Aksu River (Turkey)

the river in northern Turkey
The Aksu (Bronze Age name in Hittite: 𒁉𒋻𒀀𒅀, Kaštaraya, ancient name in Greek Κέστρoς, 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. In contrast to the many seasonal streams in the region, the Aksu flows year round, although its volume can fluctuate dramatically throughout the year. The permanent supply of water, and the resulting fertility of the surrounding plain, was a contributing factor to the prosperity of the ancient city of Perga. It silted up over the Byzantine era, and Perga declined as a result.

From the 1854 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, the Aksu is "300 feet (91 m) wide at its mouth, and 15 feet (5 m) deep within the bar, which extends across the mouth, and so shallow in places in its delta as to be impassable to boats that draw more than 1 feet (0 m) of water". Many of these species have a cosmopolitan distribution. that forms part of the broader Antalya Basin. In front of the mouth of the Aksu River, there is a broad, shallow marine shelf offshore where the present day sediments of the Aksu River are deposited. During the Quaternary period, the Aksu River cut a new gorge – not in the same place as the Eskiköy canyon; the river's course had changed in the meantime.