ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the work that has taken place and describes a working model for future research. A general systems approach to geomorphological problems provides a suitable conceptual framework for building models of drainage basins. In a drainage basin the land surface within the limits of the basin perimeter constitutes a system boundary through which precipitation is imported. The distinctive feature of a drainage basin system which makes it a particularly geographical system is the characteristic way in which the elements of its three-dimensional surface are spatially interrelated by an implied transportation network resting on the surface. During the course of drainage basin simulation studies, network patterns are frequently generated within the limits of the study area. The Ontonagon Plain has a steep slope towards Lake Superior and drainage is constrained by parallel grooves tending to produce long narrow drainage basins.
