Salween River
The Salween at Liuku in Yunnan Province, China
Course of the Salween
Salawin
The Salween (also Thanlwin ) is a 2980 km long, almost exclusively as a mountain river to be designated river or stream in Southeast Asia.
River course
The Salween (Chinese怒江, Pinyin Nu Jiang) in the highlands of Tibet ( People's Republic of China) as Nag -Choo. There, its source lies in 5450 m above sea level. NN altitude in a (variable) between the northern glacier ( 5881 m above sea level. NN ) and the southern Chrebet peak ( 5722 m above sea level. NN ) in the eastern Tanggula Shan (34 km south-east of the northern Tanggula Pass, 5231 m above sea level. NN ). The glacier melts sharply. The Nag Chu runs in a southeasterly direction through the Chinese province of Yunnan. In Myanmar (formerly Burma ), he cuts through the Shan highlands, where it forms the border of China and Myanmar. In this area only flow a little further east of the Mekong River and the Yangtze River in too deep valleys. In its lower course, it forms for a short distance the border between Myanmar and Thailand, and finally ends at the port of Mawlamyine on the coast of Myanmar in the Andaman Sea, a part of the Indian Ocean.
The Salween is navigable only at about 120 km above the mouth due to its numerous rapids, but upriver run smaller motor boats and barges. The river is up to 2005 still relatively unspoilt.
The Salween is exposed by human deforestation significant risks for landslides ( debris flows ). This increases the sediment load has increased significantly.
Water data
The discovery of the source of the Salween in the year 1989/1990 by the German geologist and glaciologist Prof. Dr. Dieter Ortlam (Bremen ) and its connection via the Amdo Donak Lake for Tibet highway bridge at Megschen ( southwest of the city Nagchu ) could be determined with 2980 km length of the river in the meantime.
The water flow from probably around 6700 m³ / s is quite high and explained by the predominantly mountainous relief in view of the catchment area 325,000 km ² for the edge- tropical location of the river. The resulting drainage area of approximately 21 l / sxkm ² is between the values of the neighboring streams Irrawaddy ( approximately 31 l / sxkm ²) and Mekong ( approximately 19 l / sxkm ²). When leaving the low-rainfall mountain valley on Chinese territory of the Salween drained around half of its catchment area, but does even less than 2000 m³ / s of water (Rhine front of the mouth branching: 2330 m³ / s).
Name of diversity
The river is called in China in Chinese怒江in Pinyin Nu Jiang (older spellings: Nu Nu Chiang and Kiang ), and in Tibetan in the upper reaches in the official transcription Nag Qu, in Wylie transliteration Nag Chu; eindeutschende notation: Nag Chu, in the middle reaches Gyalmo Nygul Chu.
On the Burmese river Thanlwin Myit called ( phonetically: [ θãl.wĩ.mji ˀ ] ), hence comes the English name Salween. In the language of Shan 's his name Nam Kong.
In Thailand it is called Maenam Salawin ( แม่น้ำ สาละ วิน ), on the German spellings Salween, and Salween Salween are common.
Ecology
The name " Nu " in Chinese anger, carries the flow to right. The thundering water is breaking through the Tibetan plateau through the mountains to the Indian Ocean. The stream is one of the most water-rich outflows of the Himalayas. About the swirling water masses mountains rise, whose slopes reach over six climatic zones: from 760 meters up to 6740 meters above sea level. 173 mammal species, 417 bird and 59 reptile species, researchers have counted in the Nu- Canyon, including 79 endangered species. Also why its western slopes, the Gaoligong mountains were declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (protection zones in the Three Parallel Rivers National Park in Yunnan ) in July 2003.
Dam plans
The governments of China, Myanmar and Thailand are planning to build dams on the Salween more than 14 to generate electricity. In one implementation of the projects about 50,000 people would be affected by resettlement. In addition to negative effects on the ecosystem, the risk of earthquakes in the region an additional risk in the area of its upper reaches, the Nag Chu, there is already the dam of Datang ( 4300 m above sea level. NN ). The CPC was in 2006 still in the decision-making process. In 2007, started the construction of the first of the planned dams, the Tasang Dam.