Tsauchab
| Tsauchab | ||
 Tsauchab near Betesda, east of Sesriem |
||
| Data | ||
| location | Namibia | |
| River system | Tsauchab | |
| Headwaters |
Naukluft Mountains 24 ° 32 ′ 41 ″ S , 16 ° 20 ′ 47 ″ E |
|
| Source height | 1400 m | |
| muzzle | ins Sossusvlei Coordinates: 24 ° 43 ′ 40 ″ S , 15 ° 20 ′ 30 ″ E 24 ° 43 ′ 40 ″ S , 15 ° 20 ′ 30 ″ E |
|
| Mouth height | 570 m | |
| Height difference | 830 m | |
| Bottom slope | 5.5 ‰ | |
| length | 150 km | |
| Catchment area | 4,431.358 km² | |
The Tsauchab , an ephemeral river in western Namibia , has its origin on the south side of the Naukluft Mountains . From there it runs to the west, where it flows through the Sesriem Canyon after 80 kilometers and finally seeps away into the sand sea of the Namib after a total of 150 kilometers in the Sossusvlei without reaching the Atlantic.
Hydrology
The catchment area of the Tsauchab, modeled on the basis of SRTM data, covers 4431.358 km² and stretches from the southern edge of the Naukluft in the east via Sesriem Canyon to the west to Sossusvlei. The highest point of the catchment area is in the Naukluft at 1900 meters, the end point in Sossusvlei at 690 meters. Annual precipitation in the catchment area varies from 0 mm in Sossusvlei to 175 mm on the slopes of the Naukluft. Annual precipitation is only over 100 mm in 60% of the catchment area. The rainfall in the hinterland is rare and very sporadic, but can occasionally result in larger amounts of water, so that the rainwater is pushed through the sand and the Tsauchab reaches the Sossusvlei, which is then filled with water for up to 18 months. Several days a year, fog penetrates from the Benguela Current in the Atlantic Ocean into the sand sea of the Namib to Sesriem. The moisture that precipitates on the dunes forms the basis of life for some grasses and insects.
Vegetation and fauna
23% of the catchment area is in the dwarf shrub savannah, 68% in the savanna-semi-desert transition zone and 9% in the central Namib area. Along the entire Tsauchab to Sossusvlei there is a more or less lush gallery forest , which is mainly composed of camel thorn ( Acacia erioloba ), ring-shell acacia ( Acacia tortilis ) and various fig species ( Ficus spp. ) In the upper reaches . In the vicinity of Sossusvlei there are dense stands of ǃNara , on the dunes there are loose vegetation of Stipagrostis sabulicola , whose dense and extensive network of roots is able to quickly absorb the moisture precipitated from the fog.
The animal world is limited to springbok and oryx as well as small mammals and insects due to the high aridity despite the vegetation . When the Sossusvlei is filled with water, flamingos can also settle there.
Use and settlement
The land above Sesriem is owned by 40 private farms, most of which specialize in hunting and luxury tourism and do not practice agriculture. The remaining 22% of the catchment area falls into the Namib-Naukluft National Park . The Sesriem Canyon and Sossusvlei with its high sand dunes are among the most important tourist attractions in Namibia.
literature
- Mary Seely, Kathryn M. Jacobson, Peter J. Jacobson: Ephemeral Rivers and Their Catchments - Sustaining People and Development in Western Namibia . Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, 1995, ISBN 978-99916-709-4-2 .
- Klaus Hüser, Helga Besler, Wolf Dieter Blümel, Klaus Heine, Hartmut Leser, Uwe Rust : Namibia - A Landscape Studies in Pictures . Klaus Hess, Göttingen / Windhoek 2001, ISBN 978-3-933117-14-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ben J. Strohbach: Mapping the Major Catchments of Namibia. Agricola. Vol. 18, 2008, pp. 63–73 ( PDF 1 MB; accompanying material for download ), p. 67.