Jump to content

Wadi Kub

Coordinates: 25°39′16.34″N 55°59′58.13″E / 25.6545389°N 55.9994806°E / 25.6545389; 55.9994806
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wadi Kub
Wādī Kūb
Alt text for image
Wadi Kub. Most of the wadi is occupied by the Al Mesrah Road
Wadi Kub is located in United Arab Emirates
Wadi Kub
Wadi Kub is located in Persian Gulf
Wadi Kub
Wadi Kub is located in West and Central Asia
Wadi Kub
Native nameوادي كوب (Arabic)
Location
Country United Arab Emirates
Emirate Ras Al Khaimah
Emirate Fujairah
Physical characteristics
SourceOn the southern slope of the ridge that borders to the north the town of Al Jaroof / Al Jurouf (in Arabic: الجروف), in the Emirate of Fujairah.
 • elevation542 m (1,778 ft)
Mouthin the Wadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid, shortly before the town of Saram,[1] at the foot of Jabal Satif (367 m (1,204 ft)),[2] in the Emirate of Fujairah.
 • coordinates
25°39′16.34″N 55°59′58.13″E / 25.6545389°N 55.9994806°E / 25.6545389; 55.9994806
 • elevation
156 m (512 ft)
Length17 km (11 mi)
Basin size34.14 km2 (13.18 sq mi)
Basin features
River systemWadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid
Tributaries 
 • leftWadi Lil, Wadi Suftah
 • rightWadi Al Yanhah, Wadi As Siwefah

The Wadi Kub (Arabic: وادي كوب, romanizedWādī Kūb),[3][4][5] is a dry valley or river with intermittent flow, which flows almost exclusively during the rainy season, located northeast of the United Arab Emirates, in the emirates of Fujairah and Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

It belongs to the inner drainage basin of the Wadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid / Wadi Al Mithaddim (65 km2 (25 sq mi)),[3][6][7][8] of which it is a tributary on the left, and extends through a sub-basin of 34.14 km2 (13.18 sq mi). It limits to the north with the Wadi Tawiyaen / Wādī Ţawīyayn basin,[9] and with the sub-basins of the Wadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid and the Wadi Al Himriyyah; to the east with the watershed that defines the watercourses that flow into the Persian Gulf and those that flow into the Gulf of Oman, and with the Wadi Basseirah hydrographic basin;[6] and to the south and west with the drainage basin of the Wadi Mawrid,[6][10] although some authors consider that the bordering basin to the south is that of the Wādī Adhan / Wadi Idhn.[11][12]

Upper course of the eastern arm of the Wadi Kub, in its source area, in the Emirate of Fujaira

The source of the main channel of the Wadi Kub is located on the southern slope of the ridge that borders to the north the town of Al Jaroof / Al Jurouf (in Arabic: الجروف), in the Emirate of Fujairah, and follows a course of approximately 17 km (11 mi) until its mouth in the Wadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid, shortly before the town of Saram,[13] at the foot of Jabal Satif (367 m (1,204 ft)),[14] in the Emirate of Fujairah.

The entire Wadi Kub area has historically been, and continues to be today, an eminently agricultural and livestock region, with towns and villages scattered along its main course and its many tributaries.[15]

Course

[edit]

In its upper course, the wadi is formed by two arms of similar length and flow, which originate at approximately an altitude of 542 m (1,778 ft); they border Al Jaroof to the east and west, respectively; and converge to the south of this town, defining the main channel, which initially follows the direction from northeast to southwest.

Two kilometers after the exit of Al Jaroof, past the place known as Sidrat al Qorah,[3][16] the Wadi Kub receives from the right the waters of one of its main tributaries: the Wadi Al Yanhah,[3] which also originates, like the neighboring Wadi Al Himriyyah,[3][17] on the southern slope of Jabal Huq (629 m (2,064 ft)).[3]

Very few meters after this confluence, the first of four dams on the Wadi Kub was built in 2013, intended to feed the underground water resources, essential for the agriculture of the region, and to reduce damage due to possible floods, and which is identified with the name of Wadi Kub Breaker (1).[18]

Wadi Kub course map. Map from OpenStreetMap (CyclOSM)
Wadi Kub Breaker (1). One of the dams built in 2013 along the Wadi Kub channel
Wadi Kub Dam (2) and road reinforcement, which also acts as a dam and expands the surface of the reservoir

In that same area, just 300 m (980 ft) to the south, is the old village of Kub / Qub,[4][19] located at the mouth of the Wadi Lil,[3] left tributary of the Wadi Kub.

Following the main course of the Wadi Kub, occupied for the most part by a wide dirt track called Al Mesrah Road, and already in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, is 800 m (2,600 ft) later, the cultivation area of Karas,[4][20] located next to the mouth of another important tributary to the left of the Kub, the Wadi Suftah / Wādī Şafat.[3][4][21]

At the end of its middle course, the Wadi Kub turns towards the northwest, and its most important dam with greatest capacity, the Wadi Kub Dam (2),[18] was built in its channel, also in 2013, whose reservoir has been expanded with road reinforcement and covers an area of 25,000 m2 (2.5 ha).

In its lower course, with very little slope, the wadi runs the last kilometers to its mouth, bordering to the south and west a large urbanization, built on the alluvial plain formed by the Wadi Kub, the Wadi Al Himriyyah, the Wadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid and others, which for greater confusion also adopted the name of Kub (like the homonymous village in the Emirate of Fujairah).

Its course is almost exhausted, on the outskirts of the aforementioned urbanization, and before its mouth at the foot of Jabal Satif there is a fourth dam, the Wadi Kub Dam (4), which means that practically the last section of the wadi remains constantly dry.

Toponymy

[edit]

Alternative names: Wādī Qub, Wādī Kūb, Wadi Kub, Wadi Kubb, Wadi Kuub,[22] Wadi Kob, Wadi Qub.

The name of this wadi appears in the documents and maps prepared between 1950 and 1960 by the British Arabist, cartographer, military officer and diplomat Julian F. Walker,[23] and in many other documents related to the work carried out to establish borders between the so-called Trucial States,[24] later completed by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, on 1:100,000 scale maps published in 1971.[4]

In the Atlas National of the United Arab Emirates is identified with the spelling Wādī Kūb.[3]

Population

[edit]

There is documentary evidence of the existence of old agricultural villages, in the entire area near the Wadi Kub and its tributaries, which was populated, mainly, by the Mazari / Mazārī‘ tribe,[25][26] which was part of the Bani Yas tribal federation.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Mindat.org - Sram, Al Fujayrah, United Arab Emirates
  2. ^ Mindat.org - Jabal Sāţif, Al Fujayrah, United Arab Emirates
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jāmiʻat al-Imārāt al-ʻArabīyah al-Muttaḥidah. Geoprojects (U.K.) Ltd., The National atlas of the United Arab Emirates, Al Ain : United Arab Emirates University - 1993
  4. ^ a b c d e Map FCO 18/1791 - 1972 - Oman and the United Arab Emiates (UAE): Dibba - Scale 1:100 000 - Published by D Survey, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom (1971) - Edition 3-GSGS - The National Archives, London, England <https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/fco/18/1787>
  5. ^ Geoview.info - Wādī Kūb
  6. ^ a b c Application of a hydrological model in a data poor arid region catchment: a case study of Wadi Ham - Mohamed Mustafa Al Mulla PhD Thesis Academic Year 2005-2006 - Supervisor: Dr Ian P. Holman - December 1, 2005 - Cranfield University at Silsoe - Institute of Water and Environment <https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1826/3061/Mohamed%20Al%20Mulla%20Thesis%202005.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>
  7. ^ Water Resources and Integrated Management of the United Arab Emirates - Abdulrahman S. Alsharhan, Zeinelabidin E. Rizk - Springer Nature, 17 mar 2020 - 850 páginas - pag. 204-205 <https://books.google.com/books?id=lF7XDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103&hl=es&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false>
  8. ^ Geoview.info - Wādī Mu‘tariḑah
  9. ^ Mindat.org - Wādī Ţawīyayn, Al Fujayrah, United Arab Emirates
  10. ^ Mindat.org - Wādī Mawrid, United Arab Emirates
  11. ^ Al-Farraj, Asma & Harvey, Adrian. (2004). Late Quaternary interactions between aeolian and fluvial processes: A case study in the northern UAE. Journal of Arid Environments. 56. 235–248. 10.1016/S0140-1963(03)00054-5. <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256941317_Late_Quaternary_interactions_between_aeolian_and_fluvial_processes_A_case_study_in_the_northern_UAE>
  12. ^ Mindat.org - Wādī Adhan, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  13. ^ Mindat.org - Sram, Al Fujayrah, United Arab Emirates
  14. ^ Mindat.org - Jabal Sāţif, Al Fujayrah, United Arab Emirates
  15. ^ "In Wadi Kub.. goodness reaches the wanderers and the mountain beasts|". www.albayan.ae (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  16. ^ Frontiers between Muscat and Trucial States - Ref. FO 371/132797 PAGE 103 & 111 - 1958- The National Archives, London, England <https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/fo/371/132797/n/103>
  17. ^ ""Wadi Kub" is an oasis in the embrace of the mountain|". www.alkhaleej.ae (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  18. ^ a b Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in UAE - Federal Dams https://admin.bayanat.ae/Home/DatasetInfo?dID=lFWr8jmvtTwdCtQd7uDtLjOq-EB6rfmemu-OtkcDuCo&langKey=en>
  19. ^ Mindat.org - Kūb, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  20. ^ Mindat.org - Karās, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  21. ^ Mindat.org - Wādī Suftah, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  22. ^ Lancaster, William; Lancaster, Fidelity (2010). "Pottery makers and pottery users: In Ras al-Khaimah emirate and Musandam wilayat of Oman, and around Ra's al-Junayz in the south-east of Ja'alan wilayat, Oman". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 21 (2): 199–255. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0471.2010.00331.x.
  23. ^ Julian Fortay Walker (1958) - Sketch map drawn by Julian Walker for boundary delimitation: Ras Al Khaimah - The National Archives, London, England
  24. ^ Land and sea boundaries of Trucial Sheikhdoms in Persian Gulf - Ref. FO 371/114648 PAGE 145 - 1955 - The National Archives, London, England <https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/fo/371/114648/n/145>
  25. ^ Lancaster, William; Lancaster, Fidelity (July 2011). Honour is in Contentment: Life Before Oil in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE) and Some Neighbouring Regions. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110223408.
  26. ^ Mindat.org -Mazārī‘, Al Batinah North Governorate, Oman
[edit]

Media related to Wadi Kub at Wikimedia Commons