endorheic basin
Internally draining depression
An endorheic basin is a drainage area where water has no outlet to the ocean—rivers and streams flow inward, typically collecting in a lake or evaporating.
The Great Salt Lake, the Caspian Sea, and the Dead Sea all occupy endorheic basins.
Because water leaves only through evaporation, these basins accumulate salts and minerals over time.
- salt flatEvaporated lakebed crust
- evaporationLiquid turning to gas
- brine shrimpTiny saline-water crustacean
- water diversionRedirecting flow elsewhere
- sedimentationParticles settling in liquid
precipitation · water balance · Lake Chad · bolson · endemic species · erosion · aquifer · inland lake · hydrology · wetland ecosystem · Great Salt Lake · alkali · Dead Sea · Caspian · brine · arid · drainage · arid zone
- desertsSahara, Gobi, Mojave, Namib, Kalahari
- hydrologyrivers, streamflow, aquifers, aquifer, lakes
- salt flatssalt flats, salt flat, salt pan, playas, dry lake bed
- Temporary Watersephemeral stream, wadi, arroyo, dry riverbed, dry wash
- desert wateroases, wadi, wadis, wells, springs