Great Zab
Great Zab Amadiya, Barzan | |
---|---|
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Taurus Mountains, Turkey |
• elevation | 3,000 m (9,800 ft)approx. |
Mouth | |
• location | Tigris, Iraq |
• coordinates | 35°59′28″N 43°20′37″E / 35.99111°N 43.34361°E |
Length | 400 km (250 mi)approx. |
Basin size | 40,300 km2 (15,600 sq mi)approx. |
Discharge | |
• average | 419 m3/s (14,800 cu ft/s) |
• maximum | 1,320 m3/s (47,000 cu ft/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Rubar-i-Shin, Rukuchuk, Rubar-i-Ruwandiz, Rubat Mawaran, Bastura Chai |
• right | Khazir |
The Great Zab or Upper Zab (
The
Course
The Great Zab rises in Turkey in the mountainous region east of Lake Van at an elevation of approximately 3,000 metres (9,800 ft)
The length of the Great Zab has been variously estimated at 392 kilometres (244 mi)[7][8] and 473 kilometres (294 mi).[9] Approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) of the river's course is located within Iraq.[7] The average discharge of the Great Zab is 419 cubic metres (14,800 cu ft) per second, but peak discharges of up to 1,320 cubic metres (47,000 cu ft) per second have been recorded.[10] The average annual discharge is 13.2 cubic kilometres (3.2 cu mi).[8] Because of its torrential nature, Medieval Arab geographers have described the Great Zab – together with the Little Zab – as "demoniacally possessed".[1]
Watershed
Estimates of the drainage basin of the Great Zab vary widely – from a low 25,810 square kilometres (9,970 sq mi)
The Great Zab rises in the highlands of the Zagros Mountains, where a climate with cold winter and annual precipitation in excess of 1,000 millimetres (39 in) prevails. From there, the river flows into the foothill zone of the Zagros, where rainfall drops to less than 300 millimetres (12 in) per year at the confluence with the Tigris. Average summer temperature in the foothill zone are generally higher in the foothill zone than in the mountains.
River modifications
To date, one large dam has been partially constructed on the Great Zab: Iraq's Bekhme Dam and Turkey's 24
Iraq has commenced construction of the Bekhme and Deralok Dams and planned two others – the Khazir-Gomel and Mandawa Dams.[23] Plans to build a dam in the Great Zab at the Bekhme Gorge for flood control and irrigation were first proposed in 1937. A feasibility study determined that the site was not suited for dam construction and the plan was abandoned. In 1976, another study proposed three different locations on the Great Zab, including the site suggested in the earlier study. This site was eventually chosen in 1989, when work on the dam commenced.[24] Construction of the Bekhme Dam was interrupted by the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990 and the dam remains unfinished. After the war, the site of the dam was looted.[25] The plans of the Bekhme Dam called for a 230-metre (750 ft) high rockfill dam and an underground hydroelectric power station housing six turbines with a total capacity of 1,560 MW. The reservoir that would have been created by the Bekhme Dam would have a storage capacity of 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) and would have flooded numerous villages, the archaeological site of Zawi Chemi Shanidar and the access road to Shanidar Cave (although not the cave itself).[25][26]
History
Evidence for human occupation of the Zagros reaches back into the Lower Palaeolithic, as evidenced by the discovery of many cave-sites dating to that period in the Iranian part of the mountain range.
The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Ur III dynasty, when king Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum – the ancient name of modern-day Erbil.[35] The great Assyrian capitals of Assur, Nineveh, Nimrud and Dur-Sharrukin were all located in the foothill zone where the Great Zab flows into the Tigris, and the Great Zab basin became increasingly integrated into the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian empires. Nimrud, the capital of the empire until 706 BCE, was located only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from the confluence of the Great Zab with the Tigris. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II constructed a canal called Patti-Hegalli that tapped water from the Great Zab to irrigate the land around Nimrud, and this canal was restored by his successors Tiglath-Pileser III and Esarhaddon.[36] This canal ran along the right bank of the Great Zab and cut through a rock bluff by means of a tunnel and is still visible today.[37] After the fall of the Neo-Assyrian empire, the Medes gained control of the area, followed by the Achaemenids in 550 BCE.[38] The Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE – one of the decisive battles leading to the fall of the Achaemenid empire at the hands of Alexander the Great – supposedly took place north of the Great Zab in the vicinity of Mosul. After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, control of the area shifted to the Seleucids.[39]
In 750 CE, the last Umayyad caliph
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bosworth 2010
- ^ Kliot 1994, p. 104
- ^ Iraqi Ministries of Environment, Water Resources and Municipalities and Public Works 2006, p. 63
- ^ Maunsell 1901, p. 130
- ^ Solecki 2005, p. 163
- ^ Iraqi Ministries of Environment, Water Resources and Municipalities and Public Works 2006, p. 64
- ^ a b Kliot 1994, p. 101
- ^ a b c Shahin 2007, p. 249
- ^ Isaev & Mikhailova 2009, p. 386
- ^ Kliot 1994, p. 110
- ^ a b Frenken 2009, p. 203
- ^ Buringh 1960, p. 37
- ^ Iraqi Ministries of Environment, Water Resources and Municipalities and Public Works 2006, pp. 45–46
- ^ Buringh 1960, p. 43
- ^ US Air Force Combat Climatology Center 2009
- ^ Solecki 2005, p. 164
- ^ Wright 2007, p. 216
- ^ "Eastern Anatolia Project Master Plan" (PDF). ekutup.dpt.gov.tr. State Planning Organization. 2000. p. 324. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ^ "Recently Completed Projects". Sarol. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ^ "Chapter 1: Administration and Finance" (PDF). Turkey State Hydraulic Works. p. 76. Retrieved 3 September 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kolars 1994, p. 84
- ^ Solecki 2005, pp. 166–167
- ^ a b Solecki 2005, p. 168
- ^ Benlic 1990
- ^ Biglari & Shidrang 2006
- ^ Braidwood & Howe 1960, p. 61
- ^ Mohammadifar & Motarjem 2008
- ^ Hunt 2010
- ^ Solecki 1997, p. 15
- ^ Kozłowski 1998, p. 234
- ^ Nováček et al. 2008, p. 276
- ^ Al-Soof 1968
- ^ Villard 2001
- ^ Oates 2005, pp. 46–47
- ^ Davey 1985
- ^ van de Mieroop 2007, p. 273
- ^ van de Mieroop 2007, p. 300
- ^ Sharon 1983, pp. 13–14
- ^ Solecki 2005, p. 175
- ^ Solecki 2005, p. 170
- ^ Solecki 2005, pp. 171–173
Bibliography
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