When rivers flow from all directions and discharge their waters into a central lake or depression, the drainage pattern is called:

In a centripetal drainage pattern, streams flow inward from all directions towards a central low area, such as a lake, basin or depression. "Centripetal" means "moving towards the centre". It is the opposite of a radial pattern.

Where it develops:

• It forms in basins surrounded by higher land, especially in areas of interior (inland) drainage, where water does not reach the sea.
• It is common in arid and semi-arid regions, where streams end in salt lakes or playas.
• It also forms in volcanic craters (calderas) and in sinkholes in limestone areas.

Examples:

• Loktak Lake in Manipur, fed by streams flowing in from the surrounding hills.
• The Kathmandu valley in Nepal.
• Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, which receives seasonal streams from surrounding areas.
• Lake Chad in Africa and the Great Basin of the USA.

Main drainage patterns:

Dendritic: tree-like branching, where tributaries join the main river at acute angles. It develops on uniform rock. Most rivers of the northern plains, such as the Ganga and its tributaries, show this pattern.

Trellis: parallel tributaries joining the main river at right angles, found in folded rocks with alternating hard and soft layers.

Rectangular: streams make right-angled bends because they follow joints and faults in the rock.

Radial: streams flow outward in all directions from a central high point, such as a dome or volcano. Examples include rivers flowing from the Amarkantak plateau (Narmada, Son and Mahanadi) and from Mount Kilimanjaro.

Centripetal: streams flow inward to a central depression.

Parallel: streams run roughly parallel to each other down a uniform slope, such as the short west-flowing rivers of the Western Ghats.

Annular: streams form ring-like patterns around an eroded dome.

Deranged: irregular pattern on recently glaciated land with many lakes and swamps.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Radial drainage flows outward from a high centre, the opposite of centripetal.
• ✗Dendritic drainage looks like the branches of a tree.
• ✗Trellis drainage has tributaries joining at right angles in folded rocks.