The water cycle and water insecurity revision notes forA Level Edexcel Geographywhat is a drainage basin - -a river's drainage basin is the area surrounding itwhere the rain falling on land flows into that river (river's catchment)-the boundary of the drainage basin is called the watershed-open (with inputs and outputs), the total amount of water changes over time-local hydrological systemswhat is a large drainage basin - -steep sides (ability to move precipitation into theriver quickly)-large number of streams, high drainage densitywhat is a smaller drainage basin - fewer streams (low drainage density)drainage basin inputs - -precipitation (all the ways the moisture comes out of theatmosphere)-frontal precipitation, orographic precipitation, convectional precipitation-the areas that are affected the most: south of the equator (around it), areas oflow pressure, tropical regions (Amazon rainforest), coastal areaswhat is frontal precipitation - -warm air is less dense than cool air-when warm air meets cool air, the warm air is forced up above the cool air-it cools down as it riseswhat is orographic precipitation - when warm air meets mountains, it's forced torise, causing it to coolPreview Mode
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