Types of Basins in Geography

There are two types of basin in geography; an exorheic and an endorheic basin. In an exorheic basin, the main river flows out into the ocean, or sea; the Mississippi and the Loire river constitute exorheic basins, because they both runs into the ocean, draining a large tract of land. The largest exorheic basin in the world is the Amazon Basin in South America; it drains the third part of the South American territory into the Atlantic.

In an endorheic basin, on the other hand, the main river flows into a large isolated depression hinterland a continent, most of the time forming a fresh water lake, like lake Tanganyika, which is fed by Ruzizi, Malagarasi and Kalambo River, in Africa.

Concept of Basin

A basin is a large tract of land, or region, whose excess water, in the form of melting snow or rain water, is drained by a main river and its tributaries (branches). Converging brooks (creeks) form a secondary river, which is in turn a tributary branch as it flows into a main river, feeding more water to it. Therefore, as a geographical feature, it is a depression of the Earth surface the snow or rain water flows through, emptying an entire region.

Below, a map of the River Plate Basin in South America. We can see the tributaries (Paraguay, Parana, and Uruguay River) flowing into the River Plate, on whose shore the city of Buenos Aires lies.