Manavgat River originates on the eastern slopes of Western
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...
in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. In ancient times it was called Melas ().
At an elevation of 1,350 m, the outflow of several small springs joins together to become the headwaters of the Manavgat.
The largest of these springs is called Dumanli, whose name means "place where there is fog", because of the dense mist that forms above the spring.
In addition to the springs from the Taurus Mountains, the Manavgat is also fed underground from large lakes to the north of the mountains, on the
Anatolian Plateau.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
considered that the river was the boundary between
ancient Pamphylia and
Cilicia
Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...
.
From there, the river flows south over conglomerated
strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...
for about 90 km, descending through a series of canyons.
Finally, it washes over the
Manavgat Waterfall and through the
coastal plain
A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area.
Formation
Coastal plains can f ...
and into the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
. There are many caves in the river watershed area, the most interesting being the Altınbeşik cave.
The maximum flow of the Manavgat River is 500 m³/second, with an average of 147 m³/second. Using the average flow as a measure, the Manavgat River accounts for a very small amount of the water flowing into the Mediterranean. There are two dams over the river:
Oymapınar Dam and the
Manavgat Dam.
[
] Studies have shown that water drains into the Manavgat River basin from its surface
watershed and also from
endorheic basin
An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...
s, especially those to the east of the river.
[
]
In 1992, the Turkish State Hydraulics Work (DSI) was given the job of developing a
water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...
project for domestic use from the Manavgat river.
Footnotes
See also
*
Manavgat Waterfall
External links
Rivers of Turkey
Landforms of Antalya Province
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