Shire (river)
| Shire | ||
 Shire River near Liwonde near the national park of the same name |
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| Data | ||
| location |
 Malawi Mozambique
|
|
| River system | Zambezi | |
| Drain over | Zambezi → Strait of Mozambique | |
| source |
Lake Malawi 14 ° 25 ′ 25 ″ S , 35 ° 14 ′ 10 ″ E |
|
| Source height | 474 m | |
| muzzle |
Zambezi Coordinates: 17 ° 41 ′ 36 " S , 35 ° 18 ′ 55" E 17 ° 41 ′ 36 " S , 35 ° 18 ′ 55" E |
|
| Mouth height | 27 m | |
| Height difference | 447 m | |
| Bottom slope | 1.1 ‰ | |
| length | 402 km (together with Ruhuhu 1200 km) | |
| Catchment area | 150,000 km² | |
| Discharge at the Chiromo gauge (1992900) A Eo : 149,500 km² Location: 150 km above the mouth |
NNQ (min. Month Ø) MNQ 1953–1981 MQ 1953–1981 Mq 1953–1981 MHQ 1953–1981 HHQ (max. Month Ø) |
22 m³ / s 300 m³ / s 486 m³ / s 3.3 l / (s km²) 687 m³ / s 1219 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Ruo | |
| Flowing lakes | Lake Malombes | |
 Shire River at the southern end of Malawi on the Mozambique border |
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The Shire [ ʃiːɹɛ ] is the outflow of Lake Malawi and the largest river in Malawi . It is 402 km long and flows into the Zambezi in the area of Mozambique .
course
The Shire leaves the Malawi at the southern end and flows about 10 kilometers in the Lake Malombe . From there it moves lazily for 30 km along the marshy banks of a wide floodplain of Liwonde National Park to the city of Liwonde .
There he changes his character. It flows through rocky mountains over various rapids to the Nkhula Dam, a hydroelectric power plant that went into operation in 1967 . This is followed by the Tedzani hydropower plant, which has been in operation since 1973, at further rapids. Its course extends through the Mpatamanga Gorge to the Kapichira waterfalls with another hydroelectric power station. Shortly behind this it spreads out into the elephant march and behind Nsanje into the Ndinde march, before it flows into the Zambezi. In its lower reaches from the mouth of the Ruo, the Shire forms the border between the two states over a length of about 80 km.
Together with the Ruhuhu , the longest headwaters of the Shire, and the stretch of river that its water needs to cross Lake Malawi, the course of the river is around 1,200 km long.
Catchment area
The catchment area of the Shire covers about 150,000 km². With 108,360 km², the state of Malawi, about 90% of the country's area, makes up the largest part (including Lake Malawi). It also includes small parts of Tanzania and Mozambique. Without Lake Malawi, it is only about 24,000 km², of which 18,000 km² (15% of the country's area) is in Malawi. It is very narrow, and stretches for about 1000 km from north to south. Its western border to the neighboring area of the Luangwa is practically congruent with the Malawian border.
Hydrology
The water flow of the Shire depends on the water level of Lake Malawi. It normally has water all year round, but reports from the 1930s show that in a few years it did not have any water during the dry season. When the tide of Lake Malawi is low, the direction of flow of the Shire should temporarily reverse.
The flow rate of the river was measured for 28 years (1953–1981) in Chiromo , in most of the catchment area in m³ / s.
See also
swell
- ↑ a b c Naturalization of Lake Malawi Levels and Shire River Flows
- ^ The World Bank, Water Resources Management, Africa Region: The Zambezi River Basin: A Multi-Sector Investment Opportunities Analysis , Washington 2010
- ↑ a b Homepage UNH / GRDC - The level of the Shire at the mouth. Retrieved June 21, 2019
- ↑ Cay Lienau: Malawi . 1981, p. 133
- ^ FAO - The Zambezi River basin
- ^ Evaluating land cover change and its impact on hydrological regime in Upper Shire river catchment, Malawi
- ^ A Risky Climate for Southern African Hydro: assessing hydrological risks and consequences for Zambezi River Basin Dams
- ↑ Cay Lienau : Malawi. Geography of an underdeveloped country . Scientific regional customers, Vol. 20, Darmstadt 1981, p. 54
