Asana River

Asana River (Río Asana) is a waterway in the Moquegua Region of southern Peru. It is one of the tributaries of the Osmore River (also known as Moquegua or Tumilaca). The Asana archaeological site, occupied over the course of 8,000 years, is situated in a basin on the river's north bank. The Quellaveco mining project sought to divert the Asana for extractive waste material placement in its copper mining operations.

The Asana River is one of the four major tributaries of the Moquegua. It is situated in the south central Andes mountains. The main Asana has its primary source at an elevation of 4,800 metres (15,700 ft). This is within the pampas in the peripheral region of the high puna, defined as an area (Pampa Tinajones and Apachita Limani) above 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) elevation. The river's runoff source is seasonal precipitation including snow melt from the western cordillera of the Andes.

One of the Asana's tributaries is the Charaque. After their confluence, the stream becomes known as Coscori. The Capillune is a tributary of the Asana. Below the elevation of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), the many tributaries to Asana are generally dry and seasonal but the streams above this elevation demonstrate perennial flows from rainfall and snow melt. Stream discharge during the rainy season averages 2.34 cubic metres (83 cu ft)/second while in the dry season, the average was 0.53 cubic metres (19 cu ft)/second.

Ecologically the entire Asana River valley is fragile and subject to landslides. The river flows through two environmental regions. One is the puna region above 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) elevation where the climate is colder and the rainfall is also higher compared to the lower elevation areas. Vegetation and animal species found in the region are similar up to puna rim region in elevation range of 4,000–4,600 metres (13,100–15,100 ft). The valleys in this range are narrow. In the flat valley where the Asana archaeological site is located, the geological and geomorphological features are causative factors for its existence.

...
Wikipedia