Oued Messaoud

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oued Messaoud
Data
location Adrar Province in Algeria
River system Oued Saoura
Junction from Oued Saoura at Foum el Kheneg
28 ° 58 ′ 42 ″  N , 0 ° 55 ′ 36 ″  W
Source height approx.  320  m
muzzle Sanding up in a depression west of Reggane Coordinates: 26 ° 40 ′ 56 ″  N , 0 ° 7 ′ 7 ″  E, 26 ° 40 ′ 56 ″  N , 0 ° 7 ′ 7 ″  E
Mouth height approx.  140  m
Height difference approx. 180 m
Bottom slope approx. 0.54 ‰
length Valley length 336 km
Medium-sized cities Adrar , Reggane

The Oued Messaoud is a wadi in the western Algerian Sahara , whose valley, as the estuary of the Oued Saoura, forms an extension of the river system that penetrates the Sahara farthest south from the Atlas Mountains . On its lower reaches there is a chain of oases that form the twat . The valley lies entirely in the province of Adrar .

course

The valley of the Oued Messaoud has its origin not far from the southern tip of the Western Great Erg on the lower reaches of the Oued Saoura, after it broke through the chain of the Ougarta mountains that separate it from the Sebkha el Melah ( 294  m ) in a right bend. At the southernmost point of this bend, a sandy dry valley branches off at Foum el Kheneg , which resumes the original direction of flow of the Oued Saoura before the bend. This junction, located 320 meters high, is the starting point of the Oued Messaoud. If the basin of the currently outflow-free Sebkha el Melah was once filled with water to this level in earlier times, it would have had a drain over the Oued Messaoud. Its valley runs roughly south-southeast along the southeast edge of Erg er Raoui , followed by the eastern edge of Erg el Krebs and the northeast edge of Erg Chech .

The first half of the valley, the upper reaches so to speak, leads through uninhabited dune landscapes and is not necessarily known as Oued Messaoud. Rather, at least near the junction, the name Oued Saoura could still be used. The lower course connects one after the other the oasis towns of the Twat , starting with Adrar and ending with Reggane .

The dune landscape of Erg Chech in the west and the plain of the Tidikelt in the east leave space for a depression with a height of 140 meters above sea level. Here, three kilometers south of the Timadanine oasis , the valley ends, which at the end can only be followed through sand drifts. Including the Oued Guir and the Oued Saoura, the valley lengths add up to this depression to approx. 1048 km. From here, water could only find an overflow by forming a lake, to the east into the somewhat deeper and much larger Sebkha Mekerrhane .

National road 6 accompanies the Oued Messaoud in the east along its entire length and connects the oasis towns located here.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Original height according to the contour lines of the map at Geonames
  2. ↑ Height information according to OpenCycleMap
  3. ↑ Measure distance with google maps; Valley length approximated with measuring points lined up
  4. ^ Foum el Kheneg at Geonames
  5. ^ Erg er Raoui at Geonames
  6. ^ Erg el Krebs at Geonames
  7. ^ Erg Chech at Geonames
  8. ↑ Oued Saoura near Geonames The coordinates are on the upper reaches of the Oued Messaoud, but the height information does not match the geocoordinates used, but only for the confluence with the Sebkha el Melah 30 km further northwest
  9. ↑ Timadanine at Geonames
  10. ↑ Sebkha Mekerrhane at Geonames

Web links