Aksu River (Turkey)

The Aksu (Bronze Age name in Hittite: 𒁉𒋻𒀀𒅀, Kaštaraya, ancient name in Greek o, Kestros), is a river in Antalya Province (southwestern Turkey), which rises in the mountains of Toros. The course of the Aksu is between the Düden to the west and of the Köprüçay to the east. It discharges into the Mediterranean near the city of Antalya. The river is about 145 km long and has a total catchment area of 3652 km2. There are several lakes in its catchment area, including Lake Kovada and the reservoirs created by the Karacaören-1 and Karacaören-2 Dams. The Aksu is primarily fed by karstic springs in the Taurus Mountains. In contrast to the many seasonal streams in the region, the Aksu flows year-round, although its volume can fluctuate dramatically throughout the year. For example, its flow was measured in 1942 to be 250 m3/s in January and 7.5 m3/s during the summer. Like other karstic streams, the Aksu does not carry much sediment with it. In its lower reaches, the Aksu forms a soft, fertile alluvial plain, which contrasts sharply with both the hard travertine complex around Antalya to the west and the rocky Pleistocene terraces to the east. The Aksu's delta is wave-dominated, due to the river's low sediment load and strong coastal currents. These processes have turned some former river mouths into closed-off limans and created four distinct systems of dunes running parallel

Flows through: Turkey.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.