Zambezi km from the sea the Zambezi receives the drainage of Lake Malawi through the Shire River. On approaching the Indian Ocean, the river splits up into a delta. Each of the four primary distributaries, Kongone, Luabo and Timbwe, is obstructed by a sand bar. A more northerly branch, called the Chinde mouth, has a minimum depth at low water of 2 m at the entrance and 4 m further in, and is the branch used for navigation. 100 km further north is a river called the Quelimane, after the town at its mouth. This stream, which is silting up, receives
Zambezi Escarpment south of Lake Cahora Bassa. Again, the floor of the rift valley is quite flat here providing a marked contrast to the escarpment. Zambezi Escarpment Zambezi Escarpment is a name used for the escarpments forming both sides of the rift valley or graben in which lie the middle Zambezi river and Lake Kariba. They are fault scarps, rising 500 to 600 m higher than the lake or river, running from the Batoka Gorge roughly 800 km to the lower Zambezi, and facing each other about 50 to 100 km apart, closer in the west and opening up in the east.