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Lake Qaraaoun
Lake Qaraoun ( / ALA-LC: ''Buḥayrat al-Qara‘ūn'') is an artificial lake or reservoir located in the southern region of the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. It was created near Qaraoun village in 1959 by building a concrete-faced rockfill dam (the largest dam in Lebanon) in the middle reaches of the Litani River (longest river in Lebanon). The reservoir has been used for Hydropower, hydropower generation (), domestic water supply, and for irrigation of . The annual surface water flow in the Litani River received at Lake Qaraoun is . This flow is used for generating hydroelectric power of 600 GWh at three hydroelectric power stations at Markaba, Awali and Jun with the total installed capacity of . During the dry season, of water is diverted from Markaba power station to meet the needs of the Kassmieh irrigation project. The lake is a habitat for some 20,000 migratory birds which visit it annually. Geography The upper Litani River, where the artificial lake or reservoir has been created ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to the Coele-Syria of classical antiquity. The Beqaa is located about east of Beirut. The valley is situated between Mount Lebanon to the west and the Anti-Lebanon mountains to the east. It is the northern continuation of the Jordan Rift Valley, and thus part of the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Syria to the Red Sea. Beqaa Valley is long and wide on average. It has a Mediterranean climate of wet, often snowy winters and dry, warm summers. Climate The region receives limited rainfall, particularly in the north, because Mount Lebanon creates a rain shadow that blocks precipitation coming from the sea. The northern section has an average annual rainfall of , compared to in the central valley. Nevertheless, two rivers originate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karstic
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. There is some evidence that karst may occur in more weathering-resistant rocks such as quartzite given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes. In regions where the dissolved bedrock is covered (perhaps by debris) or confined by one or more superimposed non-soluble rock strata, distinctive karst features may occur only at subsurface levels and can be totally missing above ground. The study of ''paleokarst'' (buried karst in the stratigraphic column) is important in petroleum geology because as much as 50% of the world's hydrocarbon reserves are hosted in carbonate rock, and much of this is found in porous karst systems. Etymology The English word ''karst'' was borrowed from German in the late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larks
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occurs in Australia. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in drier regions. When the word "lark" is used without specification, it often refers to the Eurasian skylark ''(Alauda arvensis)''. Taxonomy and systematics The family Alaudidae was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors as a subfamily Alaudina of the finch family Fringillidae. Larks are a well-defined family, partly because of the shape of their . They have multiple Scute#Birds, scutes on the hind side of their tarsi, rather than the single plate found in most songbirds. They also lack a pessulus, the bony central structure in the syrinx of songbirds. They were long placed at or near the beginning of the songbirds or oscines (now often called Pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
