Drainage Systems & River Management is one of 8 topics in the Grade 12 Geography CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. A drainage basin is best defined as:
The total area of land from which a river and its tributaries collect water
A single point where a river begins
Only the main channel of a river, excluding tributaries
The area covered permanently by a lake
Answer: The total area of land from which a river and its tributaries collect water — A drainage basin (or catchment area) is the entire area of land, bounded by a watershed, from which a river system collects its water.
Easy
2. The highest points of land that separate one drainage basin from a neighbouring one are called the:
Watershed
Floodplain
Delta
Meander
Answer: Watershed — The watershed is the boundary, usually a ridge or range of hills, separating one drainage basin from an adjacent one.
Medium
3. What is the term for water taken up by plant roots and released back into the atmosphere, a key pathway in the drainage basin hydrological cycle?
Answer: Transpiration — Transpiration is the process by which plants take up water through their roots and release it as water vapour into the atmosphere, a key water pathway within a drainage basin.
