logo

Video encyclopedia

Drainage basin

3:11

Drainage basin hydrological cycle

2:38

Drainage basin

1:39

Drainage Basin - The Features of a Drainage Basin - GCSE Geography

1:53

How basins are formed | Geography terms

1:37

The Drainage Basin Song :)

A drainage basin is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. The drainage basin includes all the surface water from rain runoff, snowmelt, and nearby streams that run downslope towards the shared outlet, as well as the groundwater underneath the earth's surface. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at lower elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins, which in turn drain into another common outlet.