This slide gives a brief of major river network types and patterns.

1. MAJOR TYPES OF RIVER
NETWORK PATTERN
Sabbir Hasan
Reg. No: 2015135020

2. 2
RIVER SYSTEMS
• A river system consists of a river
and all of its tributaries.
• The drainage basin of a river
system is all the land that is
drained by the river and its
tributaries. This is also called a
watershed
Tributary
River
Divide

3. 6 MAJOR TYPES OF
NETWORK PATTERN
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4. MAJOR TYPES OF RIVER CHANNELS AND DRAINAGE
1. Dendritic
2. Radial
3. Rectangular
4. Trellis
5. Parallel drainage pattern
6. Annular drainage pattern
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There are six types of river channel patterns and river drainage patterns.

5. DENDRITIC
 Comes from the Greek word meaning
tree.
 Most common types
 Many contributing streams (like twigs
on a tree)
 They then join into the main stream or
river.
 They form following the slope or
gradient of the terrain they are in.
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6. RADIAL
 Streams radiate outwards from a
central high point.
 Volcanos usually display excellent
radial drainage.
 Will also form on domes or laccoliths.
 This creates a radial pattern (think of a
pizza or an orange).
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7. RECTANGULAR
 Develops on rocks that are of
approximately uniform resistance to
erosion. This means that the all the
rock types are the same in that area.
 However, the rocks join at right angles.
 This causes the streams to form along
the joints where the rocks are
attached.
 The streams are then mostly straight
lines along the system.
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8. TRELLIS
 The geometry of a trellis drainage
system is similar to that of a common
garden trellis used to grow vines.
 As the river flows along a valley,
smaller tributaries feed into it from the
steep slopes on the sides of
mountains.
 These tributaries enter the main river
at approximately 90 degree angles,
causing a trellis-like appearance of the
drainage system.
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9. PARALLEL
DRAINAGE PATTERN
 Pattern of rivers caused by steep
slopes with some relief (flat parts)
 Due to the steep slopes, the streams
are swift and straight, with very few
tributaries (branches), and all flow in
the same direction.
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10. ANNULAR
DRAINAGE PATTERN
 In an annular drainage pattern streams
follow a roughly circular path, creating
a ring like pattern.
 This is because the rock is weak, which
means that it is very porous, allowing a
lot of water to flow into it.
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11. THANK
YOU
Sabbir Hasan
Reg. No: 2015135020
Department of Geography and Environment,
SUST.