Awash (river)
| Awash | ||
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| Data | ||
| location |
 Ethiopia
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| River system | Awash | |
| source | about 3 km east of Addis Alem 9 ° 2 ′ 33 ″ N , 38 ° 26 ′ 33 ″ E |
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| muzzle | near Arissa in the Abbe-See Coordinates: 11 ° 11 ′ 10 " N , 41 ° 42 ′ 28" E 11 ° 11 ′ 10 " N , 41 ° 42 ′ 28" E
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| length | 1200 km | |
| Catchment area | 110,000 km² | |
| Medium-sized cities | Asaita | |
| Small towns | Awash , Gewane | |
 Awash Falls |
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The Awash ( Amharic አዋሽ ወንዝ awaš wänz ) is a river in northern Ethiopia .
course
It rises in the Abyssinian high mountains around three kilometers east of Addis Alem , flows mostly northwards along the Abyssinian Rift , part of the East African Rift Valley, and ends in the drainless Abbe Lake in the Danakil depression . To the west of the city of Nazreth , the river is dammed in the Koka reservoir .
climate
The climate of the catchment area is semi-arid to arid. The dry season is between October and March. There are two rainy seasons in the west of the catchment area. The first rain of the year falls between March and April and a more pronounced rainy season follows between June and September. This precipitation characteristic is caused by the shift of the intra-tropical convergence zone in the course of the year. In the north-eastern highlands, both rainy seasons coincide to form a longer one. In the Rift Valley, the rainy seasons are less pronounced. In the source region of the Awash in the highlands, an average of up to 1600 mm of precipitation falls per year, while the Danakil Depression is extremely low in precipitation.
economy
The sugar cane plantations of the sugar industries in Wonji , Shewa and Metehara are the greatest beneficiaries of this river. Thanks to the very well developed irrigation infrastructure, the irrigation of the plantations, in contrast to the rest of the country, is independent of seasonal rainwater.
A huge flood in 1997 caused destruction to an extent previously unknown. Back then, the population only had a few hours to seek shelter in higher places until the deadly flood tore down everything that stood in their way.
archeology
Numerous hominid fossils have been found along the Awash (including the famous Lucy and the fossil DIK 1-1 , called the “Dikika girl” or “Selam”), as well as the oldest stone tools discovered to date . The area is therefore considered to be one of the birthplaces of mankind. Led by Tim White and Berhane Asfaw found at Middle Awash since 1990 by the Middle Awash Research Project again paleoanthropological excavations take place; between 1982 and 1990 the excavation permits were suspended due to a moratorium aimed at protecting the cultural heritage of Ethiopia. The sites have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1980 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Improving Management of Livestock in Awash River Livestock in Awash River Basin: A Challenge to Basin: A Challenge to Ethiopia
- ↑ Knoche, M., Fischer, C., Pohl, E., Krause, P., & Merz, R. (2014). Combined uncertainty of hydrological model complexity and satellite-based forcing data evaluated in two data-scarce semi-arid catchments in Ethiopia. Journal of Hydrology, 519, 2049-2066.
- ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Lower Valley of the Awash. Retrieved August 20, 2017 .