An endorheic basin (/ˌɛndoʊˈriː.ɪk/ EN-doh-REE-ik; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent and seasonal lakes and swamps that equilibrate through evaporation. Endorheic basins are also called closed basins, terminal basins, and internal drainage systems.
Endorheic regions contrast with open lakes (exorheic regions), where surface waters eventually drain into the ocean.[1] In general, water basins with subsurface outflows that lead to the ocean are not considered endorheic;[2][3][4] but cryptorheic.[5] Endorheic basins constitute local base levels, defining a limit of the erosion and deposition processes of nearby areas.[6] Endorheic water bodies include the Caspian Sea, which is the world's largest inland body of water.[7]
- ^ "Inland water ecosystem". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ American Meteorological Society, Meteorology Glossary, s.v. 'endorheic lake'
- ^ Manivanan, R. (2008). Water Quality Modeling: Rivers, Streams, and Estuaries. New Delhi: New India Pub. Agency. ISBN 978-8189422936. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ Vittorio Barale, "The European Marginal and Enclosed Seas: An Overview" p. 3–22 in Remote Sensing of the European Seas, 2008, ISBN 1402067720 p. 19
- ^ Tundisi, J. G.; Tundisi, T. M. (2012). Limnology. Leiden, The Netherlands: CRC Press/Balkema. p. 40. ISBN 978-0415588355. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ Goudie, A.S. (2004). "Base level". In Goudie, A.S. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Geomorphology. Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 978-0415327381.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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