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Mfolozi River
The Umfolozi River (also uMfolozi, Imfolozi or Mfolozi) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black Umfolozi River, Black (''Imfolozi emnyama'') and White Umfolozi River, White Umfolozi (''Imfolozi emhlope'') Rivers near the southeastern boundary of the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. The Zulu language, isiZulu name ''imFolozi'' is generally considered to describe the zigzag course followed by both tributaries, though other explanations have been given. The river flows in an easterly direction to the Indian Ocean at Maphelana, a coastal resort just south of the St Lucia River mouth. It originally meandered over the Monzi Flats, where it split into numerous slow-flowing channels before entering the St. Lucia Estuary at Honeymoon Bend. The slow-moving water and reed beds in channels operated as a natural filtering system that removed silt from the Umfolozi floodwaters and created a rich habitat for numerous species. Ecology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hluhluwe River
The Hluhluwe River originates in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the Nongoma Local Municipality, Nongoma district and runs northeast through Hlabisa and the Hluhluwe Dam, beyond which it converges with the Nyalazi River to become the St Lucia River at Lake St Lucia. Its name is derived from the Dalbergia armata, Hluhluwe creeper, known as ''umHluhluwe'' in Zulu language, Zulu, which occurs on the river's banks. References Rivers of KwaZulu-Natal {{SouthAfrica-river-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e., a soil containing more than 85 percent sand-sized particles by mass. The composition of sand varies, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal settings is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO2), usually in the form of quartz. Calcium carbonate is the second most common type of sand. One such example of this is aragonite, which has been created over the past 500million years by various forms of life, such as coral and shellfish. It is the primary form of sand apparent in areas where reefs have dominated the ecosystem for millions of years, as in the Caribbean. Somewhat more rarely, sand may be composed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mgeni River
The Umgeni River or Mgeni River () is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. It is generally agreed its name means "the river of entrance" in Zulu, though other meanings have been suggested. The river is approximately long with a catchment area of . The Howick Falls are some famous waterfalls on the Mngeni. Tributaries A noteworthy tributary is the Msunduzi River, which joins it between Nagle and Inanda dams. Higher up its course, the Msunduzi (or 'Dusi' for short) passes through the KwaZulu-Natal capital Pietermaritzburg. A famous downriver race, the Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place between the capital and Durban, attracting thousands of canoeists for the three-day event held every year January. A small tributary that has an impact exceeding its size and length is the Lions River which joins the Umgeni about 4 kilometers upstream of Midmar Dam (nea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tugela River
The Tugela River (; ) is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of , and a drop of 1370 metres in the lower 480 km, it is one of the most important rivers of the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the Drakensberg Mountains at an elevation of 3282 metres This has a very detailed description of the river's course. and plunges in five distinct free-leaping falls 947 metres down the Tugela Falls. The Mont-aux-Sources is also the origin of tributaries of two other major South African rivers, the Orange and the Caledon River. From the Drakensberg range, the Tugela follows a route through the KwaZulu-Natal midlands before flowing into the Indian Ocean. The total catchment area is approximately . Land uses in the catchment are mainly rural subsistence farming and commercial forestry. Tributaries The Tugela is fed by a number of tributaries coming off the Drakensberg, the largest being the Mzinyathi ("Buffalo") River ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umkomazi River
The uMkhomazi River is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Course It rises in some of the highest eastwards-facing slopes of the Drakensberg mountains, near the mighty Thabana Ntlenyana. The river flows southeastwards towards the Indian Ocean, which it enters through a navigable estuary at Umkomaas (eMkhomazi), about 50 km southwest of Durban. Its main tributaries are the Loteni, Nzinga, Mkomazane, Elands and the Xobho River. Towns on the uMkhomazi drainage basin include Bulwer, Impendle, Ixopo, Craigieburn and Boston. Presently the only dam in its catchment area is the Ixopo Dam, but other dams are planned. The uMkhomazi is part of the Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area. Ecology The Mkhomazi State Forest and the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area are protected areas in the upper course of the Umkomazi River. The scaly yellowfish ''(Labeobarbus natalensis)'' is a fish found in the uMkhomazi River System as well as in the Umgeni, Umzimkulu, Tukhela and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umzimkulu River
The Mzimkulu River is a river in South Africa. In the past, the Mzimkulu formed part of the border between Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Presently this river is part of the Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area. In late February of every year, the river is host to one of South Africa's most popular canoe races, the Drak Challenge. Course It rises in the Drakensberg mountains just north of Rhino Peak, with the source being on the Lesotho border. It flows southeast towards the Indian Ocean, which it enters through an estuary at Port Shepstone. Its main tributary is the Bisi River which joins its right bank about halfway down its course. Towns on the Umzimkhulu, Umzimkulu include Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal, Underberg and Umzimkhulu. Ecology The scaly yellowfish ''(Labeobarbus natalensis)'' is a fish found in the Umzimkulu River System as well as in the Umgeni River, Umgeni, Umkomazi River, Umkomazi, Tugela River, Thukela and the Umfolozi River, Umfolozi. It is a commo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scaly Yellowfish
The scaly yellowfish, or KwaZulu-Natal yellowfish, (''Labeobarbus natalensis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. This fish is found in the Tugela River System in South Africa, as well as in the Umzimkulu, Umfolozi and the Mgeni. It is one of the most common fishes in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it lives in different habitats between the Drakensberg foothills and the coastal lowlands. The species has been categorized as least concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological .... References Labeobarbus Freshwater fish of South Africa Taxa named by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau Fish described in 1861 {{Labeobarbus-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site is nominated by its host country and determined by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to be a unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable, having a special cultural or physical significance, and to be under a sufficient system of legal protection. World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains or wilderness areas, and others. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humankind and serve as evidence of humanity's intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International security, security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 Member states of UNESCO, member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the Non-governmental organization, non-governmental, Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 National Commissions for UNESCO, national commissions. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the events of World War II, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian. Sometimes called ''rainforests of the sea'', shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodwana Bay
Sodwana Bay is a bay in South Africa on the KwaZulu Natal north coast, between St. Lucia and Lake Sibhayi. It is in the Sodwana Bay National Park, and the Maputaland Marine Reserve, and is a popular recreational diving destination. The term is commonly used to refer to both the marine reserve and the terrestrial park, as well as the geographical bay. Sodwana Bay National Park is a narrow strip of forested sand dunes located along the east coast. Proclaimed a national park in the 1950s, it is frequented by anglers and divers. Sodwana is situated in the Maputaland Marine Protected Area and is the only recreational scuba diving area along the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park (now renamed to iSimangaliso) coastline. Classified as one of the top dive sites in the world, the park is visited by some 35 000 scuba divers per year. The bay is near the southern end of the tropical western Indo-Pacific marine ecoregion, and reef-building corals are present. The reef complex is the habi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Plume
A river plume is a Fresh water, freshened water mass that is formed in the sea as a result of mixing of Surface runoff, river discharge and saline seawater. River plumes are formed in coastal sea areas at many regions in the World. River plumes generally occupy wide-but-shallow sea surface layers bounded by sharp density gradient, density gradients. The area of a river plume is 3-5 orders of magnitude greater than its depth; therefore, even small rivers with Discharge (hydrology), discharge rates ~1–10 m/s form river plumes with horizontal spatial extents ~10–100 m. Areas of river plumes formed by the largest rivers are ~100–1000 km2. Despite the relatively small volume of total Fresh water, freshwater Discharge (hydrology), runoff to the World Ocean, river plumes occupy up to 21% of Continental shelf, shelf areas of the ocean, i.e., several million square kilometers. In some occasions river plumes are spoken of as Region of freshwater influence, regions of fresh water influe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
