Parts or all of 31 states plus two Canadian provinces drain into the Mississippi River, totaling 41% of the contiguous United States and 15% of North America. Along with being the largest U.S. drainage basin, the Mississippi also creates borders for 10 states.
What are the major drainage basins in North America?
The basins are the Atlantic Seaboard basin, the Gulf of Mexico basin, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, the Pacific basin, the Arctic basin, the Hudson Bay basin, and the Great Basin. Together, the principal basins span the continent with the exception of numerous smaller endorheic basins.
What is the largest drainage basin?
The Amazon Basin, in northern South America, is the largest in the world. The Amazon River and all of its tributaries drain an area more than 7 million square kilometers (about 3 million square miles).
What is the largest drainage basin in Canada?
Canada has five ocean drainage basins. The largest by far is the Hudson Bay basin; the smallest, situated in the southern Prairies, flows via the Missouri and Mississippi rivers into the Gulf of Mexico.
What are the 5 major drainage areas in North America?
The map shows the major North American drainage basins, or wateresheds, which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, Hudson Bay, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the gulf of Mexico and teh Caribbean Sea. Each watershed is shown in its own colour, with subdivisions shown in tonal variations.
Which river has the largest drainage basin area 10th in world?
The Amazon Basin, in northern South America, is the largest in the world. The Amazon River and all of its tributaries drain an area more than 7 million square kilometers (about 3 million square miles).
What is the largest divide in the world?
The most famous Continental Divide of the Americas is also called the Great Divide. It separates the watersheds of the Pacific Ocean from those of the Atlantic Ocean. It runs from Alaska, through western Canada along the crest of the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico.
What are the 2 largest river basins in the world?
The five largest river basins (by area), from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon (7M km2), the Congo (4M km2), the Nile (3.4M km2), the Mississippi (3.22M km2), and the Río de la Plata (3.17M km2). The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, and Congo rivers.
What is the difference between catchment area and drainage basin?
Drainage basin – the area of land drained by a river. Catchment area – the area within the drainage basin. Watershed – the edge of highland surrounding a drainage basin which marks the boundary between two drainage basins.
How many rivers are included major drainage basins?
Introduction. River basin is considered as the basic hydrological unit for planning and development of water resources. There are 12 major river basins with catchment area of 20000 km2 and above.
How many drainage basin does Canada have?
Canada has six major drainage basins: the Arctic, Pacific, Western Hudson Bay and Mississippi, South and East Hudson Bay, Great Lakes–St Lawrence and Atlantic.
What does drainage basin mean in geography?
Definition: When rain falls on an area of land, the water travels downhill and typically collects into a lake or travels on through a river. … In a catchment area water can be collected through rain or drained by rivers or streams. A catchment area can also be known as Drainage Basin.
Does the Mississippi start in Canada?
The Mississippi River is a tributary of the Ottawa River in Eastern Ontario, Canada which has no relation with the Mississippi River in the United States. … Here it enters the Ottawa River.
What are the 4 types of drainage patterns?
Drainage patterns
- Dendritic drainage pattern.
- Parallel drainage pattern.
- Trellis drainage pattern.
- Rectangular drainage pattern.
- Radial drainage pattern.
- Centripetal drainage pattern.
- Deranged drainage pattern.
- Annular drainage pattern.
How much of the US drains into the Gulf of Mexico?
It drains 41 percent of the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The basin covers more than 1,245,000 square miles, includes all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces, and roughly resembles a funnel which has its spout at the Gulf of Mexico.
Do all rivers drain into the ocean?
Rivers come in lots of different shapes and sizes, but they all have some things in common. All rivers and streams start at some high point. … Eventually all this water from rivers and streams will run into the ocean or an inland body of water like a lake.