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28-655: Around 700 A.D., the Zhizo people moved westward to Toutswe in Botswana after being displaced from the Limpopo - Shashi Basin by the Leopard's Kopje people, and began an agricultural and pastoral land tenure system based on sorghum and millet , and domesticated stock, respectively. Some scholars believe their relations to have been hostile, however others insist they were more complex, both socially and politically. The site

56-551: A confluence (also: conflux ) occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel . A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river ( main stem ); or where two streams meet to become the source of a river of a new name (such as the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, forming the Ohio River ); or where two separated channels of

84-630: A confluence is an industrial site, as in Philadelphia or Mannheim . Often a confluence lies in the shared floodplain of the two rivers and nothing is built on it, for example at Manaus , described below. One other way that confluences may be exploited by humans is as sacred places in religions . Rogers suggests that for the ancient peoples of the Iron Age in northwest Europe, watery locations were often sacred, especially sources and confluences. Pre-Christian Slavic peoples chose confluences as

112-654: A denser population, and about 14 million people live in the Limpopo basin. Flooding during the rainy season is an occasional problem in the lower reaches. During February 2000 heavy rainfalls during the passage of a cyclone caused the catastrophic 2000 Mozambique flood . The highest concentration of hippopotamus in the Limpopo River is found between the Mokolo and the Mogalakwena Rivers. There

140-433: A gradients, cascades and an adequate junction angle which is sympathetic to the direction of the watercourse’s flow to minimise turbulent flow, maximise evacuation velocity and to ultimately maximise hydraulic efficiency. Since rivers often serve as political boundaries, confluences sometimes demarcate three abutting political entities, such as nations, states, or provinces, forming a tripoint . Various examples are found in

168-518: A group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountainous vicinity and named the area after their leader. The river has been called the Vhembe by local Venda communities of the area where now that name has been adopted by the South African government as its District Municipality in the north, a name that was also suggested in 2002 as a possible title for the province but

196-615: A north-easterly direction. The main tributary of the Limpopo, the Olifants River (Elephant River), contributes around 1,233 million m of water per year. Other major tributaries include the Shashe River , Mzingwane River , Crocodile River, Mwenezi River and Luvuvhu River . In the north-eastern corner of South Africa the river borders the Kruger National Park . The port town of Xai-Xai , Mozambique,

224-479: A river (forming a river island ) rejoin at the downstream end. The point of confluence where the channel flows into a larger body of water may be called the river mouth . Confluences are studied in a variety of sciences. Hydrology studies the characteristic flow patterns of confluences and how they give rise to patterns of erosion, bars, and scour pools. The water flows and their consequences are often studied with mathematical models . Confluences are relevant to

252-441: A stream contaminated with acid mine drainage combines with a stream with near-neutral pH water; these reactions happen very rapidly and influence the subsequent transport of metals downstream of the mixing zone." A natural phenomenon at confluences that is obvious even to casual observers is a difference in color between the two streams; see images in this article for several examples. According to Lynch, "the color of each river

280-401: A vast assortment of subjects which concern confluences. In hydraulic civil engineering , where two or more underground culverted / artificially buried watercourses intersect, great attention should be paid to the hydrodynamic aspects of the system to ensure the longevity and efficiency of the structure. Engineers have to design these systems whilst considering a list of factors that ensure

308-676: Is a lot of mining activity in the Limpopo River basin with about 1,900 functioning mines, not counting about 1,700 abandoned mines. Vasco da Gama , on his first expedition, was probably among the first Europeans to sight the river, when he anchored off the mouth in 1498. However, there has been human habitation in the region since time immemorial—sites in the Makapans Valley near Mokopane contain Australopithecus fossils from 3.5 million years ago. St Vincent Whitshed Erskine , later surveyor general for South Africa, traveled to

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336-494: Is determined by many things: type and amount of vegetation in the watershed, geological properties, dissolved chemicals, sediments and biologic content – usually algae ." Lynch also notes that color differences can persist for miles downstream before they finally blend completely. Hydrodynamic behaviour of flow in a confluence can be divided into six distinct features which are commonly called confluence flow zones (CFZ). These include The broader field of engineering encompasses

364-482: Is on the river near the mouth . Below the Olifants, the river is navigable to the sea, though a sandbar prevents access by large ships except at high tide. The waters of the Limpopo flow sluggishly, with considerable silt content. Rudyard Kipling's characterization of the river as the "great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees ", where the " Bi-Coloured Python Rock-Snake " dwells in

392-774: Is used to describe the meeting of tidal or other non-riverine bodies of water, such as two canals or a canal and a lake. A one-mile (1.6 km) portion of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans accommodates the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal ; therefore those three waterways are confluent there. The term confluence can also apply to the process of merging or flowing together of other substance. For example, it may refer to

420-598: The Just So Stories is apt. Rainfall is seasonal and unreliable: in dry years, the upper parts of the river flow for 40 days or less. The upper part of the drainage basin, in the Kalahari Desert, is arid but conditions become less arid further downriver. The next reaches drain the Waterberg Massif , a biome of semi-deciduous forest and low-density human population. The fertile lowlands support

448-404: The Limpopo River. The change of the drainage divide is the result of epeirogenic movement that uplifted the surface north of present-day Limpopo River, diverting waters into Zambezi River. The river flows in a great arc, first zigzagging north and then north-east, then turning east and finally south-east. It serves as a border for about 640 kilometres (398 mi), separating South Africa to

476-537: The communities. The analysis includes estimation of age and sex. The data are used to construct a life table, which is then compared to data from K2 and Mapungubwe. The results indicate a high infant mortality and a low life expectancy at birth. However, by comparison to K2 and Mapungubwe communities, the Toutswe people appear to have had better survival chances. The palaeodemographic characteristics of these communities are typical of pre-industrialized communities throughout

504-440: The discharge point is structurally stable as the entrance of the lateral culvert into the main structure may compromise the stability of the structure due to the lack of support at the discharge, this often constitutes additional supports in the form of structural bracing. The velocities and hydraulic efficiencies should be meticulously calculated and can be altered by integrating different combinations of geometries, components such

532-499: The distribution of living organisms (i.e., ecology ) as well; "the general pattern [downstream of confluences] of increasing stream flow and decreasing slopes drives a corresponding shift in habitat characteristics." Another science relevant to the study of confluences is chemistry , because sometimes the mixing of the waters of two streams triggers a chemical reaction, particularly in a polluted stream. The United States Geological Survey gives an example: "chemical changes occur when

560-558: The list below. A number of major cities, such as Chongqing , St. Louis , and Khartoum , arose at confluences; further examples appear in the list. Within a city, a confluence often forms a visually prominent point, so that confluences are sometimes chosen as the site of prominent public buildings or monuments, as in Koblenz , Lyon , and Winnipeg . Cities also often build parks at confluences, sometimes as projects of municipal improvement, as at Portland and Pittsburgh . In other cases,

588-470: The mouth of the river in 1868–69. A Zambezi shark was caught hundreds of kilometres upriver at the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers in July 1950. Zambezi sharks tolerate fresh water and can travel far up the Limpopo. In 2013, approximately 15,000 Nile crocodiles were accidentally released into the river from flood gates at the nearby Rakwena Crocodile Farm. Confluence In geography ,

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616-425: The region. However, agriculture also played a vital role in the longevity of Toutswemogala Hill's extended occupation, as many grain storage structures have also been found on the site. Many different stratified layers of housing floors further signal continuous occupation over hundreds of years. Skeletal remains of 84 individuals from Toutswe tradition sites are used to assess the palaeodemographic characteristics of

644-474: The river was Vasco da Gama , who anchored off its mouth in 1498 and named it Espirito Santo River. Its lower course was explored by St Vincent Whitshed Erskine in 1868–69, and Captain J F Elton travelled down its middle course in 1870. The drainage area of Limpopo River has decreased over geological time . Up to Late Pliocene or Pleistocene times, the upper course of the Zambezi River drained into

672-453: The sites for fortified triangular temples, where they practiced human sacrifice and other sacred rites. In Hinduism , the confluence of two sacred rivers often is a pilgrimage site for ritual bathing. In Pittsburgh, a number of adherents to Mayanism consider their city's confluence to be sacred. Mississippi basin Atlantic watersheds Pacific watersheds Occasionally, "confluence"

700-587: The southeast from Botswana to the northwest and Zimbabwe to the north. At the confluence of the Marico River and the Crocodile River , the name becomes the Limpopo River. There are several rapids as the river falls off Southern Africa 's inland escarpment . The Notwane River is a major tributary of the Limpopo, rising on the edge of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and flowing in

728-541: The world. The representativeness of the sample is discussed. 22°13′57″S 27°11′57″E  /  22.23250°S 27.19917°E  / -22.23250; 27.19917 Limpopo River The Limpopo River ( / l ɪ m ˈ p oʊ p oʊ / ) rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean . The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo),

756-496: Was situated in the center of a broader cultural area in Eastern Botswana and shares many commonalities with other archaeological sites of this region, in both ceramic production styles and also timeframes inhabited. Large structures were observed that contained vitrified remains of animal dung, leading to the theory that these were animal enclosures and that Toutswemogala Hill was thus a major center of animal husbandry in

784-569: Was voted against. The river is approximately 1,750 km (1,090 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 415,000 km (160,000 sq mi) in size. The mean discharge measured over a year is 170 m /s (6,000 cu ft/s) to 313 m /s (11,100 cu ft/s) at its mouth. The Limpopo is the second largest African river that drains to the Indian Ocean, after the Zambezi River . The first European to sight

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