endorheic

An endorheic basin (from Greek endo ‘inside’ + rhein ‘to flow’; also terminal or closed basin) is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans. Normally the water accruing in drainage basins flows out through surface rivers or by underground diffusion through permeable rock to the oceans. However, in an endorheic basin, rain (or other precipitation) that falls within it does not flow out but may only leave the drainage system by evaporation and seepage. Endorheic basins are also called internal drainage systems. Some of the largest lakes in the world are endorheic. Good examples are the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest saline body of water cut off from the ocean.
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