The Bartang (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and Tajik: Бартанг) is a river of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, tributary to the

Panj Panj () is a city in southern Tajikistan which is situated on the Afghan border, some south of the capital Dushanbe. It is located along the north bank of the river Panj, from which it derives its name. The population of the town is 12,500 (Jan ...

and consequently to the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

. In its upper reaches, it is also known as the Murghab and Aksu; it flows through the

Wakhan Wakhan, or "the Wakhan" (also spelt Vakhan; Persian and ps, واخان, ''Vâxân'' and ''Wāxān'' respectively; tg, Вахон, ''Vaxon''), is a rugged, mountainous part of the Pamir, Hindu Kush and Karakoram regions of Afghanistan. Wakha ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, then through the Rushon District of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region,

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. The river is long (133 km excluding Aksu and Murghab) and has a basin area of .Бартанг

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

Course

The river rises in Chaqmaqtin Lake in the Little Pamir in the

, where it is known as the Aksu or Oksu ("white water"). It then flows east and crosses into Tajikistan, then turns north to the city of Murghab passing the village of Shaimak. Below the city of Murghab the river is called the Murghab ( tg, Мурғоб, ''Murghob'' meaning "Bird River", russian: Мургаб - ''Murgab''). . A few kilometres below Murghab is

Sarez Lake Sarez Lake (russian: Сарезское озеро; tg, Сарез кӯл, Sarez Kūl) is a lake in Rushon District of Gorno-Badakhshan province, Tajikistan. Length about , depth few hundred meters, water surface elevation about above sea leve ...

, formed by a landslide during the 1911 Sarez earthquake, which created the world's highest natural dam,

Usoi Dam The Usoi Dam is a natural landslide dam along the Murghab River in Tajikistan. At high, it is the tallest dam in the world, either natural or man-made. The dam was created on February 18, 1911, when the 7.4- Ms Sarez earthquake caused a massive ...

. The river is joined by the Ghudara river just below Sarez Lake. From the junction the river is known as the Bartang. The Bartang traces a route down the western Pamir Mountains, flowing before becoming a tributary to the

at the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Much of the river lies within the boundaries of Tajik National Park. The Bartang is fed mostly by

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

and snow melt. It is the only river to cross Gorno-Badakhshan from east to west. The Bartang enters the Panj just upstream from the town of Rushon.

Access

'Bartang' means 'narrow passage'. Before the 20th century travel required fords, ladders and platforms set into the sides of cliffs. There were three paths, one along the river, usable only in autumn when the water was low, the second along the cliffs and the third, much longer, where pack animals could be led along the mountain ridges. The modern road can become impassable beyond Basid due to rockslides. Above Basid is the large village of Roshov. Above that the Ghudara River and the Murghab Rivers join to form the Bartang. The road follows the Ghudata northeast to its junction with the Tanimas which leads west to the Fedchenko Glacier. A road of sorts continues east to lake Karakul. The Murghab is generally not passable except as an adventure. There is a dirt road for the last 37 km to Murghab town. Above Murghab a jeep road, of decreasing quality, follows the river southeast to Tokhtamish and Shaimak.

Sarez Lake

On February 18, 1911, the 1911 Sarez earthquake, estimated at 7.4 on the

Richter magnitude scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

, caused a large landslide which completely blocked the flow of the Murghab and buried a local village. The landslide, estimated at two cubic kilometers of rock, formed a natural

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

called the

. Over the following months the Murghab filled the space behind the Usoi to form

, which now fills about 60 kilometers in length of the Murghab river valley and contains 17 cubic kilometers of water. Geologists believe that the dam may be unstable and could collapse during a future strong earthquake, either from structural failure of the earthen dam itself or liquefaction of the soil & rock debris making up the dam. Bolt, B.A., W.L. Horn, G.A. Macdonald and R.F. Scott, (1975) '' Geological hazards: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, avalanches, landslides, floods'' Springer-Verlag, New York, The Usoi Dam wall survived a localised 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the

2015 Tajikistan earthquake On December 7, 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale struck Tajikistan west of Murghab at 07:50 UTC at a depth of . The earthquake was also felt in neighboring Xinjiang in China, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kyrgyz ...

, on the 7th December 2015 with no visible signs of deterioration.

Notes

References

*Kolesnikova, V. (April 2002)
"Tajik Forests: What Happened to the 'Crimea Gardens' and their Inhabitants"
''Russian Forest Bulletin'': Issue 20, April 2002.

The Great Game Travel Company. Retrieved August 25, 2005. *

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

satellite photographs of eastern Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

External links

Map of major river drainage basins within Tajikistan
* ttp://www.pamirs.org/images/maps/gbaorm.gif Map of Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistanbr>Description of a bicycle ride in Tajikistan, including the Bartang Valley
{{List of rivers of Tajikistan Rivers of Tajikistan Rivers of Afghanistan International rivers of Asia Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region