Manassu

Manassu

 

a river in West China; the most important river on the northern slope of the eastern Tien-Shan. It rises from the glaciers and snowfields of the Iren-Khabirga Massif and flows through the mountains in a deep, narrow valley, entering the Dzungarian Plain in its middle and lower course. It empties into Lake Manassu. Length, 402 km. Its mean flow rate on the foothill plain is 34 cu m per sec. High water occurs in the summer. Until the 1940’s the Manassu flowed into Airan K61. The river is used for irrigation, part of its flow being transported west to the nearby dry basins of the Horgos and other rivers.