Liao River

Coordinates: 40°40′09″N 122°08′56″E / 40.66917°N 122.14889°E / 40.66917; 122.14889
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Liao River
Liao He
Map of the Liao River drainage basin
Native name辽河
Location
CountryChina
ProvinceHebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning
Physical characteristics
Sourcevarious sources of its tributaries
MouthLiaodong Bay
Length1,345 km (836 mi)
Basin size232,000 km2 (90,000 sq mi)

The Liao River (

Pearl River. The Liao River has an exceedingly high sediment load because many parts of it flow through powdery loess
.

The Liao River is also an important geographical landmark, as it divides the modern Liaoning province into two broad regions —

Liaodong ("east of Liao") and Liaoxi ("west of Liao"). Historically, this demarcation though was not based on the river itself, but on a large wetland that once existed on the right (west) bank of the lower Liao River known as the Liao Mire (辽泽), which stretched east of the Yiwulü Mountain to the Liao River from Xinmin to Panshan
.

Course

The Liao River is formed from the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Xiliao River from the west, and Dongliao River from the east. The western tributary resides entirely in

Jilin Province
, and goes through an S-shaped course before meeting its counterpart near the junction region of Liaoning, Jilin and Inner Mongolia, approximately 42° 59' N, 123° 33' E.

The resultant river, the Liao River proper, then enters Liaoning Province and courses southwards through the

Dawa County. The eastern distributary, originally the larger and the main body of lower Liao River, was called the Wailiao River (外辽河, "Outer Liao River"). The Wailiao River travelled southwards to pick up two large tributaries, the Hun River and Taizi River, at a confluence locally referred as the "Trident River" (三岔河), where it then adopted the new name Daliao River (大辽河, "Great Liao River") and drained into the Liaodong Bay just west of Yingkou
.

However, the Liao River Delta has a flat topography made up of soft sediment soil, with meandrous waterways that had a rich history of rerouting. This coupled with the risk of storm surges due to the region's low elevation, created a huge problem in flood control. This flood risk at the coastal section of the Liao River system was particularly threatening to Yingkou, a city immediately adjacent to the mouth of Daliao River and home to 2 million people. In 1958, the upriver of the Wailiao River at Liujianfang was blocked off via a river engineering project, redirecting the water flow from the Liao River proper entirely towards the Shuangtaizi River (which was renamed to simply the "Liao River" in 2011), effectively separating the Hun River and Taizi River from the Liao River system. Therefore, the Daliao River system is considered an independent water system of their own since 1958, and the Hun and Taizi River are no longer tributaries of the Liao River. Also, due to the Wailiao River's upstream flow being cut off, the Liao River no longer has any distributaries, therefore the Liao River Delta technically also ceased to exist from 1958 onwards, however the term remains in use to describe the area of Panjin between the Liao River's left bank and Wailiao/Daliao River's right bank.

Tributaries

Major tributaries

Minor tributaries

These following tributaries drain into the Liao River proper throughout its course within the Liaoning Province.[citation needed]

  • Sutai River (苏台河)
  • Qing River (清河)
  • Chai River (柴河)
  • Fan River (泛河)
  • Xiushui River (秀水河)
  • Yangximu River (养息牧河)
  • Liu River (柳河)
  • Raoyang River (绕阳河)

Former tributaries

Before 1958, the Hun River joins the Wailiao River and then the Taizi River near Haicheng — the confluence of the three rivers was also known as "the Trident River" — to form the Daliao River which drains into the Liaodong Bay. However in 1958, a river engineering project was conducted to address flood control problem in the coastal area near Yingkou. The upriver of the Wailiao River at Liujianfang was blocked off, diverting the Liao River stream away towards the Shuangtaizi River, effectively separating the Hun River and Taizi River from the main body of Liao River system. Therefore since 1958, the Hun and Taizi River were considered an independent river system of their own, no longer being tributaries of the Liao River.
  • Taizi River (太子河, "crown prince river"), historically also known as Yan River (衍水) or Liang River (梁水), was named according to the legend that it was the last site of refuge for Crown Prince Dan of Yan, who was fleeing from Qin conquest after the failed assassination attempt on the King of Qin. It was formerly the third largest tributary of the Liao River, running 413 kilometres (257 mi) and draining a basin of 13,900 square kilometres (5,400 sq mi). The Taizi River, like the Hun River running parallel north of it, flows through some of the most important agricultural and industrial regions of southern Liaoning, including the cities of Benxi, Anshan and Liaoyang. Like its sister river, the Hun River, the Taizi River has numerous tributaries, including two largest ones of which it is formed from the confluence. Its headwaters arise from hill regions between Benxi and Fushun, and contains the famous Benxi Water Caves. Like Hun River, the Taizi River is no longer a tributary of Liao River since the obliteration of upstream Wailiao River in 1958.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Liao River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. ^ Cao, Jie. "Liao River in Deep Trouble" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2013.