Drainage pattern
Topic: Drainage System of India: Rivers, Basins and Patterns · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 3 "Drainage System"
Meaning
A drainage pattern is the shape a river and its tributaries make when seen on a map. Slope, the type and structure of the rocks, and the area's geological history control it. The four main types are:
- Dendritic: tree-like branches, on uniform rock.
- Radial: streams flow outward from a high centre.
- Trellis: parallel streams joined at right angles, on alternating hard and soft rock.
- Centripetal: streams flow inward into a lake or hollow.
Reading the pattern on a map tells you about the land and rock underneath.
Example
The rivers of the northern plain form a dendritic pattern. Streams flowing out from the Amarkantak plateau form a radial pattern. Streams flowing into Loktak Lake in Manipur form a centripetal pattern.
Don't confuse with
- Drainage system: the actual network of river channels. The pattern is only the shape that network makes.
Related concepts
- Dendritic drainage pattern
- Radial drainage pattern
- Trellis drainage pattern
- Centripetal drainage pattern
- Amarkantak plateau