Editing Zambezi (section)

===Origins===
[[File:Zambezi river basin-en.svg|thumb|450px|The Zambezi and its [[Zambezi Basin|river basin]]]]

The river rises in a black, marshy [[dambo]] in dense, undulating [[miombo]] woodland {{cvt|50|km|mi|sigfig=2}} north of [[Mwinilunga]] and {{cvt|20|km|mi|sigfig=2}} south of Ikelenge in the [[Ikelenge District]] of [[North-Western Province, Zambia|North-Western Province]], Zambia, at about {{convert|1524|m|ft|sigfig=3}} above [[sea level]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dilapidated Zambezi Source Site Worry Ikelenge DC |url=http://www.muvitv.com/dilapidated-zambezi-source-site-worry-ikelenge-dc/ |website=muvitv.com |publisher=Muvi TV |access-date=1 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904101922/http://www.muvitv.com/dilapidated-zambezi-source-site-worry-ikelenge-dc/ |archive-date=4 September 2015}}</ref> The area around the source is a national monument, forest reserve, and [[important bird area]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ZM002 Source of the Zambezi |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=7178 |website=birdlife.org |publisher=Birdlife International |access-date=1 August 2015 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904101922/http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=7178 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Eastward of the source, the watershed between the [[Congo Basin|Congo]] and [[Zambezi Basin]]s is a well-marked belt of high ground, running nearly east–west and falling abruptly to the north and south. This distinctly cuts off the basin of the [[Lualaba River|Lualaba]] (the main branch of the upper Congo) from the Zambezi. In the neighborhood of the source, the watershed is not as clearly defined, but the two river systems do not connect.<ref name=Dorling>Dorling Kindersley, pp. 84–85</ref>

The region drained by the Zambezi is a vast, broken-edged plateau 900–1,200 m high, composed in the remote interior of [[metamorphic rock|metamorphic]] beds and fringed with the [[igneous rock]]s of the Victoria Falls. At [[Chupanga]], on the lower Zambezi, thin strata of grey and yellow [[sandstone]]s, with an occasional band of [[limestone]], crop out on the bed of the river in the dry season, and these persist beyond [[Tete, Mozambique|Tete]], where they are associated with extensive seams of coal. Coal is also found in the district just below Victoria Falls. Gold-bearing rocks occur in several places.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ashton |first1=Peter |last2=Love |first2=David |last3=Mahachi |first3=Harriet |last4=Dirks |first4=Paul |title=An Overview of the Impacts of Mining and Mineral Processing Operations on Water Resources and Water Quality in the Zambezi, Limpopo AND Olifant Catchments in Southern Africa |url=https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G00599.pdf |website=International Institute for Environment and Development |publisher=Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project, Southern Africa |access-date=13 November 2020 |archive-date=14 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114231525/https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G00599.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>