Zalzahub River
The longest river on Ranul.
Geography
Defining Features
The river originates in the southwest of the Tambetati Desert where two smaller rivers meet. It runs towards the foothills of the Ralenlos Mountains in the northwest for approximately 1200 kilometers. At that point it takes a sharp turn towards the east and after about 300 kilometers it curves towards the Zugzaspo Sea in the northeast. Its bed is rather shallow in the desert, but turns into a deep canyon as it gets closer to its destination. The water depth ranges between 10 meters and 20 meters in the desert and between 28 and 63 meters near the sea, depending on the seasonal amount of rain.Ecosystem
A fertile belt surrounds the river. It is between 20 and 45 kilometers wide in the desert and grows to about 80 kilometers near the region of Ignozahub. From that point on, this fertile belt merges with the oasis landscape surrounding the Zugzaspo Sea.
Said fertile lands are populated by a wide range of plant species, which in turn sustain and provide a home for countless insects and reptiles. The river itself contains various fish and crustaceans.
Ecosystem Cycles
The lower half of the river swells to about twice its volume during the rain torrents of the Heat Season. Its currents become dangerously fast, burying deeper into the ground while pulling rocks, soil and whatever gets too close down towards the sea.
Natural Resources
"Zalzahub" translates as "ore river". Over its long run through the desert and the foothills of the Ralenlos mountains, the Zalzahub river washes massive amounts of metals and minerals from the ground. Settlements such as Zakumeli and its predecessors grew around the industrial extraction of those, and the steel produced from these materials contributed significantly to the rise of the Ran-E-Zu Confederation.
Type
River
Location under
~33 km (estuary)
~63 m (maximum)
Comments
Author's Notes
About time that I wrote about this one. It was interesting to discover how the Heat season would impact this ecosystem - the canyon will be an interesting feature to keep in mind when I flesh out Redo-Iv further.