{{Short description|River from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan}} {{About|the river rising in central-western Afghanistan|the river rising in the Wakhan District of northeastern Afghanistan which is also called "Murghab River" in its upper reaches|Bartang}} {{Infobox river | name = Marghab River | image = Scenic view in western Afghanistan-2011.jpg | name_other = Murghab, Margab, Murqab, Margos, Margu, Margiana, Murgap | name_etymology = Persian ''Marv-ab'',"River of Merv"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arN4DwAAQBAJ&dq=merv+ab+river&pg=PT14|title=A Short History of Persia|first=George|last=Rawlinson|date=January 19, 2018|publisher=Ozymandias Press|isbn=978-1-5312-7707-9|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJqxGH_QuXcC&dq=marghab++ab+river&pg=PA397|title=The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate|first=G. Le|last=Strange|date=June 16, 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-60014-0|via=Google Books}}</ref> | image_caption = The Marghab in the Badghis Province | map = Marghab River watershed.jpg | map_size = 300 | map_caption = Marghab River watershed, upstream of Saryyazy Reservoir ([https://mghydro.com/watersheds/shared/4203E3.html Interactive map]) | native_name = {{native name list |tag1=fa|name1=مرغاب |tag2=ps-Latn|name2=Murğāb|tag3=bal|name3=مرگاپ}} | source1_location = Paropamisus Mountains, Marghab District, Afghanistan | source1_coordinates = {{Coord|35.15|65.99|display=inline}} | mouth_location = Mary Oasis (ultimately the Aral Sea via Amu Darya) | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = Afghanistan, Turkmenistan | length = ~{{convert|850|km|abbr=on}} | source1_elevation = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|48.7|m3/s|abbr=on}} | basin_size = {{convert|34700|km2|abbr=on}} (Harirod-Murghab basin)<ref>{{Cite web| title=Afghanistan Water management | url=https://www.moore.af/MediaLibsAndFiles/media/afghanistan.moore-global.com/files/Research/17-Afghanistan-Water-Management.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514202618/https://www.moore.af/MediaLibsAndFiles/media/afghanistan.moore-global.com/files/Research/17-Afghanistan-Water-Management.pdf | archive-date=2021-05-14}}</ref> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = |river_system=Amu Darya }} The '''Marghab River''' (Dari/Pashto: مرغاب, ''Murghāb'', Balochi: مرگاپ), anciently the '''Margiana''' (Ancient Greek: Μαργιανή, ''Margianḗ''), is an {{convert|850|km|mi|adj=on}} long river in Central Asia. It rises in the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh'') in Ghor Province, flows through the Marghab District in central Afghanistan, then runs northwest towards the Bala Murghab. Reaching the oasis of Mary in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan, the Marghab debouches into the Karakum Canal, a diversion of water from the Amu Darya. The catchment area of the Marghab is estimated at {{convert|46880|km2|mi2}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cawater-info.net/afghanistan/resources_e.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723035715/http://cawater-info.net/afghanistan/resources_e.htm|title=Surface water resources in North Afghanistan|archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref>
==Geography==
The Marghab River originates in the Ghor Province 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 {{convert|300|km|mi}} 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 {{convert|2|km|mi}} in Turkmenistan. Beyond Mukhamedkhan, a small portion of the water of the Marghab is used for irrigation; approximately {{convert|10000|ha|acre}} 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 {{convert|16|km|mi|0|adj=on}} length.
In Turkmenistan, close to Tagtabazar, the Marghab receives the Kashan River from the left bank, and {{convert|25|km|mi}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web| title = BirdLife Data Zone| access-date = 2023-11-20| url = http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/saryyazy-iba-turkmenistan}}</ref> Reaching the oasis of Mary, the Marghab mingles its waters with those of the Karakum Canal, a diversion of water from the Amu Darya.
<gallery class="center" heights=200px widths=250px mode=packed> 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. At the time, it was the largest hydro power generating station of the Russian Empire </gallery>
== Hydrometry: the flows at Tagtabazar == The flow of Marghab was observed during 50 years (1936–85) at Tagtabazar, a location in Turkmenistan about {{convert|30|km|mi}} after the Marghab leaves the Afghan territory, and a score of kilometers upstream of the confluence with the Kushk.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://webworld.unesco.org/water/ihp/db/shiklomanov/part%274/ASIA/Afghanistan/2AH%60Kunduz%20at%20Pule%20Khumri.htm |title=UNESCO - Bassin du Murghab - Station: Takhta-Bazar |access-date=2010-08-18 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190517/http://webworld.unesco.org/water/ihp/db/shiklomanov/part%274/ASIA/Afghanistan/2AH%60Kunduz%20at%20Pule%20Khumri.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> At Tagtabazar, average annual flow observed over this period was {{convert|48.7|m3/s|cuft/s}} for an observed surface area of {{convert|34700|km2|mi2}}, which is 74 percent of the totality of the catchment area 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.{{clear}} <div class="center"> <u> '''Monthly mean flows of Murghab (in cubic meters per second) measured at the hydrometric station of Tagtabazar ''' </u><br /><u> '''Data calculated over 50 years ''' </u>
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bar:Jan from:0 till: 33.6 bar:Feb from:0 till: 35.8 bar:Mar from:0 till: 52.9 bar:Apr from:0 till: 97.5 bar:May from:0 till: 108 bar:Jun from:0 till: 65.3 bar:Jul from:0 till: 35.4 bar:Aug from:0 till: 26.5 bar:Sep from:0 till: 28.8 bar:Oct from:0 till: 32.3 bar:Nov from:0 till: 34.0 bar:Dec from:0 till: 34.8
PlotData= bar:Jan at: 33.6 fontsize:S text: 33.6 shift:(-10,5) bar:Feb at: 35.8 fontsize:S text: 35.8 shift:(-10,5) bar:Mar at: 52.9 fontsize:S text: 52.9 shift:(-10,5) bar:Apr at: 97.5 fontsize:S text: 97.5 shift:(-10,5) bar:May at: 108 fontsize:S text: 108 shift:(-10,5) bar:Jun at: 65.3 fontsize:S text: 65.3 shift:(-10,5) bar:Jul at: 35.4 fontsize:S text: 35.4 shift:(-10,5) bar:Aug at: 26.5 fontsize:S text: 26.5 shift:(-10,5) bar:Sep at: 28.8 fontsize:S text: 28.8 shift:(-10,5) bar:Oct at: 32.3 fontsize:S text: 32.3 shift:(-10,5) bar:Nov at: 34.0 fontsize:S text: 34.0 shift:(-10,5) bar:Dec at: 34.8 fontsize:S text: 34.8 shift:(-10,5) </timeline> </div>
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.<ref name=carivers>{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581821000082 |periodical=Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies| volume=34 |date=April 2021 |number=100779 |title=Central Asian rivers under climate change: Impacts assessment in eight representative catchments |first1=Iulii|last1= Didovets|first2= Anastasia|last2= Lobanova|first3= Valentina|last3= Krysanova|first4=Christoph |last4=Menza|first5=Zhanna |last5=Babagalieva |first6= Aliya |last6=Nurbatsina |first7=Nadejda |last7=Gavrilenko |first8=Vohid |last8=Khamidov |first9= Atabek |last9=Umirbekov |first10= Sobir |last10=Qodirov|first11=Dowletgeldi |last11=Muhyyew |first12=Fred Fokko |last12=Hattermann|article-number=100779 |doi=10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100779 |bibcode=2021JHyRS..3400779D |s2cid=233532220 |hdl=10419/229441 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikisource1911Enc|Murghab}}{{Commons category|Murghab River}} * [https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/3154749 Murgap river] (Murghab river) marked on the OpenStreetMap * [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9053743/Morghab-River Morghab River], in Encyclopædia Britannica * [http://www.aims.org.af/services/sectoral/agriculture/landcover/Ghor.pdf Map of the province of Ghor, with trace of the flow of water]{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629042613/http://www.aims.org.af/services/sectoral/agriculture/landcover/Ghor.pdf|date=29 June 2006}} * [http://www.aims.org.af/services/sectoral/agriculture/landcover/Badghis.pdf Map of vegetation cover in the province of Badghis, with trace of the flow of water]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629043126/http://www.aims.org.af/services/sectoral/agriculture/landcover/Badghis.pdf |date=29 June 2006}} * {{cite web |url= http://www.wldelft.nl/cons/area/rbm/wrp1/pdf/annex_b.pdf |title= Delft Hydraulics - Integrated Water Resources Management for the Sistan Closed Inland Delta - ANNEX B : Forecasting the Flow from Afghanistan - Page 18: cartes hydrographiques d'Afghanistan }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{small|(1.50 MB)}} {{in lang|en}}
{{Coord|36|26|47|N|62|38|06|E|display=title|region:TM_type:river_source:dewiki}}
{{Rivers of Turkmenistan}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Murghab basin Category:Rivers of Afghanistan Category:Rivers of Turkmenistan Category:International rivers of Asia