Lake Rukwa
| Basin country | Tanzania  |
|---|---|
| Country | Tanzania |
| Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd | Rukwa Region, Mbeya Region |
| Coordinate location | 8°0′0″S 32°21′0″E |
Lake Rukwa be an endorheic lake wey dey locate insyd de Rukwa Valley of Rukwa Region, Songwe Region den Katavi Region insyd southwestern Tanzania. De lake be de third largest inland body of water insyd de country.
Geography
[edit | edit source]De alkaline Lake Rukwa dey lie midway between Lake Tanganyika den Lake Malawi at an elevation of about 800 metres (2,600 ft), insyd a parallel branch of de rift system. Almost half of de lake dey lie insyd Uwanda Game Reserve.[1]
Hydrology
[edit | edit source]De lake see large fluctuations insyd ein size over de years, secof varying inflow of streams. Currently e be about 180 kilometres (110 mi) long den dey average about 32 kilometres (20 mi) wide, wey dey make am about 5,760 square kilometres (2,220 sq mi) in size.[2] Insyd 1929 na e be only about 48 kilometres (30 mi) long, buh insyd 1939 na e be about 128 kilometres (80 mi) long den 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide.[3] During de early rifting of dis part of Africa, de basin of Lake Rukwa fi at times be part of a much larger basin wich sanso include de basins of Lake Tanganyika plus Lake Malawi; ancient shorelines dey suggest a final date of overflow into Lake Tanganyika of 33,000 BP.[4] For overflow make e san occur, de lake ein elevation go need to exceed 900 meters. Overflow into Lake Malawi no be possible now, since de pass between de two basin dey stand at over 2000 meters elevation.[5] (Neither Lake Tanganyika nor Lake Malawi fi overflow into Lake Rukwa since dem already overflow into de Atlantic den Indian Oceans respectively.)
Der be an accumulation of heavy metals like zinc, mercury, copper, lead, chromium, den nickel insyd sediment, water, den de muscle tissues of Clarias gariepinus (African catfish) den Oreochromis esculentus (Singida tilapia) insyd Lake Rukwa.[6]
Helium discovery
[edit | edit source]Insyd 2016, na dem discover an estimated 1.53 billion cubic meters (54.2 billion standard cubic feet) volume of helium gas insyd Lake Rukwa worth $3.5 billion.[7]
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Rukwa Uwanda Game Reserve". Utalii Travel and Safari. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
- ↑ Google Earth accessed 6 February 2007
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Online/Lake Rukwa
- ↑ Lévêque, Christian (1997). Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation: The Freshwater Fish of Tropical Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 110.
- ↑ Google Maps
- ↑ Mapenzi, Levinus Leonard; Shimba, Moses Joel; Moto, Edward Angelo; Maghembe, Reuben Silas; Mmochi, Aviti John (January 2020). "Heavy metals bio-accumulation in tilapia and catfish species in Lake Rukwa ecosystem Tanzania". Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 208 106413. doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2019.106413. ISSN 0375-6742.
- ↑ "Helium 'could earn Tanzania $3.5bn'". www.thecitizen.co.tz. July 8, 2016. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
External links
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