Karun
Karun | |
---|---|
Khuzestan | |
Arvand Roud | |
• location | Khorramshahr |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 950 km (590 mi) |
Basin size | 65,230 km2 (25,190 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Ahwāz |
• average | 575 m3/s (20,300 cu ft/s) |
• minimum | 26 m3/s (920 cu ft/s)[1] |
• maximum | 2,995 m3/s (105,800 cu ft/s)[1] |
The Karun
The Karun continues toward the
Name
In early classical times, the Karun was known as the Pasitigris. The modern medieval and modern name, Karun, is a corruption of the name
Course
It originates in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, on the slopes of 4,221 m (13,848 ft) Zard-Kuh. The river flows south and west through several prominent mountain ridges and receives additional water from the Vanak on the south bank and the Bazoft on the north. These tributaries add to the catchment of the river above the Karun-4 Dam. 25 kilometres (16 mi) downstream, the Karun widens into the reservoir formed by the Karun-3 Dam.
The Khersan flows into a reservoir from the southeast. The river passes through this reservoir and flows through a narrow canyon, now in a northwest direction, past Izeh, eventually winding into the Sussan Plain. The Karun then turns north into the reservoir of Shahid Abbaspour Dam (Karun-1), which floods the river's defile to the southwest. The Karun flows southwest into the impoundment of Masjed Soleyman Dam (Karun-2), then turns northwest. Finally, it leaves the foothills and flows south past Shushtar and its confluence with the Dez. It then bends southwest, bisecting the city of Ahvaz, and south through farmland to its mouth on the Arvand Roud at Khorramshahr, where its water, together with that of the Tigris and Euphrates, turns sharply southeast to flow to the Persian Gulf.[5][6]
Basin
The largest river by discharge in Iran, the Karun River's
Much of Khuzestan's transport and resources are connected in one way or another to the Karun. Since the British first discovered oil at Masjed Soleyman, the Karun has been an important route for the transport of petroleum to the Persian Gulf, and remains an important commercial waterway.[7] Water from the Karun provides irrigation to over 280,000 hectares (690,000 acres) of the surrounding plain and a further 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) are planned to receive water.[8]
History
Karun River lies between the Susa plain, the location of the ancient cultures dating back to the fifth millennium BC and, to the south, the newly discovered ancient culture of the Zohreh River plain from the same period. The principal ancient site being excavated near the Zohreh River is Tol-e Chega Sofla, which has many parallels with Susa.[9]
Later, the Karun valley was also inhabited by the
The first known major bridge across the river was built by the Roman captives that included its emperor Valerianus in the Sassanid era, whence the name of the bridge and dam Band-e Kaisar, "Caesar's dam", at Shushtar (3rd century AD).
In two of several competing theories about the origins and location of the Garden of Eden, the Karun is presumed to be the Gihon River that is described in the Biblical book of Genesis.[11] The strongest of these theories, propounded by archaeologist Juris Zarins, places the Garden of Eden at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, fed by the four rivers Tigris, the Euphrates, Gihon (Karun) and Pishon (Wadi al-Batin).
In 1888, during a period of increasing British influence in southern Iran, Lynch Brothers opened the first regular steamship service on the river linking Khorramshahr and Ahvaz.[12]
The name of the river is derived from the mountain peak, Kuhrang, which serves as its source. The film documentary, Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925), tells the story of the Bakhtiari tribe crossing this river.
It was here during the
In September 2009, three districts of Basra province in southern Iraq were declared disaster areas as a result of Iran's construction of new dams on the Karun. The new dams resulted in high levels of salinity in the Arvand Roud (Shatt al-Arab), which destroyed farm areas and threatened livestock in that Iraqi Basra area. Civilians in the area were forced to evacuate.[13]
Dams
There are a number of dams on the Karun River, mainly built to generate
A Karun-5 dam upstream of Karun-4 has also been proposed.
Notes
- ^ a b "Karun River at Ahvaz". River Discharge Database. Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. 1965–1984. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- ^ Also spelled Karoon or Karoun.
- ^ Karun River, Encyclopædia Iranica at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karun
- ^ Karun River, Encyclopædia Iranica at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karun
- ^ "Regional generalization of flood characteristics in Karun River basin" (PDF). Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data. International Association of Hydrological Sciences. 1994. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Karun River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Universitat de València. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Province of Khuzestan". Cities/Provinces of Iran. Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- ^ "Study and Executive Projects of Irrigation and Drainage Networks". Water Department. Khuzestan Water and Power Authority. Archived from the original on 2007-08-28. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- ^ Shahmiri, Cyrus. "Elamite Empire". History of Iran. Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush." (Genesis, 2:13)
- OCLC 171111098.
- ^ "Basra province incapable of responding to crisis". Homepage.eircom.net. 2009-09-08. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
- ^ "Karun-2 Dam continues tragedy of cultural destruction at ancient Izeh". Archaeonews. 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ a b Karun & Dez Development Exploitation (Map). Cartography by Iran Water & Power Resources Development Co. Masjed Soleiman Project. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Masjed Soleiman Project: Technical Info". Masjed Soleiman Project. Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Karun 3 Project: Technical Info". Karun 3 Project. Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Karun 4 Project: Technical Info". Karun 4 Project. Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
References
- Karun-3, Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, History.
- N. Jafarzadeh, S. Rostami, K. Sepehrfar, and A. Lahijanzadeh, Identification of the Water Pollutant Industries in Khuzastan Province, Iranian Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 36–42 (2004). [1]
External links
- More photos of Karun river, Tishineh
- Karun river marshes, Factsheet, BirdLife International.
30°25′39″N 48°09′55″E / 30.4275°N 48.1653°E
- H. Borjian, "Karun River", Encyclopaedia Iranica, at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karun_1_2
- D. T. Potts, "SHATT al-ARAB", Encyclopaedia Iranica, at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shatt-al-arab