Bengawan Solo was the crash site of Garuda Indonesia Flight 421.[2]
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[edit] Geography
The Bengawan Solo River has its source at the volcano of Mount Lawu, in the border of Central Java and East Java. It passes through the major city of Surakarta (called Solo by the local inhabitants). An important early tributary to the Solo river is Dengkeng river, which has its source in Mount Merapi.[3] After passing through Solo, the river flows northward around Mount Lawu, and then turn eastward into East Java in the Ngawi regency.After Ngawi the river turned northward again, forming the boundary between Blora regency of Central Java and Bojonegoro regency of East Java. From town of Cepu in Blora, the river turned eastward and passed through Bojonegoro regency's capital city. From there, it continues eastward through Lamongan and Gresik regency. The last part of the river's basin (roughly starting from Bojonegoro regency) is mostly flat land.[4]
Bengawan Solo delta is located near the town of Sedayu in Gresik regency. The present delta is redirected by human made canal.[4] The original delta flowed into Madura Strait,[4] but in 1890 a 12-km canal was made by Dutch East Indies authority to redirect the Solo river into Java Sea.[4][5] This is to prevent sedimentation of mud from filling Madura Strait and preventing sea access of important port city of Surabaya.[4]
The Solo river delta has a huge mud sedimentation flow that deposited 17 million tonne of mud per year. This sedimentation in the delta form a cape, which has average longitudinal growth of 70 m per year.[5] This delta is known as Ujung Pangkah (Pangkah Cape).
[edit] History
The river played important part in Javanese history. Its drainage basin is an important agricultural area, dominated by rice farming. The river transported fertile volcanic soil downstream, replenishing the soil. It also provided link between Javanese port cities in the northern coast and the rice-growing hinterlands, with shallow vessels transporting rice to he ports to be sold.[7] This rice is Java's main commodity that was traded as part of the Spice trade.
Following acquisition of much of Java by the Dutch colonial governmental, various cash crops was introduced to be planted across the river basin, such as coffee, sugar and cotton. (see Cultivation System).
By the last years of 19th century, river sedimentation in its original delta in Madura Strait started to disrupt vessels traffic in port of Surabaya. The Dutch colonial government decided to divert the river flow away from the shipping lane into Java Sea. They built a canal in the river's delta in 1890s which still alter the river until this day.[8]
In 1891, Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois discovered remains of what he described as "a species in between humans and apes". He called his finds Pithecanthropus erectus ("ape-human that stands upright") or Java Man. Today, they are classified as Homo erectus ("human that stands upright").[9] These were the first specimens of early hominid remains to be found outside of Africa or Europe.
