. Tributary. Confluence. Channel. Mouth. Water Shed.
Define precipitation.
Transfer of water from atmosphere to ground. Form of rain,snow,hail or dew.
Define surface run off.
Transfer of water over the land.
Define through-flow.
Transfer of water from ground surface into soil where it may percolate into underlying rock.
Define percolation.
Water soaking into rocks.
Define surface storage.
When water builds up on surface, in form of puddles.
Define runoff.
Amount of water that leaves drainage basin.
Define stem flow.
Water which reaches ground by flowing through trunks and stems.
Define soil storage.
Amount of water stored in soil.
Define vegetation storage.
Requires water to survive so plants remove water from soil and store it in structure of plant.
Define evapotranspiration.
Total amount outputted from system.
