Identify the type of drainage pattern on the basis of the given characteristics : 1. It represents the most common pattern of streams and their tributaries 2. It occurs in areas of uniform rock type and regular slope 3. A map, or aerial photograph, shows a pattern like the veins on a leaf— smaller streams join the main stream at an acute angle Select the correct answer.

The correct answer is A, Dendritic. A pattern that looks like the branches of a tree or the veins of a leaf, formed on uniform rock with a regular slope, is dendritic.

The name comes from the Greek dendron, a tree. Because the rock offers equal resistance everywhere, streams branch freely and tributaries meet the main river at acute angles. It is the most common pattern in the world, and the rivers of the Indo-Gangetic plain, such as the Ganga and its tributaries, are a standard example.

B is wrong because a radial pattern has streams flowing outward in all directions from a high central point, such as the rivers rising from the Amarkantak hills. C is wrong because a trellis pattern forms on alternating hard and soft rock, with tributaries meeting the main stream almost at right angles. D is wrong because a centripetal pattern has streams flowing inward into a central depression, like those draining into the Loktak lake in Manipur.

Exam tip: dendritic is tree-like, radial flows out, centripetal flows in, trellis meets at right angles.