river system
Tributaries feeding main
A river system is a main river together with all the tributaries, streams, and waterways that drain into it.
The term treats interconnected flowing waters as a single hydrological unit: The Mississippi River system drains water from thirty-one states.
Also called a drainage system or river basin, though basin emphasizes the land area while system emphasizes the network of waters.
- tributaryStream entering larger river
- main channelPrincipal navigable passage
- watershedDrainage area boundary
- deltaSymbol denoting variation
- confluenceMeeting point of streams
floodplain · flash flood · flood stage · catchment area · meander · headwaters · streamflow · running water · drainage basin · dam · estuary · water cycle · riverbed · freshwater ecosystem · canyon · basin · flow · mouth
- branchingbranching, dendrite, dendrites, dendritic, tree root
- Earth systemsbiosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, geosphere
- Inland Waterwayswaterway, canal, navigable waters, barge, channel marker
- Geology Diagramsrock cycle, plate tectonics, cross section, geologic map, rock strata
- historic mapsatlases, county maps, road atlases, portolan charts, world maps
- ecosystemsrainforest, forest, desert, jungle, ocean
hydrological connectivity
river systemendorheic basin
Drainage area lacking outflow
playa · inland sea · pond · oxbow lake · stagnant pool