CHAPTER 8: FLUVIAL PROCESSES, PATTERNS AND LANDFORMS 1. Dendritic pattern
This pattern is like the branching shape of a tree. Each river consists of amain ‘trunk’ which is fed by its tributaries (the branches). These patterns formwhere the slope of the land is fairly even and the rock type is similar (uniform) across the drainage basin.
Tributaries
Tributaries Main river
Fig. 7 Dendritic drainage patterns resemble the branching shape of a tree.
Fig. 6 Close-up of a dendritic drainage pattern
Fig. 8 Dendritic drainage pattern in Yemen (space shuttle photograph). In the photograph there is no water in the river channels shown. Yemen is a desert country today. This dendritic river pattern was created thousands of years ago when the climate in this region was much wetter and could support a large river such as the one whose fossil drainage is seen today.