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Types of Drainage Patterns

There are several main types of drainage patterns that form due to the underlying geology and topography of an area. Dendritic patterns are the most common and form in areas with no particular rock structure. Trellis patterns form in folded sedimentary rocks. Rectangular patterns are associated with bedding planes and faults. Parallel drainage occurs on steep slopes while radial drainage forms around central high points like volcanoes.

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Aubrey Lastimosa
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31 views

Types of Drainage Patterns

There are several main types of drainage patterns that form due to the underlying geology and topography of an area. Dendritic patterns are the most common and form in areas with no particular rock structure. Trellis patterns form in folded sedimentary rocks. Rectangular patterns are associated with bedding planes and faults. Parallel drainage occurs on steep slopes while radial drainage forms around central high points like volcanoes.

Uploaded by

Aubrey Lastimosa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Types of

Drainage
Patterns
What is a Drainage
Pattern
• a pattern created by stream erosion over
time
• reveals characteristics of the kind of rocks
and geologic structures in a landscape region
drained by streams
• the pattern formed by the streams, rivers,
and lakes in a particular drainage basin
~Main Types~
Dendritic Patterns
• By far the most common
• Develop in areas where the rock
(or unconsolidated material)
beneath the stream has no
particular fabric or structure and
can be eroded equally easily in all
directions
• Examples: granite, gneiss, volcanic
rock, and sedimentary rock that
has not been folded
~Main Types~
Trellis Patterns
• Typically develop where
sedimentary rocks have been
folded or tilted and then eroded
to varying degrees depending on
their strength
• Examples: The Rocky Mountains
of B.C. and Alberta, many of the
drainage systems within the
Rockies
~Main Types~
Rectangular
patterns
• Develop in areas that have very
little topography and a system of
bedding planes, fractures, or
faults that form a rectangular
network
~Main Types~
Parallel Drainage 
System
• A pattern of rivers caused by
steep slopes with some relief
• This patterns form where there is
a pronounced slope to the
surface
• Develops in regions of parallel,
elongate landforms like
outcropping resistant rock bands
~Main Types~
Radial Drainage
System
• The streams radiate outwards
from a central high point
• Volcanoes usually display
excellent radial drainage
• Other geological features on
which radial drainage commonly
develops are domes and laccoliths
~Main Types~
Centripetal
Drainage System
• Similar to the radial drainage
system, with the only exception
that radial drainage flows out
versus centripetal drainage flows
in
~Main Types~
Deranged or Contorted
Drainage System
• A drainage system in drainage
basins where there is no coherent
pattern to the rivers and lakes
• Happens in areas where there has
been much geological disruption
• The classic example is the
Canadian Shield
~Main Types~
Angular Patterns
• Form where bedrock joints and
faults intersect at more acute
angles than rectangular drainage
patterns
• Angles are both more and less
than 90 degrees
~Main Types~
Annular Drainage Pattern
• Streams traces a tangential or
greater concentric path along a belt
of weak rock so, with others, a
roughly traced out ring can be seen
• Best displayed by streams draining a
maturely dissected structural dome 
or basin where erosion has exposed
rimming sedimentary strata of greatly
varying degrees of hardness
• Example: Red Valley
~Main Types~
Discordant Pattern

• Does not correlate to the


topography and geology of the
area
• Main Types:
⚬ Antecedent and 
⚬ Superimposed
~Main Types~
Discordant Pattern
• In antecedent drainage, a river's vertical
incision ability matches that of land uplift
due to tectonic forces
• Superimposed drainage develops differently:
initially, a drainage system develops on a
surface composed of 'younger' rocks, but
due to denudation activities this surface of
younger rocks is removed and the river
continues to flow over a seemingly new
surface, but one in fact made up of rocks of
old geological formation

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