The Marghab River (
Dari
Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...
/
Pashto
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
: مرغاب, ''Murghāb'',
Balochi: مرگاپ), anciently the Margiana (
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
: Μαργιανή, ''Margianḗ''), is an long river in
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
. It rises in the
Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh'') in
Ghor Province
Ghōr, also spelled Ghowr or Ghur (), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in the western Hindu Kush in central Afghanistan, towards the northwest. The province contains eleven Districts of Afghanistan, districts, en ...
, flows through the
Marghab District in central
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, then runs northwest towards the
Bala Murghab
Bala Murghab (Dari/) is a city in the Badghis province of northwestern Afghanistan, located on the Murghab River. It is the district center for the Bala Murghab District. Bala Murghab is the largest city of Badghis Province, while Bala Murghab Di ...
. Reaching the oasis of
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religion
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
in the
Karakum Desert
The Karakum Desert ( ; rus, Каракумы, p=kərɐˈkumɨ), also spelt and (; ), is a desert in Central Asia. The name refers to the shale-rich sand beneath the surface. It occupies about 70 percent, or roughly , of Turkmenistan.
The po ...
of
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
, the Marghab debouches into the
Karakum Canal
The Karakum Canal (Qaraqum Canal, Kara Kum Canal, Garagum Canal; , ''Karakumskiy Kanal'', , , ) in Turkmenistan is one of the largest irrigation and water supply canals in the world. Started in 1954, and completed in 1988, it is navigable over ...
, a diversion of water from the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
. The catchment area of the Marghab is estimated at .
Geography
The Marghab River originates in the
Ghor Province
Ghōr, also spelled Ghowr or Ghur (), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in the western Hindu Kush in central Afghanistan, towards the northwest. The province contains eleven Districts of Afghanistan, districts, en ...
of central Afghanistan, on a plateau among the chain of mountains of
Paropamisus,
Gharjistan and
Band-i Turkestan. In its higher course, the river runs from east to west, towards Mukhamedkhan, for about in a narrow, steep valley measuring less than one kilometer in width, with narrow gorges in some places.
Between
Darband-i Kilrekht and
Mukhammedkhan, the Marghab crosses the western part of Band-i Turkestan, and then runs toward the northwest in a deep canyon. At Mukhammedkhan, it crosses the gorges of
Jaokar. After this, the valley widens somewhat, gradually reaching a width of in Turkmenistan. Beyond Mukhamedkhan, a small portion of the water of the Marghab is used for irrigation; approximately are irrigated from the Marghab in Afghanistan. The Marghab receives the waters of the
Kaysar river on the right, then forms the border between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan over length.
In Turkmenistan, close to
Tagtabazar
Tagtabazar (formerly Panjdeh or Pendi) is the capital town of Tagtabazar District in the Mary Province of Turkmenistan.
See also
*Panjdeh incident
The Panjdeh incident (spelled Penjdeh in older accounts, and known in Russian historiography ...
, the Marghab receives the
Kashan River from the left bank, and further, there is the confluence of the
Kushk. Downstream of the confluence with the Kushk lies the Saryyazy reservoir, built in 1959, and expanded in 1978. The reservoir and its surrounding area is ecologically important for birds. Reaching the oasis of
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religion
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
, the Marghab mingles its waters with those of the
Karakum Canal
The Karakum Canal (Qaraqum Canal, Kara Kum Canal, Garagum Canal; , ''Karakumskiy Kanal'', , , ) in Turkmenistan is one of the largest irrigation and water supply canals in the world. Started in 1954, and completed in 1988, it is navigable over ...
, a diversion of water from the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
.
File:اسبرف.jpg, The fertile Marghab Valley in Afghanistan
File:Bala Murghab, bridge D17.jpg, A bridge across the Marghab in 1962
File:Gorskii 04414u.jpg, The generators of Hindu Kush hydro power plant (Гиндукушская ГЭС) on Marghab River soon after its completion in 1909 by the Hungarian Ganz Works
The Ganz Machinery Works Holding is a Hungary, Hungarian holding company. Its products are related to rail transport, power generation, and water supply, among other industries.
The original Ganz Works or Ganz ( or , ''Ganz companies'', formerly ...
. At the time, it was the largest hydro power generating station of the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
Hydrometry: the flows at Tagtabazar
The flow of Marghab was observed during 50 years (1936–85) at
Tagtabazar
Tagtabazar (formerly Panjdeh or Pendi) is the capital town of Tagtabazar District in the Mary Province of Turkmenistan.
See also
*Panjdeh incident
The Panjdeh incident (spelled Penjdeh in older accounts, and known in Russian historiography ...
, a location in Turkmenistan about after the Marghab leaves the Afghan territory, and a score of kilometers upstream of the confluence with the
Kushk.
UNESCO - Bassin du Murghab - Station : Takhta-Bazar
At Tagtabazar, average annual flow observed over this period was for an observed surface area of , which is 74 percent of the totality of the catchment area
A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
of the river. The geographically-averaged hydrometric flow passing through this part of the basin, by far the greatest from the point of view of the flow, thus reached the figure of 44.3 millimeters per annual, which is very appreciable in this particularly desiccated area.
Monthly mean flows of Murghab (in cubic meters per second) measured at the hydrometric station of Tagtabazar
Data calculated over 50 years
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A 2021 study indicates that in the near term (by 2040), the Marghab's flow could fall by as much as one-third due to climate change, and by 40 percent by the end of the 21st century.
References
External links
Murgap river
(Murghab river) marked on the OpenStreetMap
Morghab River
in Encyclopædia Britannica
Map of the province of Ghor, with trace of the flow of water
Map of vegetation cover in the province of Badghis, with trace of the flow of water
*
{{Authority control
Rivers of Afghanistan
Rivers of Turkmenistan
International rivers of Asia