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What is Meant by a Water Divide

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Q. What is meant by a water divide? Give an example.

A water divide, also known as a drainage divide, is a ridge that divides two drainage basins. On the rugged ground, the split runs along topographical ridges and can take the form of a single dividing range of hills or mountains. 

The Satpura Range is an example of a water divide that separates the Narmada and Tapti rivers. 

The rivers in India’s drainage system are classified into two primary groups—

  • The Himalayan River

The Indus, Ganga, and the Brahmaputra are the three major Himalayan rivers. 

  1. The Indus Valley System: The river Indus begins near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet. It runs west and reaches India in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh district. 

  2. The Ganga River System: The Gangotri Glacier feeds the Bhagirathi, Ganga’s headwaters. The Ganga emerges at Haridwar from the mountains onto the plane.

  3. The Brahmaputra River System: The Brahmaputra River starts in Tibet east of Mansarovar Lake, near the Indus and Sutlej Rivers’ origins. 

  • The Peninsular Rivers

  1. The Tapi Basin: In Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, the Tapi rises in the Satpura ranges. 

  2. The Narmada Basin: In Madhya Pradesh, the Narmada river rises in the Amarkantak hills. 

  3. The Godavari Basin: The Godavari is the peninsula’s major river. It originates from the Western Ghats’ foothills in Maharashtra’s Nasik district. 

  4. The Mahanadi Basin: In the hills of Chhattisgarh, the Mahanadi rises. After passing through Odisha, it reaches the Bay of Bengal. 

  5. The Krishna Basin flows approximately 1400 kilometres from a source in Mahabaleshwar. 

  6. The Kaveri Basin: It begins in the Western Ghats’ Brahmagiri range and flows into the Bay of Bengal south of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu

Types of Drainage Patterns 

  • Dendritic: It is characterised by a smaller drainage pattern that leads to a bigger one in an uneven pattern. 

  • Rectangular: Changes due to large regional faulting. 

  • Trellis: short drainages that lead to larger ones. 

  • Radial: descends and moves away from a central High Point.