The Kuiseb River is an

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

river in western-central

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Its source is in the Khomas Highland west of

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

. From there it flows westwards through the

Namib-Naukluft National Park The Namib-Naukluft Park is a national park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert (considered the world's oldest desert), the Naukluft mo ...

and the

Namib The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami ...

desert to

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

. Several settlements of the

Topnaar people The Topnaar people (ǂAonin) are a clan of the Nama people in Namibia. Their settlements are all situated on the Kuiseb River in the Erongo Region of central Namibia, the largest one is Utuseb. History Topnaars began settling in the area of Walv ...

are on the banks of the lower Kuiseb, for instance Homeb, Sandfontein, Rooibank, and

Utuseb Utuseb is a small settlement in the Erongo Region in western central Namibia. It is situated in the Namib Desert, approximately from Walvis Bay on the banks of Kuiseb River. Utuseb has approximately 700 inhabitants and belongs to the Walvis Bay Ru ...

. Inflows of the Kuiseb are Gomab, Ojab, Chausib, Gaub, Koam, Nausgomab and Goagos. The Kuiseb's

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area 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 ...

(including its tributaries) is estimated to be between 15,500 and . It has a mean run-off of roughly .

Friedenau Dam Friedenau Dam is a gravity concrete dam in Khomas Region, Namibia. Located southwest of Windhoek, it dams the Kuiseb River and provides water to nearby Matchless Mine. It has a capacity of and was completed in 1972, when the territory was occu ...

, built in 1972, is on the river. In January 2005, for the first time in years, the Kuiseb flowed to the ocean. Between Naukluft and Namib the Kuiseb carved out a canyon in a barren and inaccessible area. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the area around the Kuiseb Canyon served as a shelter for

Henno Martin Henno Martin (15 March 1910 – 7 January 1998) was a German professor of geology who, along with Hermann Korn, lived for two years in the Namib Desert to avoid internment during the Second World War. Personal life Martin was born in Frei ...

and Hermann Korn who moved there to wait the war out. Two books and a film were subsequently published about this 2-year stay; the ruins of their shelter can be visited. On its course through the Namib the Kuiseb is bordered on one side by some of the tallest sand dunes in the world, and on the other by barren rock. The red sand dunes south of the river reach heights over 150 meters. The prevailing winds blow the dunes northward, but their movement is blocked by the river. In the process, so much sand and silt is deposited in the Kuiseb that it only reaches the sea while it is in flood. In 1907, the area between the Swakop River and the Kuiseb was designated by the German colonial administration as a game reserve. The area is currently part of the

. The ''Desert Research Foundation of Namibia'' (DRFN) is located at

Gobabeb The Gobabeb Namib Research Institute, short: Gobabeb, is a centre for dry land training and research in Namibia. It is located in the Namib Desert, south-east of Walvis Bay. Gobabeb was founded by the Austrian entomologist Charles Koch in ...

on the banks of the river. File:Kuiseb River Nears the Ocean.jpg, Natural-colour satellite image of the Kuiseb River. File:Kuiseb bird eye view.jpg, Aerial view of Kuiseb River (2017) File:Kuiseb River Sand and Rock (2018).jpg, Kuiseb River (2018) File:gobabeb from air.jpg, Aerial view of the

Training and Research Centre File:Henno Martin Shelter.jpg, Ruins of the Shelter of Korn and Martin File:Kuiseb.1.JPG, C14 bridge over the Kuiseb Canyon

References

Notes

Literature

* * *''The original entry was from the

NASA Earth Observatory NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information pertaining to the climate and the environment which are being provided by NA ...

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External links

NASA Earth Explorer pagePhD Dissertation at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
{{Authority control Rivers of Namibia Geography of Khomas Region Geography of Erongo Region Namib-Naukluft National Park

See also

References

Notes

Literature

External links