Aapsta

Aapsta^[2] (Georgian: ააფსთა Abkhaz: Аапста) is a river in Abkhazia, Georgia. It originates on the southern slopes of the Achbikhvdar ridge in the Gudauta pass area in beech forests at 1445 meters above sea level;^[3] flows into the Black Sea between the village Tskuara (Primorskoe) [ru] and the city Gudauta.

Aapsta
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Location
Country	Abkhazia, Georgia[1]
State	Gudauta District
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Caucasus Major
• coordinates	43°17′47″N 40°49′07″E
• elevation	1,445 m (4,741 ft)
Mouth	Georgia/Abkhazia[1]
• location	Black Sea
• coordinates	43°05′17″N 40°41′15″E[2]
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	35 km (22 mi)
Basin size	243 square kilometres (94 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	13.2 m3/s (470 cu ft/s)

Physical and geographical characteristics

The length of the river is 35 kilometers, the catchment area is 243 km², the slope of the river is 41.3 ‰, the prevailing width of the river is 15 meters, the depth is from 0.3 to 2.1 meters with a current speed of 1.3-1.6 m / s.^[3]

In the middle and lower reaches of the coast, overgrown with beech-hornbeam forest. On the river are the villages Aats [ru] and Abgarhuk [ru], at the mouth - the village Tskuara (Primorskoe).

The predominant type of feeding is snow feeding in the upper reaches; closer to the mouth, rain feeding becomes important. Average mineralization of waters is 213 mg / l. The type of water regime is the Black Sea, floods occur at all seasons.^[3]

Through the Dokhurtu tributary, Aapsta is connected with the cave system Snezhnaya (Snowy) Cave [ru].^[4]

Tributaries

The Aapsta has 83 tributaries, the density of its river basin is 0.77 km / km².^[3] The main tributaries are:

• Dohurta - left tributary
• Mtsara - left tributary
• Dzish - left tributary
• Dry - left tributary
• Noisy - right tributary
• Fast - left tributary
• Spinal - left tributary
• Mtsaga - right tributary

Etymology

Hydronym comes from the Abkhaz language, from the Abkhazian "aaps" translates as "yew river".^[5]