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List of drainage basins by area

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List of drainage basins by area
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The list of drainage basins by area identifies basins (also known as "catchments" or, in North American usage, "watersheds"), sorted by area, which drain to oceans, mediterranean seas, rivers, lakes and other water bodies. All basins larger than 400,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi) are included as well as selected smaller basins. It includes drainage basins which do not flow to the ocean (endorheic basins). It includes oceanic sea drainage basins which have hydrologically coherent areas (oceanic seas are set by IHO convention).

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Major continental divides, showing drainage into the major oceans and seas of the world--Drainage basins of the principal oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the ocean.

The oceans drain approximately 83% of the land in the world. The other 17% – an area larger than the basin of the Arctic Ocean – drains to internal endorheic basins. There are also substantial areas of the world that do not "drain" in the commonly understood sense. In polar deserts, much of the snowfall sublimates directly into the air and does not melt into flowing water, while in tropical deserts precipitation may evaporate before joining any substantial water course. These areas can still be included in topographically defined basins if the hypothetical flow of water (or ice) over the surface of the ground (or ice sheet) is considered. For example, the Antarctic ice sheet can be divided into basins,[1] and most of Libya is included in the Mediterranean Sea basin even though almost no water from the interior actually reaches the sea.

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Basins

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See also

Notes

  1. This is an approximate value based on geospatial data from the USGS. Approximate values for the area of Greenland and Antarctica were added to this data.
  2. The value listed here assumes that the entire continent drains to the ocean, such as through the many ice streams, outlet glaciers, and seasonal glacial streams along the coast. However, there are many small endorheic lakes, for example in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
  3. Note that the connection between a mediterranean sea (or a large estuary) and its parent ocean usually involves simultaneous inflow and outflow in the lower and upper water layers of the connecting channel. Depending on the salinity of the sea, the upper layer may either flow into or out from the ocean; the bottom layer will flow the opposite direction.
  4. Estimates for the Yellow River basin range from ca. 752,000 km2 (Chinese, English, French, German etc. wikipedia articles, none sourced) to 944,970 km2.[4]
  5. Estimates for the Dnieper basin range from 504,000 km2 (most wikipedia pages) to 533,966 km2[4]
  6. Excluding the Shebelle tributary river basin.
  7. The Great Basin is a set of endorheic drainage basins, the largest being the 35,910 km2 (13,860 sq mi) basin that drains into the Great Salt Lake.
  8. Official estimates for the Don basin range from 422,000 km2[25] to 458,694 km2.[4]
  9. Estimates for the Colorado basin range from 294,076 km2[27] to 403,005 km2.[4]
  10. 365,000 km2 is almost always quoted, though the area is only ca 351,000 km2 according to River Networks. Estimates as low as 297,211 km2[4] may perhaps exclude the Rio Negro tributary basin.
  11. Estimates range from 322,887 km2,[4] and 331,565 km2[27] to 344,112 km2[32]
  12. Rivers Network calculated an area of 266,354 km2.[35] Often-mentioned areas of ca 324,000 km2 are clearly too high.
  13. Combined drainage area of Kherlen River (103709 km2) & Orxon Rivers (56626 km2) . "In years with high precipitation, the normally exit−less endorheic lake may overflow at its northern shore."
  14. Very rough estimate. Upper river's drainage area, including the Tekezé river is 120,430 km2 , lower drainage area is probably not as much as 69,572 km2 , as that includes much surrounding dessert.
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References

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