Murgab River (Afghanistan)
Encyclopedia
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
Мургаб, is an 850 km long river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. It rises in north-western Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and runs north-west towards the Murghab District
Murghab District
Murghab is a district situated in the northeast of Badghis Province, Afghanistan. The district capital is Murghab.-Demographics:The estimated population of Murghab District in 2003 was roughly 109,381...
, which takes it name from the river, and then the Kara Kum desert in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, where it peters out.
Geography
The Murghab originates in the center of Afghanistan, on a plateau situated among the chain of mountains of Safed KohSafed Koh
Spin Ghar or Safed Kuh or the Indian Caucasus, also known as the Safīd Mountain Range or Morga Range, is a mountain range on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, up to above sea-level at Mount Sikaram, straight and rigid, towering above all surrounding hills...
or Paropamisus to the south and that of Band-i Turkestan in the north. In its higher course, oriented from east to west, and to the locality of Mukhamedkhan (i.e. over a length of 300 km.), the valley of Murghab is narrow, measuring less than one kilometer in width, with steep slopes. There are narrow gorges in some places. Between Darband-i Kilrekht and Mukhammedkhan, the Murghab crosses the western part of Band-i Turkestan. It then runs toward the northwest in a deep canyon. In Mukhammedkhan, it crosses the gorges of Jaokar. After this locality, the valley widens somewhat gradually, reaching a width of 2 kilometers in Turkmenistan. Beyond Mukhamedkhan, a small portion of the water of the Murghab is used for irrigation; approximately 10000 hectares are irrigated from the Murghab in Afghanistan. The Murghab receives the waters of the Kaysar river on the right, then forms the border between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan over a 16 kilometer length. In the territory of Turkmenistan, close to Takhta-Bazaar, the Murghab receives the Kachan river from the left bank, and 25 kilometers further, there is the confluence of the Kushk
Kushk River
The Kushk is a river which, during a portion of its course, forms the boundary between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and used to form the southernmost border of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union...
. Reaching the oasis of Merv
Merv
Merv , formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana , was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan. Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of...
, the Murghab mingles its waters with those of the Kara-Kum canal (diversion of water from the Amou-Daria).
Hydrometry - the flows at Takhta-Bazaar
The flow of Murghab was observed during 50 years (1936-1985) at Takhta-Bazaar, a location in Turkmenistan about thirty kilometers after the Murghab leaves the Afghan territory, and a score of kilometers upstream of the confluence with the KushkKushk River
The Kushk is a river which, during a portion of its course, forms the boundary between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and used to form the southernmost border of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union...
. At Takhta-Bazaar, average annual flow observed over this period was 48.7 m³ /second for an observed surface area of 34,700 km2, which is 74% of the totality of the catchment area
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of the river. The geographically-averaged hydrometric flow passing through this part of the basin, by far greatest from the point of view of the flow, thus reached the figure of 44.3 millimeters per annum, which is very appreciable in this particularly desiccated area.
Monthly mean flows of Murghab (in m ³ /seconds) measured at the hydrometric station of Takhta-Bazaar
Data calculated over 50 years