Describing a drainage basin that has an outlet to the sea, where water flows outward from the watershed to reach the ocean or other large water bodies. This is the most common type of drainage system on Earth.
From Greek 'exo' (outside) and 'rhein' (to flow), developed as the counterpart to 'endorheic' in early 20th-century geographical literature. The term emphasizes the external drainage that connects inland areas to marine environments.
The Amazon Basin is the world's largest exorheic system, draining an area the size of Australia and pumping so much fresh water into the Atlantic that you can drink river water 100 miles offshore! This massive outflow affects ocean currents across the entire South Atlantic.
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