title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: In the first few months, Krejčíková had success in singles on the ITF Circuit, but didn't do well on the WTA Tour. She failed in qualification at Taiwan Open and Morocco Open, and failed to reached the main-draw of Australian Open again, losing in the second round of qualification. Then suddenly, in late May, she reached her first WTA singles final at the Nurember Cup, where she played from the qualifying rounds. She lost the final to top seed Kiki Bertens. This result brought her back to the top 150, for the first time since September 2015. In the grass-court season, she only played in qualifying for Wimbledon, but missed the chance to play in the main-draw. In Bastad, she played in the quarterfinal, where she lost to Caroline Garcia. For the first time, she had the chance to play in the main draw of the Rogers Cup, but lost in the second round of qualification. At US Open, she also didn't have success, losing in the first round of qualification.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Also in doubles, the first few months were not really successful for Krejčíková, reaching only the second round at the Australian Open, and first round of Sydney International, Taiwan Open and Hungarian Open. During the clay-court season, things get better. At Morocco Open, she reached her first semifinal in 2017. At Madrid Open, she lost in the first round, but at the Italian Open she reached her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory quarterfinal. At the French Open, partnering with Chan Hao-ching, lost to Lucie Hradecká-Kateřina Siniaková in the third round. In the grass season, she only played at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round. At Swedish Open, she reached the doubles final, but missed the chance to win the title. At Rogers Cup, she lost in the second round of the doubles, while at the US Open, she reached the third round in doubles. In October, she played the semifinal doubles at the Kremlin Cup.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Unlike previous seasons, Krejčíková now had the chance to play, at least, in singles qualifying rounds at more Premier 5/Premier Mandatory events than before. Unfortunately, she failed to qualify for the main draw at Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid, but finally qualified at the Rogers Cup, where she lost in the first round. At the majors, she also made a little bit of progress, as she finally made it to the main draw of the French Open after qualifying. In the first round of the main draw, she faced sixth seed Karolína Plíšková but lost. At the US Open, once again, she failed to qualify.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: This year was by far the most successful doubles season for Krejčíková to this point. She started well, reaching the final at the Shenzhen Open, where she and Siniaková lost to Romanian combination Irina-Camelia Begu/Simona Halep. At the Australian Open, they reached the third round, Krejcikova’s best result at that tournament. In February, she reached semifinals at the Premier 5 Qatar Open, again with Siniaková. At the Indian Wells Open, they reached the second round. And at the Miami Open, she played her first Premier 5/Mandatory final, but missed the chance to win the title. The clay-court season didn't start so well, reaching only second round of the Madrid Open, and first round of the Italian Open. However, after that, she won her first major doubles title at the French Open. Together with Siniaková, she defeated Japanese pair Eri Hozumi/Makoto Ninomiya in the final. The grass-court season was successful for Krejčíková, reaching the semifinal at the Birmingham Classic, and winning the title at the Wimbledon. At Wimbledon, again with Siniaková, they defeated Květa Peschke and Nicole Melichar in the final, to win a rare Roland Garros/Wimbledon double. After Wimbledon, Krejčíková entered the top 5 in doubles for the first time in her career. The US Open Series was also quite successful. Things started slowly at the Rogers Cup, losing in the second round, but at Cincinnati, she and Siniakova reached the quarterfinals. At the US Open, they were close to reaching a third successive Grand Slam final, but were stopped in the semifinal by Ashleigh Barty and CoCo Vandeweghe. On 22 October, Krejčíková, together with her partner Siniaková, became world No. 1 doubles player. For the first time in her career, Krejčíková had the opportunity to play at the WTA Finals, where she had success. In the first round, Siniaková and Krejčíková defeated Peschke/Melichar, then in semifinals, they defeated Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková/Barbora Strýcová, but unfortunately lost in the final against Tímea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic. Both, Krejčíková and Siniaková finished the year as world-number-1 doubles players. At the end of 2018, they received the award for the 2018 Doubles Team.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková began 2019 playing singles mostly on the ITF Circuit where she had some success. On the WTA Tour, the only tournament where she played in main-draw was Bucharest Open, where she reached quarterfinal. Also, she failed to qualify at Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Rogers Cup.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: In doubles, the season started really well for Krejčíková. She played at the Brisbane International, where she reached the semifinals. After that, she finally reached the quarterfinal at the Australian Open, and with that result she completed the set of quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments. At Indian Wells, she entered the final, where she and Siniaková lost to Elise Mertens/Aryna Sabalenka. In Miami, she had less success, losing in the first round. The clay-court season started well, with a quarterfinal at the Madrid Open and semifinal at the Italian Open, but suffered a disappointing loss in the first round of the French Open. Wimbledon was more successful for Krejčíková, reaching the semifinals, where she and Siniaková lost to Gabriela Dabrowski/Xu Yifan.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: At the Rogers Cup, she finally won her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory doubles title. Together with Siniaková, they defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld/Demi Schuurs in the final, in straight sets. At Cincinnati, she reached the quarterfinal. Krejčíková planned to play in doubles, but during her second-round match in qualifying against Asia Muhammad, Krejčíková was forced to retire. In October, she and Siniakova won the title at the Linz Open. For the second year in row, Krejčíková played at the WTA Finals, again with Siniaková, but they didn't pass the group stage, winning only one match.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková also played in mixed-doubles competition, winning her first grand slam mixed doubles title. At the Australian Open, she and American player Rajeev Ram won the title.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: In the COVID-affected 2020 season, Krejčíková finally made progress in singles. For the first time in her career, she qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open, beating Kaia Kanepi before losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: During the COVID-19 lockdown, Krejčíková took part in Czech tennis tournaments against players like Petra Kvitová and Karolína Muchová. When the tour restarted in August, Krejčíková impressed in a three-set loss to Simona Halep. She returned to the ITF circuit afterwards, where she had a string of disappointing results. This proved to be a turning point, as she later said she was determined to enjoy her singles tennis more. At the French Open in September, Krejčíková had a massive breakthrough, reaching the round of 16. There, she lost to qualifier Nadia Podoroska. She followed with good performances in Ostrava and Linz, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in the round of 16 and Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, respectively. Krejčíková ended the year ranked world No. 65 in singles.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková's doubles season started well with a title in Shenzhen over home team Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai. After that, she played at Australian Open, where she reached the semifinals. In the mixed doubles, she won a second consecutive title, this time with Nikola Mektić. In Dubai, together with Zheng Saisai, Krejčíková lost in the final to Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová. In Doha, again with Siniaková, she reached the semifinals before being defeated by Hsieh and Strýcová once again. After the COVID shutdown, Krejčíková returned to play doubles in August, and reached another semifinal at the Prague Open. She returned with Siniaková to the French Open, where they lost in the semifinals to the defending champions Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková's 2020 season ended in Ostrava, where she and Siniaková made it to the semifinals before Krejčíková had to withdraw.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková began the season ranked world No. 65, and lost in the second round in Abu Dhabi to Yulia Putintseva. She reached the quarterfinals at the Grampians Trophy, beating Lauren Davis and fourth seed Elena Rybakina before losing to Jennifer Brady. While Krejčíková's singles run at the Australian Open was brief, losing in the second round to Ekaterina Alexandrova for the second year in a row, she and Siniaková reached the doubles final but lost to Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka. She won the mixed doubles for the third straight year, returning to partner with Rajeev Ram.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: In the Middle East swing, Krejčíková’s most notable result in doubles was making the Doha semifinals with Siniaková, before losing to Jeļena Ostapenko and Monica Niculescu. In singles, Krejčíková progressed to the final following wins over Ostapenko, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and 16th seed Maria Sakkari. There, she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza. This result entered Krejčíková into the top 40 in singles for the first time. At the Madrid Open, Krejčíková and Siniaková won the women's doubles title, beating Demi Schuurs and Gaby Dabrowski in the final for their biggest title since Wimbledon in 2018. At Strasbourg, Krejčíková won her maiden singles title, beating Sorana Cîrstea in the final.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: At the French Open, Krejčíková defeated Kristýna Plíšková, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elina Svitolina to reach the fourth round. She then defeated 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens, 6–2, 6–0 to reach her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. She there defeated Coco Gauff in straight sets to set up a semifinal with Maria Sakkari, which she won in three sets, saving a match point en route. In her first ever Grand Slam final in only her fifth main draw singles appearance, Krejčíková beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets to claim her first Grand Slam singles title. As a result, she entered the top 15 in singles for the first time in her career. In doubles, Krejčíková and Siniaková beat the Plíšková sisters in an all Czech quarterfinal and Bernarda Pera and Magda Linette in the semifinals. They then defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Świątek in straight sets to claim their second French Open title, and the first singles/doubles sweep in Paris since Mary Pierce in 2000. As a result, Krejčíková & Siniaková reclaimed the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles positions, respectively.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Three weeks later, Krejčíková made her Wimbledon singles debut, where she was seeded for the first time in a Grand Slam. She beat Clara Tauson, Andrea Petkovic and Anastasija Sevastova before losing to the world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round, ending her 15-match winning-streak. She quickly got back to her winning ways, however, claiming the Prague Open over Tereza Martincová in the final. It was her third singles title in four tournaments played. At the 2020 Olympics in July, Krejčíková defeated Zarina Diyas and Leylah Fernandez before losing to Belinda Bencic in the third round. With Siniaková, she won gold in the doubles event, beating Bencic and Viktorija Golubic in the final. Krejčíková then made her main draw singles debut at the 2021 US Open. She began with straight-sets wins over Astra Sharma, Christina McHale, Kamilla Rakhimova and ninth seed Muguruza to reach her maiden US Open quarterfinal. With an injury sustained in the Murguruza match, Krejčíková was beaten in the quarterfinals by Aryna Sabalenka. On 20 September, Krejčíková reached a new-career high ranking of world No. 5., which was surpassed on 1 November when she reached world No. 3.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková represented the Czech Republic in the inaugural 2020-21 Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Prague in November. However, the long season appeared to catch up with her as she lost both of her singles rubbers to Angelique Kerber of Germany and Bencic of Switzerland, and did not play the doubles. One week later, Krejčíková played in the WTA Finals in singles for the first time in her career, and was the first player to do so in both singles and doubles since Karolína Plíšková in 2016. Seeded second, she lost to Muguruza, Plíšková, and Anett Kontaveit during the round robin stage. However, she and Siniaková went unbeaten in the doubles tournament, going undefeated to take the title. With the win over Mertens and Hsieh in the final, Siniaková rose to become the world No. 1, with Krejčíková as No. 2. Krejčíková was awarded the ‘Most Improved Player’ award in the official WTA year-end awards as well as ‘Doubles Team of the Year’ with Siniaková. She ended this breakthrough year as world No. 5 in singles and No. 2 in doubles.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková began the season as the third seed at the Sydney International, a WTA 500 event. She defeated Jaqueline Cristian, Caroline Garcia, and fourth seed Anett Kontaveit en route to the final; her match against Kontaveit was particularly remarkable, as she came back from being bagelled in the first set to winning a final-set tiebreak 14–12, saving 7 match points. She lost in the final via another final-set tiebreak to fifth seed Paula Badosa.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: As the fourth seed in singles at the 2022 Australian Open, Krejčíková reached the quarterfinals, defeating Andrea Petkovic, Wang Xiyu, 26th seed Jelena Ostapenko, and 24th seed Victoria Azarenka, before losing to Madison Keys. In doubles, she reached the final alongside Siniaková, where they won their fourth major doubles title over Beatriz Haddad Maia and Anna Danilina.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková followed up her performance in Australia with two early exits, falling to Dayana Yastremska in the second round of Dubai and Jeļena Ostapenko in the third round of Doha where she was forced to withdraw during a doubles match with Siniaková after injuring her right arm. Despite this setback she reached No. 2 in the world in the WTA singles rankings on 28 February 2022.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Originally scheduled to participate in Indian Wells as the top seed, she pulled out due to the ongoing arm injury that flared up just before the start of the tournament. This injury also kept Krejčíková out of the Miami Open, and forced her to withdraw from all four clay-court tournaments she had signed up for in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome, and Strasbourg, the latter at which she was the defending champion.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Having not played a match in three months due to an elbow injury, Krejčíková entered the French Open singles draw as the second seed and defending champion. She was upset in the first round by French wildcard Diane Parry; it was only the third time in the history of the event that the defending champion lost in the first round, after Anastasia Myskina in 2005 and Jeļena Ostapenko in 2018. She was later forced to withdraw from the doubles draw as well after testing positive for COVID-19.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejcikova’s grass court season did not start well with an early loss to Marta Kostyuk at the 2022 Eastbourne International in singles and winning just one match in doubles where she partnered Ena Shibahara. At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the third round in singles before losing to Ajla Tomljanović in three sets.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: At the same tournament in doubles, she reached the final with her partner Siniakova and won the title for a second time defeating top seeds Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai in straight sets.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: At the US Open Krejcikova once again lost early in singles, going out in second round to Aleksandra Krunic. However, she was more successful in doubles, where she won the title with Siniaková, coming back from a set down to defeat Taylor Townsend and Caty McNally in the final. With this win Krejcikova and Siniaková completed the Career Golden Slam, and took their third women’s doubles Grand Slam title of the year, remaining undefeated in slams in 2022.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejcikova returned to the singles court at the inaugural 2022 Tallinn Open and got first ever wins against her first four opponents: Ajla Tomljanovic, Marta Kostyuk, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Belinda Bencic, four players she had never beaten before.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: A week later, Krejcikova won the title at the 2022 Ostrava Open, her second title in her home country and fifth career singles title. She defeated world number 1, Iga Swiatek in three sets, giving Swiatek her first defeat in a final in three years. <br>


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejcikova crashed out of the final WTA1000 of the year, the 2022 Guadalajara Open Akron in the first round. She and Siniaková made the semi-finals in the doubles, before losing a match tie-break to Haddad Maia and Danilina.<br>


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: The pair then played the 2022 WTA Finals - Doubles in Fort Worth, Texas. The Czechs went undefeated in the round robin stage but were defeated in the final by Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíkova is an aggressive player, with an all-court game. She is known for her strong serve, powerful groundstrokes, and wholly complete net game. She has been noted for her ability to play with "contained aggression", and to spontaneously inject pace into rallies without notice. As a result, she is capable of generating and redirecting power both crosscourt and down-the-line with both her groundstrokes, allowing her to hit winners, or induce unforced errors from opponents, with a high degree of accuracy. Her two-handed backhand is arguably her strongest groundstroke, with her being able to generate extreme angles with her backhand, and hit winners from any position on the court. Krejčíkova can strategically apply slice to her backhand, continually breaking up the pace of rallies, allowing her to construct points intelligently. Her forehand is also strong, being applied with heavy topspin, pushing opponents far behind the baseline, and allowing her to dictate rallies. She also frequently deploys the sliced forehand, a rare shot in modern tennis, to surprise opponents and aid point construction. Krejčíkova is an exceptional net player due to her doubles experience, and possesses a complete repertoire of shots to perform at the net. Although Krejčíkova typically plays at the baseline until the opportunity arises to attack the net, she occasionally utilises the serve-and-volley tactic to surprise opponents, and win points easily. She also possesses a highly effective drop shot, which typically lands close to the net, surprising opponents in long baseline rallies; if the opponent manages to retrieve the shot, her strong volleying skills allow her to end the point quickly with an aggressive volley, or a perfectly weighted lob., which was instrumental in her defeat of Sakkari in the Roland Garros 2021 semi-final and the winning shot in the 2022 Australian Open doubles final. In the post-match press conference, Krejcikova revealed this was a talent she developed as a junior when the deep lobs would bounce over her shorter opponents’ heads and over the fence!


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Despite her aggressive playing style, Krejčíkova possesses excellent movement, speed, stamina, footwork, and court coverage, allowing her to defend to an exceptionally high standard, and she is an effective counterpuncher, extending rallies until she creates the opportunity to hit a winner. Her first serve is strong, peaking at 110 mph (177 km/h), allowing her to serve aces and dictate play from the first stroke; she also possesses strong kick and slice second serves, preventing opponents from scoring free points off her second serve. She is quite prone to aborted ball tosses on serve. On occasion, Krejčíkova does have a tendency to take risks on her second serve, leading to a relatively high double fault count. Due to her aggressive mindset and defensive abilities, Krejčíkova is a dangerous opponent on all surfaces, although her strongest surface is clay, where the high bounce and slow pace allow her to execute her playing style perfectly.


title: Barbora Krejčíková

text: Krejčíková signed an endorsement deal in 2022 with Fila for clothing, footwear, and apparel. She is endorsed by Head for racquets, specifically using the Head Extreme racquet; she was previously sponsored by Head for clothing and footwear, until switching to Fila. She is also sponsored by Roko-Motor, the Czech division of Jaguar Land Rover.


title: Steve Morse

text: Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the lead guitarist of Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member of the group Kansas in the mid-1980s. Most recently, Morse became a member of the supergroup Flying Colors.


title: Steve Morse

text: Steve Morse was born in Hamilton, Ohio. His family soon moved to Tennessee and then to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where Morse spent his childhood. Although familiar with piano and clarinet, Morse ultimately became a guitarist.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse worked briefly with his older brother Dave in a band called the Plague until the family moved to Augusta, Georgia. In the late 1960s, he played in a band called Three with his older brother and a junior high schoolmate, William Gerald (Jerry) Wooten, who played keyboards. The three performed at a local psychedelic youth club, the Glass Onion, and at Legion Halls and church functions.


title: Steve Morse

text: While enrolled in the Academy of Richmond County, Morse met bassist Andy West and together they formed the Dixie Grit, adding keyboardist Johnny Carr and guitarist and vocalist Frank Brittingham, with Dave Morse drumming. This short-lived group covered bands such as Led Zeppelin and Cream. West and Morse continued to play as a duet billed as the Dixie Dregs until Morse's expulsion from school in the 10th grade for refusing to cut his hair.


title: Steve Morse

text: Steve completed 11th grade at a local Catholic school and was eligible for early college enrollment. He enrolled at the University of Miami School of Music.


title: Steve Morse

text: During the 1970s, the University of Miami played host to a number of future influential musicians, including Bruce Hornsby, Pat Metheny, and Jaco Pastorius. Andy West also enrolled at the University of Miami and, with Morse, drummer Bart Yarnold, keyboardist Frank Josephs and violinist Allen Sloan, collaborated in a lab project entitled Rock Ensemble II. In 1975, the group compiled a recording used for promotional efforts. It was originally released on vinyl in 1976, and again on CD in 1997 as "The Great Spectacular."


title: Steve Morse

text: From late 1987 to early 1988, Morse worked as a commercial airline co-pilot. He has lived in Ocala, Florida since 1991, where he is involved in hay farming.


title: Steve Morse

text: Upon Morse's graduation from the University of Miami in 1975, he and West officially named their group Dixie Dregs. A fellow University of Miami alumnus, Rod Morgenstein, replaced the injured Bart Yarnold and the band began performing regularly; with some of their own compositions, along with covers of John McLaughlin and southern rock favorites. An increasingly heavier performance schedule eventually led to the attention of Capricorn Records recruiters including Allman Brothers Band manager Twiggs Lyndon and, in late 1976, the group was signed by the southern rock label.


title: Steve Morse

text: Their first effort for Capricorn, "Free Fall", established Morse as an important newcomer to the fusion genre, and he was recognized for both his compositional skills (having written all 11 tracks) and his musicianship. Although receiving positive reviews as a pivotal jazz fusion album, it sold poorly.


title: Steve Morse

text: "What If" was released in 1978. Writing credits were more collaborative and the band's sound had matured into more than what was strictly considered fusion at the time. Southern rock, classical, folk and country elements were combined to form a cohesive and listenable music. Though supported by a tour, record sales remained flat, but gained Morse and the band an invitation to perform at Montreux Jazz Festival on July 23, 1978. The recorded performance was released the following year on "Night of the Living Dregs". Capricorn went bankrupt in late 1979, and the Dixie Dregs were left without a label.


title: Steve Morse

text: Arista Records signed the band in 1979 to record three albums. Production control was handed to Morse, and "Dregs of the Earth" was released in May 1980. All eight tracks were written by Morse, and the album peaked at number 27 on Billboard's Jazz Album Chart.


title: Steve Morse

text: Arista became increasingly concerned about Dixie Dregs' album sales and pressured the band to change their name to simply the Dregs in an attempt to increase the band's visibility in the public eye. "Unsung Heroes" included eight new Morse compositions in early 1981, but the name change did little to address Arista's worries. The Dregs felt compelled by label management to add lyrics to their next release, appropriately titled "Industry Standard".


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse's compositions on "Industry Standard" began to sound more like his evolving solo work than Dregs' collaborations, and the album received critical and public praise. "Industry Standard" was voted "Best Guitar LP" by readers of "Guitar Player" magazine in their annual reader's poll that year. Additionally, Morse was voted "Best Overall Guitarist" in the same poll, an honor that he would hold for five consecutive years (which ended his eligibility by retiring him into their "Gallery of Greats", a distinction shared only by Steve Howe of Yes and Eric Johnson). After fulfilling their commitment to Arista, the Dregs' members, who had tired of touring, disbanded in early 1983.


title: Steve Morse

text: In the late 1980s, the group reunited for a tour featuring former members Morse, Morgenstein, Lavitz and Sloan. Their return was complemented by a "Best Of" release entitled "Divided We Stand". Bassist Dave LaRue completed the lineup for a seven date tour culminating in the 1992 live album "Bring 'em Back Alive". Violinist Jerry Goodman, of the Mahavishnu Orchestra fame, filled in for Sloan, who was frequently absent as a result of his medical career. They signed a deal with former label Capricorn Records for their first studio album in years entitled Full Circle in 1994.


title: Steve Morse

text: After the 1983 breakup of the Dregs, Morse then formed the Steve Morse Band, a trio with bassist Jerry Peek and drummer Doug Morgan (formerly a member of Glass Moon). After the first tour of the eastern United States, Morgan left for previous commitments; the choice to replace Morgan was Rod Morgenstein. They began recording "The Introduction" in September. The group toured Germany in early 1984 with Morse conducting clinics, and the group was signed by Elektra Records, who released "The Introduction" mid-year. A second German tour began in December 1984 and "Stand Up" was released in 1985. This effort included guest vocalists and guitarists (Eric Johnson, Alex Ligertwood, Peter Frampton, Albert Lee, Van Temple), and violinist Mark O'Connor. He toured with Rush as a main opener on their Power Windows tour.


title: Steve Morse

text: In 1986, Morse joined the rock group Kansas. During his time with the band they released two albums, "Power" and "In the Spirit of Things". While he was with the band, Kansas had its last big hit, "All I Wanted," which reached the Billboard Top 20 and on which Morse received co-writing credit. Morse left the band after touring behind the latter album. He re-joined the band for part of its 1991 tour.


title: Steve Morse

text: Following this, Morse resumed the Steve Morse Band with new personnel (bassist Dave LaRue and drummer Van Romaine) and has released several further recordings, even after joining Deep Purple.


title: Steve Morse

text: In 1994, Morse joined the British hard rock group Deep Purple, replacing Ritchie Blackmore (after Joe Satriani had initially replaced Blackmore on a temporary basis, for the final leg of The Battle Rages On tour in Japan, and European dates the following summer). With 28 years as a member of the band, Morse was their longest-serving guitarist and played on eight studio albums with them, between 1996's "Purpendicular" and 2021's "Turning to Crime", and appeared on several live albums.


title: Steve Morse

text: His departure from Deep Purple was announced on 23 July 2022, and driven by the illness of his wife Janine.


title: Steve Morse

text: In addition to playing with Deep Purple, Morse, together with Jimmy Barnes, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake and Don Airey, formed Living Loud in 2003. The group released one studio album and a live DVD in 2004/2005. In Spring 2010 it was reported that Steve Morse and Bob Daisley started work on a new studio album which was set for a release in 2011, but nothing came of this.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse began a collaboration with singer Sarah Spencer in 2007 entitled Angelfire. The album, of the same name, was released on August 10, 2010, on Radiant Records. The album features Dave LaRue and Van Romaine of the Steve Morse Band on bass and drums, respectively. The album has a textural, acoustic sound that differs from Morse's previous work. Angelfire opened for the Steve Morse Band for several shows in California (January) and Florida (March) of 2010.


title: Steve Morse

text: In 2011, Morse joined Flying Colors, an American supergroup composed of Mike Portnoy, Dave LaRue, Casey McPherson and Neal Morse, whose debut eponymous album was released on March 26, 2012, and debuted at No. 9 on Billboard's Hard Rock chart, and No. 11 on the BBC's Rock Album charts. Flying Colors released its second album, Second Nature, in 2014, and third album, Third Degree, in 2019, both to critical acclaim.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse is considered one of the hardest working guitarists in the world. He is widely known for his stylistically diverse compositional skills and was voted "Best Overall Guitarist" by "Guitar Player" magazine for five years in a row, qualifying him for its "Guitar Player Hall of Fame", the only other members being Steve Howe of Yes and Eric Johnson. He is regularly cited by John Petrucci as a major influence. Guitarist Shawn Lane regarded Steve Morse as one of the most talented guitarists of his time. Ritchie Blackmore, who preceded Morse in Deep Purple, has stated, "Steve Morse is an incredible player. A lot of people try to get some wisecrack out of me, but when you're talking about guitar players along Morse's caliber, they're brilliant." Morse has proven himself throughout his career as capable of playing highly complex chord structures in classical sequences, as well as being able to play fast, alternate picked arpeggios. He is well known for using harmonics and improvising them in songs during live performances, such as in Deep Purple's "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming".


title: Steve Morse

text: Throughout the 1980s Morse was using a custom "frankentele" guitar, made up of a Tele body with a Strat neck, a Gibson trapeze-style tailpiece (coming from a twelve string guitar) and four pickups in HSSH configuration. At one time, the guitar had a fifth pickup, a hexaphonic pickup with a separate output for each string; it provided the signal to drive a 360 Systems Spectre guitar synthesizer.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse worked with Music Man Guitars to create two signature models: a modernized version of Morse's first "Frankenstein Telecaster" guitar (Steve Morse Signature), and the Steve Morse SM Y-2D, is an updated version with quilted maple top.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse has released two signature humbuckers with DiMarzio; the DP 205 Neck model and the DP 200 Bridge model. They are evenly balanced to allow playing all over the fretboard, since Morse plays high notes on the neck pickup and low ones on the bridge. They are the main pickups into his signature model. Dimarzio also wires a custom wound single coil pickup for Music Man to use into the SM signature model.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse is an endorser of ENGL amps. He has released a signature model, the ENGL E-656 Steve Morse signature amplifier. It is a three channel amp specially designed by Morse with a custom version of the famous ENGL "midrange matrix". In the past he used Peavey 5150 amps with Deep Purple, Marshall Jubilee, Peavey VTM 120 and Ampeg V4.


title: Steve Morse

text: Morse's live equipment includes two ENGL E 656 Signature heads and several Music Man guitars (both models), his #1 still being his favorite. He splits up his signal to six different cabinets; four dry (without any FX) and two wet (with FX). He uses three Ernie Ball expression pedals to blend the fx into the mix. He uses a custom Skrydstrup R&D switching system to perform all the switching and the blending. His FX are very simple, consisting only of a Boss OC-3 Octaver and two delays: Electro-Harmonix Memory Man now replaced with the newest TC Electronic FlashBack TonePrint delay (Morse has created custom presets). He is also using a TC Electronic Polytune Mini guitar tuner.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit laid out on the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine around the harbour of the Principality of Monaco. It is commonly, and even officially, referred to as "Monte Carlo" because it is largely inside the Monte Carlo neighbourhood of Monaco.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The circuit is annually used on three weekends in April–May for Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, Formula E Monaco ePrix and Historic Grand Prix of Monaco. Formula One's respective feeder series over the years – Formula 3000, GP2 Series and today the Formula 2 championship and Porsche Supercup – also visit the circuit concurrently with Formula One. The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the three events victories in which count towards the Triple Crown of Motorsport.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The idea for a Grand Prix race around the streets of Monaco came from Antony Noghès, the president of the Monegasque motor club, Automobile Club de Monaco, and close friend of the ruling Grimaldi family. The inaugural race was held in 1929 and was won by William Grover-Williams in a Bugatti.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: To date, only three local drivers have won a race at the circuit. Louis Chiron did it at the non-championship 1931 Monaco Grand Prix; 82 years later, Stefano Coletti crossed the line in first position at the sprint race of the 2013 Monaco GP2 Series round. The third driver to do so was Stéphane Richelmi at the sprint race of the 2014 Monaco GP2 Series round.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The track has remained substantially unchanged since its creation in 1929: as a city circuit, its conformation is closely linked to that of the principality's road system. The changes were almost entirely connected to redefinitions of the ordinary roads of the town.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In the first editions of the Grand Prix, the start and finish were placed on Boulevard Albert 1er (the innermost straight, which leads to the Sainte Dévote curve). In 1955 the start and finish were moved to the opposite straight, overlooking the promenade (that now houses the pit lane). At the time, neither the Piscine complex nor the "La Rascasse" hairpin existed: after the "Tabac" curve, the route proceeded in the lane that is parallel to today's starting straight: the two sections (separated only by a row of trees) were joined by a single narrow hairpin called the "Gasometer". As can be seen from the period films, in the second half of the 1950s the only existing lane after the Tabac was the one mentioned; in fact, in those years, the lane that we now call "promenade" with the two "Piscine" chicanes was not yet defined, and only in the 1960s images we can notice the progress of the landfilling about that portion of the bay, including the Piscine area which will be completed shortly thereafter.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 1963 the starting line was again moved to Boulevard Albert 1er (opposite the promenade), without changes to the track from the "Tabac" to the "Gasometer" (incidentally, the swimming pool and the waterfront lane that 10 years later will become part of the circuit, had already been created).


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 1972 the boxes were moved near the chicane area of the port, therefore was created a "new" chicane that was closer to the "Tabac" curve. After this chicane, the track continued on the usual straight (parallel to the starting lane) using the "Gasometer" curve for the last time. This solution lasted only a year and, in the following months, the main works were completed in time for the 1973 Grand Prix with the construction of a new section that still connects the "Tabac" curve to "Piscine" (Stade Nautique). This change will result in the addition of to the circuit – whose total length increased to  – adding the new portion along the harbour, which followed the layout of the swimming pool and ended in a new chicane around the "La Rascasse" restaurant and then joined (with a slight climb to the Anthony Noghes curve) to the starting straight. The boxes were reinstalled in the old lane (now free). The layout took on its current appearance with the double chicane "Piscine", abandoning (by the 1973 GP) the old "Gasometer" curve (where the entrance to the new boxes was created). 1972 was also the last year for the passage under the old tunnel.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 1973, as anticipated, the track was modified at various points also due to the construction of new civil buildings. In particular, a new hotel was under construction in the "Old Station" hairpin area (Hotel Loews, later renamed Fairmont), resulting in an extension of the tunnel towards the "Portier" curve. The 1973 images show the unusual passage under the new long tunnel, above which the pillars of the Loews hotel are being built. At the exit of the tunnel there was the traditional port chicane and, after the "Tabac" curve, the new path adjacent to the swimming pools (two "S" left–right and right–left connected by a short straight) and "La Rascasse" hairpin. It was the first year for the new garages in an independent lane, with an entrance just after "La Rascasse", where an asphalt slide was installed to overcome the difference in level from the roadway.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 1976 the "Sainte Dévote" and "Anthony Noghes" corners were modified: in order to slow down the transit of the cars, curbs and protections were repositioned.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 1986, thanks to the expansion of the roadway implemented in the chicane area of the port, the chicane itself was modified and made slower: instead of the previously existing fast change of direction, deemed too dangerous, new curbs were installed to design a double turn at 90 degrees. It was then renamed "Nouvelle Chicane".


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 1997 the first "Piscine" corner was modified: the shifting of the track edge protections improved the visibility for the pilots and allowed a higher speed. A year later (at the request of Pasquale Lattuneddu, chief operating officer of Formula One Management), the whole area of the paddock was surrounded with shatterproof fences, in order to reduce and better manage the people authorised to access them.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 2003 the second "Piscine" curve underwent a treatment similar to that of the first curve, with the shifting of the barriers to improve visibility, while the arrangement of new temporary curbs went to slow down the passage of the cars. However, the most important novelty was the widening of the port lane: in this way the segment between "Piscine" and "La Rascasse" could be rectified, becoming faster and less demanding. The extra space also allowed for the installation of new grandstands and the expansion of the pit lane, which was also equipped with semi-permanent two-storey buildings (instead of the previous tiny prefabricated structures) to better accommodate the teams, the technicians and the material.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Before the 2007 season, the internal curb of the "Grand Hotel" hairpin was significantly lowered and widened, in order to allow the single-seaters to climb on it and eventually face the curve with a narrower trajectory.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Since the 2003 edition, the traffic divider at the "Sainte Dévote" curve has been removed in order to widen the track: the track design is now left to the curb only. This has meant, for safety reasons, an extension of the exit lane from the pits: in practice, once the "proper" pit lane has been left, the drivers must remain in the yellow line that "cuts" the "Sainte Dévote".


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The pit lane was further revised in 2004 by reversing the position of the pits with respect to the lane itself, building a much larger and more welcoming structure. Monte Carlo has thus become the only Formula 1 circuit in which the pits are not facing the track, but rather physically separate it from the pit lane.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 2011, after some accidents that occurred during the race weekend (the Mexican driver Sergio Pérez suffered a rather serious one), the drivers urged a change in the sector between the exit of the tunnel and the "Nouvelle Chicane", complaining (above all) about the disconnection of the road surface and incorrect positioning of the guard rail in the escape route opposite the tunnel. However, these requests were not followed up.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In 2015 the "Tabac" curve was re-profiled, slightly anticipating the entrance and thus shortening the track by three metres (from to today).


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The building of the circuit takes six weeks, and the dismantling after the race another three weeks. The race circuit is narrow, with many elevation shifts and tight corners. These features make it perhaps the most demanding track in Formula One racing. Although the course has changed many times during its history, it is still considered the ultimate test of driving skills in Formula One. It contains both the slowest corner in Formula One (the Fairmont Hairpin, taken at just ) and one of the quickest (the flat out kink in the tunnel, three turns beyond the hairpin, taken at ).


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Due to the tight and twisty nature of the circuit, it favours the skill of the drivers over the power of the cars. However, there is very little overtaking as the course is so narrow and dangerous, as demonstrated by the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix having only one overtake in a 78 lap race (when Mick Schumacher overtook his teammate Nikita Mazepin on the opening lap). Nelson Piquet likened racing round the course to "riding a bicycle around your living room". Prior to 1987, the number of cars starting the race was limited to 20, compared to 26 at other circuits. The famous tunnel section (running under the Fairmont Hotel, marked in grey in the circuit diagram above) is said to be difficult for drivers to cope with due to the quick switch from light to dark, then back to light again, at one of the fastest points of the course. As a result, race outcomes tend to be decided by grid positions as well as pit strategies, and the race is extremely hard on gearboxes and brakes.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Several attempts have been made to improve cramped conditions in the pit garages. In 2002, a substantial amount of land was reclaimed from the harbour to slightly change the shape of one section of the circuit; this left more space for new pit garages, which debuted in the 2004 event.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The circuit is generally recognized to be less safe than other circuits used for Formula One. Driver and former winner Michael Schumacher stated before the 2012 Grand Prix that the additional risk is "justifiable once a year". If it were not already an existing Grand Prix, it would not be permitted to be added to the Formula One schedule, for safety reasons.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: In January 2009, the circuit was voted top of the "Seven Sporting Wonders of the World" in a poll of 3,500 British sports fans.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The lap starts with a short sprint up Boulevard Albert Ier, to the tight "Sainte-Dévote" corner, named after Sainte-Dévote Chapel, a small church just beyond the barriers. This is a nearly 90-degree right-hand bend usually taken in first or second gear. This corner has seen many first lap accidents, although these are less common since the removal of the mini roundabout on the apex of the corner before the 2003 event, making the entrance to the corner wider. The cars then head uphill along Avenue d'Ostende, before changing down for the long left-hander at "Massenet". The maximum gradient in this part of the circuit is around 12%.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Out of Massenet, the cars drive past the famous casino, Monte Carlo Casino, before quickly reaching the aptly named "Casino Square". This part of the track is higher than the lowest part. The cars snake down Avenue des Beaux Arts, the next short straight, avoiding an enormous bump on the left of the track, a reminder of the unique nature of the circuit. This leads to the tight "Mirabeau" corner, which is followed by a short downhill burst to the even tighter "Fairmont Hairpin" (was known as the "Station Hairpin" before the hotel was opened on the site in 1973; the hairpin's name changed depending on the name on the hotel). It is a corner which has been used for many overtaking manoeuvres in the past. However, it would be almost physically impossible for two modern F1 cars to go round side by side, as the drivers must use full steering lock to get around. It is so tight that many Formula 1 teams must redesign their steering and suspension specifically to negotiate this corner.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: After the hairpin, the cars head downhill again to a double right-hander called "Portier," named after the region of Monaco, before heading into the famous tunnel, a unique feature of a Formula One circuit. (Until 2009 only one other circuit, Detroit in 1982–1988, featured a tunnel, but the F1 series now includes racing at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, which presents a shorter tunnel at the exit of the pit lane.) As well as the change of light making visibility poor, a car can lose 20–30% of its downforce due to the unique aerodynamic properties of the tunnel. The tunnel also presents a unique problem when it rains. As it is virtually indoors, the tunnel usually remains dry while the rest of the track is wet, with only the cars bringing in water from their tyres. Famously before the very wet 1984 race, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone had local fire crews wet down the road in the tunnel to give it the same surface grip as the rest of the track. This was done at the request of McLaren driver Niki Lauda.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Out of the tunnel, the cars have to brake hard for the tight left–right–left "Nouvelle Chicane". This has been the scene of several large accidents, including that of Karl Wendlinger in 1994, Jenson Button in 2003 and Sergio Pérez in 2011. The chicane is generally the only place on the circuit where overtaking can be attempted. There is a short straight to "Tabac", so called as there used to be a tobacconist on the outside of the corner. "Tabac" is a tight fourth-gear corner which is taken at about . Accelerating up to , the cars reach "Piscine", a fast left–right followed by a slower right–left chicane which takes the cars past the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, its swimming pool gives its name to the corner.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Following "Piscine", there is a short straight followed by heavy braking for a quick left which is immediately followed by the tight 135-degree right-hander called "La Rascasse". This is another corner that requires full steering lock; it will be remembered for a long time as the location of one of the most suspicious manoeuvres in recent Formula One history during the 2006 season when Michael Schumacher appeared to deliberately stop his car in qualifying so as to prevent Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber – who were both following and were on flying laps – from out-qualifying him. The Rascasse takes the cars into a short straight that precedes the final corner, "Virage Antony Noghès". Named after the organiser of the first Monaco Grand Prix, the corner is a tight right-hander which brings the cars back onto the start-finish straight, and across the line to start a new lap.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Monaco is one of the three circuits which have only one DRS zone, the others being Suzuka and Imola. During the race, it is active along the pit straight from Antony Noghès to Sainte-Dévote, for a total of .


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Monaco's street circuit places very different demands on the cars in comparison to the majority of the other circuits used during a Championship season. The cars are set up with high downforce; not as is popularly believed to increase cornering speeds, as many of the corners are taken at such a low speed to negate any aerodynamic effect, but instead to shorten braking times and keep the cars stable under acceleration. Many teams use special wing assemblies incorporating extra active planes in addition to those in use for other circuits. The Jordan and Arrows teams tried to use new mid-wings in 2001. The Arrows wing was similar in design to a normal rear wing but smaller and suspended above the nose cone. Jordan had a small wing suspended on a short pole just in front of the driver. Both were designed to improve downforce, but, after testing them during Thursday practice, the FIA banned both.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Brake wear is not a problem during a race in Monaco. Instead, the low speeds mean the issue is keeping the brakes up to working temperature. The only heavy braking points are at the chicane after the tunnel, and to a lesser extent into the "Sainte-Dévote" and "Mirabeau" corners. With a lack of temperature, brake bite becomes a problem, as the surface of the carbon brake disc becomes smooth as glass, reducing friction between the pads and the disk, hence lessening braking power. To combat this, in 2006 Juan Pablo Montoya adopted discs with radial grooves that increased the bite rate between disk and pads, increasing the average temperature of the brakes.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Conversely, cooling the cars' engines is a major concern. Formula One cars do not incorporate any form of forced cooling, relying solely on air moving over the car to remove heat from the radiator elements. In the past many teams used to adjust the radiator intakes to allow for extra airflow, creating the once-common "Monaco nose". Before 2014, teams also used closer ratio gears, as there are hardly any long straights in Monaco and acceleration is at a premium (starting from the 2014 season, the same gear ratios must be used throughout the season). A special steering rack with a larger pinion gear is also fitted to allow the cars to be driven around the tightest corners.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: On 18 September 2014 it was announced the Formula E would be racing on a shorter version of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, which was subsequently used for the 2014–15, 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons. This layout omitted the regular section of the track between the climb up the hill at Beau Rivage and the Nouvelle Chicane at the exit of the tunnel, instead turning right immediately after Saint Devote to head downhill, before rejoining the regular layout by way of a 180 degree turn at the chicane.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Monaco was not scheduled to be on the calendar for the second season of Formula E because it took the slot on the calendar filled by the Historic Grand Prix at Monaco every other year. The inaugural Paris ePrix took its spot on the calendar for season two, with the Monaco ePrix reinstated for season three. This biennial agreement will continue at least into Formula E's fifth season.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: A new track layout was used only for the 2021 Monaco ePrix: the layout is similar to the Formula One layout, with only slight differences at turns 1 (Sainte Devote) and 11 (Nouvelle Chicane). This new layout has a length of ; the distance of the track being increased due to the increase in car performance and range of Gen2 cars. The 2022 Monaco ePrix would instead see the race run on the full track layout.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Several commentators and drivers have criticised the circuit's design, saying that it creates boring races. Criticism has been directed towards how few overtake attempts are performed, the slow speeds at which the cars take the "Fairmont Hairpin", as well as how frequently the driver who sets the pole position wins. Fernando Alonso has said that the race is “the most boring race ever,” and Lewis Hamilton stated that the 2022 Grand Prix “wasn’t really racing.”


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The Monaco Grand Prix is run on the final Sunday of May, in a transition between spring and summer. Monaco, in general, has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen "Csa"), although since the track is only used for a brief period in May, when it is being used it has a narrower temperature range than the principality itself has throughout the year. For the Monaco Grand Prix, temperatures are usually around in terms of ambient conditions, whereas sun exposure can make the track itself a bit warmer than that. Still, soft tyre compounds often tend to hold up well around Monaco courtesy of surface temperatures being fairly moderate. The maritime moderation make May heatwaves rather unlikely.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: Although the Mediterranean precipitation pattern leads to Monaco being quite dry by late May, due to the urban and narrow nature of the circuit, rainfall combined with the painted areas and the long tunnel makes wet racing extremely challenging. This was demonstrated by the 1984, 1996, 1997, 2008 and 2016 events. The 1984 event was red-flagged due to track conditions being deemed too dangerous with the race not being restarted. In 1996, the mixed-weather conditions caused carnage, paving way for Olivier Panis' shock win in an unfancied Ligier. The following year, the 1997 race winner Michael Schumacher got the chequered flag after just 62 of the planned 78 laps due to the very slow pace of half a minute slower than dry-weather lap times on the very wet track seeing the clock hit the two hours of maximum time well before the race distance was completed.


title: Circuit de Monaco

text: The tunnel can be sprinkled under wet conditions to provide for consistent track conditions, although during a full-wet race the tunnel gets drier throughout.


title: Steelmaking

text: Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium, carbon and vanadium are added to produce different grades of steel. Limiting dissolved gases such as nitrogen and oxygen and entrained impurities (termed "inclusions") in the steel is also important to ensure the quality of the products cast from the liquid steel.


title: Steelmaking

text: Steelmaking has existed for millennia, but it was not commercialized on a massive scale until the mid-19th century. An ancient process of steelmaking was the crucible process. In the 1850s and 1860s, the Bessemer process and the Siemens-Martin process turned steelmaking into a heavy industry. Today there are two major commercial processes for making steel, namely basic oxygen steelmaking, which has liquid pig-iron from the blast furnace and scrap steel as the main feed materials, and electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, which uses scrap steel or direct reduced iron (DRI) as the main feed materials. Oxygen steelmaking is fueled predominantly by the exothermic nature of the reactions inside the vessel; in contrast, in EAF steelmaking, electrical energy is used to melt the solid scrap and/or DRI materials. In recent times, EAF steelmaking technology has evolved closer to oxygen steelmaking as more chemical energy is introduced into the process.


title: Steelmaking

text: Steelmaking is one of the most carbon emission intensive industries in the world. , steelmaking is estimated to be responsible for 7 to 9 per cent of all direct fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions. In order to mitigate global warming, the industry will need to find reductions in emissions. In 2020, McKinsey identified a number of technologies for decarbonization including hydrogen usage, carbon capture and reuse, and maximizing use of electric arc furnaces powered by clean energy.


title: Steelmaking

text: Steelmaking has played a crucial role in the development of ancient, medieval, and modern technological societies. Early processes of steel making were made during the classical era in Ancient Iran, Ancient China, India, and Rome.


title: Steelmaking

text: Cast iron is a hard, brittle material that is difficult to work, whereas steel is malleable, relatively easily formed and a versatile material. For much of human history, steel has only been made in small quantities. Since the invention of the Bessemer process in 19th century Britain and subsequent technological developments in injection technology and process control, mass production of steel has become an integral part of the global economy and a key indicator of modern technological development. The earliest means of producing steel was in a bloomery.


title: Steelmaking

text: An important aspect of the Industrial Revolution was the development of large-scale methods of producing forgeable metal (bar iron or steel). The puddling furnace was initially a means of producing wrought iron but was later applied to steel production.


title: Steelmaking

text: The real revolution in modern steelmaking only began at the end of the 1850s when the Bessemer process became the first successful method of steelmaking in high quantity followed by the open-hearth furnace.


title: Steelmaking

text: Primary steelmaking involves smelting iron into steel. Secondary steelmaking involves adding or removing other elements such as alloying agents and dissolved gases. Tertiary steelmaking involves casting into sheets, rolls or other forms. Multiple techniques are available for each step.


title: Steelmaking

text: Basic oxygen steelmaking is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich pig iron is melted and converted into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron converts some of the carbon in the iron into and , turning it into steel. Refractories—calcium oxide and magnesium oxide—line the smelting vessel to withstand the high temperature and corrosive nature of the molten metal and slag. The chemistry of the process is controlled to ensure that impurities such as silicon and phosphorus are removed from the metal.


title: Steelmaking

text: The modern process was developed in 1948 by Robert Durrer, as a refinement of the Bessemer converter that replaced air with more efficient oxygen. It reduced the capital cost of the plants and smelting time, and increased labor productivity. Between 1920 and 2000, labour requirements in the industry decreased by a factor of 1000, to just 0.003 man-hours per tonne. in 2013, 70% of global steel output was produced using the basic oxygen furnace. Furnaces can convert up to 350 tons of iron into steel in less than 40 minutes compared to 10–12 hours in an open hearth furnace.


title: Steelmaking

text: Electric arc furnace steelmaking is the manufacture of steel from scrap or direct reduced iron melted by electric arcs. In an electric arc furnace, a batch ("heat") of iron is loaded into the furnace, sometimes with a "hot heel" (molten steel from a previous heat). Gas burners may be used to assist with the melt. As in basic oxygen steelmaking, fluxes are also added to protect the lining of the vessel and help improve the removal of impurities. Electric arc furnace steelmaking typically uses furnaces of capacity around 100 tonnes that produce steel every 40 to 50 minutes. This process allows larger alloy additions than the basic oxygen method.


title: Steelmaking

text: In HIsarna ironmaking process, iron ore is processed almost directly into liquid iron or hot metal. The process is based around a type of blast furnace called a "cyclone converter furnace", which makes it possible to skip the process of manufacturing pig iron pellets that is necessary for the basic oxygen steelmaking process. Without the necessity of this preparatory step, the HIsarna process is more energy-efficient and has a lower carbon footprint than traditional steelmaking processes.


title: Steelmaking

text: Steel can be produced from direct-reduced iron, which in turn can be produced from iron ore as it undergoes chemical reduction with hydrogen. Renewable hydrogen allows steelmaking without the use of fossil fuels. In 2021, a pilot plant in Sweden tested this process. Direct reduction occurs at . The iron is infused with carbon (from coal) in an electric arc furnace. Hydrogen produced by electrolysis requires approximately 2600 kWh. Costs are estimated to be 20-30% higher than conventional methods. However, the cost of -emissions add to the price of basic oxygen production, and a 2018 study of Science magazine estimates that the prices will break even when that price is €68 per tonne , which is expected to be reached in the 2030s.


title: Steelmaking

text: Secondary steelmaking is most commonly performed in ladles. Some of the operations performed in ladles include de-oxidation (or "killing"), vacuum degassing, alloy addition, inclusion removal, inclusion chemistry modification, de-sulphurisation, and homogenisation. It is now common to perform ladle metallurgical operations in gas-stirred ladles with electric arc heating in the lid of the furnace. Tight control of ladle metallurgy is associated with producing high grades of steel in which the tolerances in chemistry and consistency are narrow.


title: Steelmaking

text: , steelmaking is estimated to be responsible for around 11% of the global emissions of carbon dioxide and around 7% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Making 1 ton of steel produces about 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide. The bulk of these emissions results from the industrial process in which coal is used as the source of carbon that removes oxygen from iron ore in the following chemical reaction, which occurs in a blast furnace:


title: Steelmaking

text: Additional carbon dioxide emissions result from basic oxygen steelmaking, calcination, and the hot blast. Carbon capture and utilization or carbon capture and storage are proposed techniques to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions in the steel industry and reduction of iron ore using green hydrogen rather than carbon. See below for further decarbonization strategies.


title: Steelmaking

text: To make pure steel, iron and carbon are needed. On its own, iron is not very strong, but a low concentration of carbon - less than 1 percent, depending on the kind of steel, gives the steel its important properties. The carbon in steel is obtained from coal and the iron from iron ore. However, iron ore is a mixture of iron and oxygen, and other trace elements. To make steel, the iron needs to be separated from the oxygen and a tiny amount of carbon needs to be added. Both are accomplished by melting the iron ore at a very high temperature (1,700 degrees Celsius or over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit) in the presence of oxygen (from the air) and a type of coal called coke. At those temperatures, the iron ore releases its oxygen, which is carried away by the carbon from the coke in the form of carbon dioxide.


title: Steelmaking

text: The reaction occurs due to the lower (favorable) energy state of carbon dioxide compared to iron oxide, and the high temperatures are needed to achieve the activation energy for this reaction. A small amount of carbon bonds with the iron, forming pig iron, which is an intermediary before steel, as it has carbon content that is too high - around 4%.


title: Steelmaking

text: To reduce the carbon content in pig iron and obtain the desired carbon content of steel, the pig iron is re-melted and oxygen is blown through in a process called basic oxygen steelmaking, which occurs in a ladle. In this step, the oxygen binds with the undesired carbon, carrying it away in the form of carbon dioxide gas, an additional source of emissions. After this step, the carbon content in the pig iron is lowered sufficiently and steel is obtained.


title: Steelmaking

text: Further carbon dioxide emissions result from the use of limestone, which is melted at high temperatures in a reaction called calcination, which has the following chemical reaction:


title: Steelmaking

text: Carbon dioxide is an additional source of emissions in this reaction. Modern industry has introduced calcium oxide (CaO, quicklime) as an replacement. It acts as a chemical flux, removing impurities (such as Sulfur or Phosphorus (e.g. apatite or fluorapatite)) in the form of slag and keeps emissions of CO low. For example, the calcium oxide can react to remove silicon oxide impurities:


title: Steelmaking

text: This use of limestone to provide a flux occurs both in the blast furnace (to obtain pig iron) and in the basic oxygen steel making (to obtain steel).


title: Steelmaking

text: Further carbon dioxide emissions result from the hot blast, which is used to increase the heat of the blast furnace. The hot blast pumps hot air into the blast furnace where the iron ore is reduced to pig iron, helping to achieve the high activation energy. The hot blast temperature can be from 900 °C to 1300 °C (1600 °F to 2300 °F) depending on the stove design and condition. Oil, tar, natural gas, powdered coal and oxygen can also be injected into the furnace to combine with the coke to release additional energy and increase the percentage of reducing gases present, increasing productivity. If the air in the hot blast is heated by burning fossil fuels, which often is the case, this is an additional source of carbon dioxide emissions.


title: Steelmaking

text: Top gas from the blast furnace is the gas that is normally exhausted into the air during steelmaking. This gas contains CO and is also rich in the reducing agents of H and CO. To reduce emissions, the top gas can be captured, the CO removed (and then stored geologically), and the reducing agents reinjected into the blast furnace. According to one study this process can reduce BF CO emissions by 75%; another study states that the emissions are reduced by 56.5% with the carbon capture and storage and reduced by 26.2% if only the recycling of the reducing agents is used. Another way to use the top gas would be in a Top Recovery Turbine which then generates electricity and reduces the energy intensity of the process.


title: Steelmaking

text: In steelmaking, coal and coke are used for fuel and iron reduction. If instead biomass can be used, such as charcoal or wood pellets, then emissions can be reduced by 5% to 28% of current CO emissions. This replacement does depend on the local availability of biomass.


title: Steelmaking

text: Scrap in steelmaking refers to steel that has either reached its end of life use or was generated during the manufacture of steel components. Steel is easy to separate and recycle due to its inherent magnetism and using scrap avoids the emissions of 1.5 tons of CO for every ton of scrap used. Currently, steel recycling is high, with all the scrap being collected also being recycled in the steel industry. As more buildings and infrastructure reach their end of life, ensuring that collection and recycling of this scrap remains in place is crucial to keeping CO emissions in steelmaking as low as possible.


title: Steelmaking

text: In the blast furnace, the iron oxides are reduced by a combination of CO, H, and carbon. Only around 10% of the iron oxides are reduced by H. With H enrichment processing, the proportion of iron oxides reduced by H is increased, so that less carbon is consumed and less CO is emitted. This process can reduce emissions by an estimated 20%.


title: Steelmaking

text: Carbon capture and sequestration from the top gas in the blast furnace was discussed above. There are additional points where carbon can be captured, such as from gasses in the coke oven. Some of the challenges of implementing CCS include separating the CO from other gasses and components in the system and the relatively high cost of the equipment and infrastructure changes needed to implement this strategy. But if CCS is implemented in the steel industry, emissions could be reduced on a large scale, up to 65% to 80%.


title: Steelmaking

text: Hydrogen reduction was explained above. As mentioned, if the hydrogen for this is produced in a carbon free way (i.e. produced from water using clean sources such as wind, solar and nuclear), then this process becomes carbon free. In addition, the electric arc furnace is run by electricity. If this electricity is also from a clean source, then no fossil fuels are used in the process of steelmaking. Therefore, the CO reduction can reach 100% for this process. There are several projects undertaking this hydrogen-based steel production in Europe, such as projects from HYBRIT, LKAB, Voestalpine, and ThyssenKrupp.


title: Steelmaking

text: The HIsarna ironmaking process was described above as a way of producing iron in a "cyclone converter furnace" without the pre-processing steps of choking/agglomeration, which reduces the CO emissions by around 20%.


title: Steelmaking

text: There is a current ongoing project by SuSteel to develop a hydrogen plasma technology that (1) reduces the oxides with hydrogen as opposed to with CO or carbon and (2) melts the iron at high operating temperatures. This project is still at the developmental stage, but is another way to reduce emissions up to 100%.


title: Steelmaking

text: In iron ore electrolysis, the reducing agent is simply electrons (as opposed to H, CO, or carbon) and so carbon emissions can be reduced to 100%. One method for this is molten oxide electrolysis. Here, the cell consists of an inert anode, a liquid oxide electrolyte (CaO, MgO, etc.), and the molten steel. When heated, the iron ore is reduced to iron and oxygen. Boston Metal is at the semi-industrial stage for this process, with plans to reach commercialization by 2026.


title: Steelmaking

text: Overall, there are a number of innovative methods to reduce CO emissions within the steelmaking industry. Some of these, such as top gas recovery and using hydrogen reduction in DRI/EAF are highly feasible with current infrastructure and technology levels. Others, such as hydrogen plasma and iron ore electrolysis are still in the research or semi-industrial stage, but have the potential to completely transform the steel industry.


title: World championships in WWE

text: WWE has maintained several professional wrestling world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate world championships have been created or allocated for each brand.


title: World championships in WWE

text: In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and by 1963, its executives held a controlling stake over NWA operations. During this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until January 24, when Lou Thesz defeated Rogers for the championship in a one fall match. Claiming the championship can only be contested in a traditional two out of three falls match, the promotion disputed the change, and thus seceded from the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was then established and awarded to Buddy Rogers with the explanation that he won a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro, supposedly defeating Antonino Rocca in the finals. After several years, the WWWF became affiliated with the NWA once again, and "World" was dropped from the championship's name. In 1979, the WWWF was renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and then after conclusively ending its affiliation with the NWA in 1983, the championship became known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Although the full name appeared on the belt until 1998, the name was often abbreviated to WWF Championship, which became its official name in 1998.


title: World championships in WWE

text: In 1991, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a member of the NWA, established the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to replace the NWA's world championship. That same year, reigning and inaugural WCW Champion Ric Flair left WCW with the Big Gold Belt, which had represented the championship, and joined the WWF. Flair then began appearing on WWF television with the Big Gold Belt, calling himself "The Real World Champion"; however, this was never officially recognized as a world championship in WWF. In 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the WWF. Both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war, dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a financial decline, which culminated in WWF purchasing WCW in March 2001. As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired, among other assets, WCW's championships. Thus, there were two world championships in the WWF: the original WWF Championship and the WCW Championship, which was eventually renamed the "World Championship".


title: World championships in WWE

text: In December 2001, the two championships were unified at Vengeance. At the event, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Championship, while Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the World Championship. After this, Jericho then defeated Austin, unifying the WWF and World Championships, and becoming the first Undisputed WWF Champion; the Undisputed championship retained the lineage of the WWF Championship and the World Championship was retired. The Undisputed Championship continued up through the beginning of the first brand extension, which saw wrestlers being drafted to the company's main television programs, "Raw" and "SmackDown", each show representing the brand of the same name, with championships assigned to and authority figures appointed for each brand. The holder of the Undisputed Championship was the only male wrestler allowed to appear on both shows.


title: World championships in WWE

text: In May 2002, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the championships were renamed accordingly. At first, the Undisputed Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as wrestlers from both brands could challenge the champion. Following the appointment of Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon as General Managers of Raw and SmackDown, respectively, Stephanie McMahon convinced then-Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar to become exclusive to the SmackDown brand, leaving the Raw brand without a world championship. In response, on September 2, Bischoff disputed Lesnar's status as champion, stating Lesnar was refusing to defend against the designated No. 1 contender, Triple H, and awarded the latter with the newly created World Heavyweight Championship. Immediately afterwards, Lesnar's championship dropped the epithet "Undisputed" and became known as the WWE Championship.<ref name="Raw9/2"></ref>


title: World championships in WWE

text: In 1994, Eastern Championship Wrestling seceded from the NWA and became Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and established the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. In 2001, the ECW promotion folded due to bankruptcy and WWE bought the assets of ECW in 2003. In June 2006, WWE established a third brand dubbed ECW on which stars from the former promotion and newer talent competed. When ECW's Rob Van Dam won the WWE Championship at ECW One Night Stand, the ECW Championship was subsequently reactivated as the world championship of the ECW brand (and the third concurrently active world championship in WWE) and was awarded to Van Dam, who held both until he lost the WWE Championship to Raw's Edge the following month. The three world championships at one point or another switched brands over the course of the brand extension, usually as a result of the annual draft. The ECW brand was disbanded in 2010, subsequently deactivating the ECW Championship. The first brand extension ended in August 2011; earlier that year in April, the promotion ceased using its full name with "WWE" becoming an orphaned initialism.


title: World championships in WWE

text: Following the end of the first brand extension, both the WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both "Raw" and "SmackDown". In November 2013, the night after Survivor Series, then-World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to then-WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine an undisputed WWE world champion. Orton defeated Cena in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the pay-per-view on December 15, 2013, to unify the championship. Subsequently, the unified championship was renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship and retained the lineage of the WWE Championship; the World Heavyweight Championship was retired.


title: World championships in WWE

text: After Dean Ambrose became champion in June 2016, the title's name reverted to "WWE Championship". In light of the return of the WWE brand extension the following month, Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown and retained his title at Battleground on July 24 against Raw draftees Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, making it exclusive to SmackDown. On the July 25 episode of "Raw", to address the lack of a world championship for the brand, the WWE Universal Championship was created; Finn Bálor became the inaugural champion at SummerSlam. After the unveiling of the Universal Championship, the WWE Championship was renamed WWE World Championship, but reverted to WWE Championship in December 2016 during AJ Styles' first reign.


title: World championships in WWE

text: The following list shows the longest reigning champion for each world championship created and/or promoted by WWE.


title: World championships in WWE

text: The following list shows the wrestlers with the most reigns for each world championship created and/or promoted by WWE.


title: World championships in WWE

text: The following list shows the wrestlers who have the most world championship reigns in total, combining all titles they have held as recognized by WWE. This list also shows the titles that they won to achieve this record (minimum five world championship reigns).


title: Zambezi

text: The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of the Nile's. The river rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean.


title: Zambezi

text: The Zambezi's most noted feature is Victoria Falls. Its other falls include the Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls near Sioma in western Zambia.


title: Zambezi

text: The two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique, which provides power to Mozambique and South Africa. Additionally, two smaller power stations are along the Zambezi River in Zambia, one at Victoria Falls and the other in Zengamina, near Kalene Hill in the Ikelenge District.


title: Zambezi

text: The river rises in a black, marshy dambo in dense, undulating miombo woodland north of Mwinilunga and south of Ikelenge in the Ikelenge District of North-Western Province, Zambia, at about above sea level. The area around the source is a national monument, forest reserve, and important bird area.


title: Zambezi

text: Eastward of the source, the watershed between the Congo and Zambezi Basins 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 (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.


title: Zambezi

text: The region drained by the Zambezi is a vast, broken-edged plateau 900–1,200 m high, composed in the remote interior of metamorphic beds and fringed with the igneous rocks of the Victoria Falls. At Chupanga, on the lower Zambezi, thin strata of grey and yellow sandstones, with an occasional band of limestone, crop out on the bed of the river in the dry season, and these persist beyond 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.


title: Zambezi

text: The river flows to the southwest into Angola for about , then is joined by sizeable tributaries such as the Luena and the Chifumage flowing from highlands to the north-west. It turns south and develops a floodplain, with extreme width variation between the dry and rainy seasons. It enters dense evergreen "Cryptosepalum "dry forest, though on its western side, Western Zambezian grasslands also occur. Where it re-enters Zambia, it is nearly wide in the rainy season and flows rapidly, with rapids ending in the Chavuma Falls, where the river flows through a rocky fissure. The river drops about in elevation from its source at to the Chavuma Falls at , in a distance of about . From this point to the Victoria Falls, the level of the basin is very uniform, dropping only by another in a distance around .


title: Zambezi

text: The first of its large tributaries to enter the Zambezi is the Kabompo River in the northwestern province of Zambia. The savanna through which the river flows gives way to a wide floodplain, studded with "Borassus" fan palms. A little farther south is the confluence with the Lungwebungu River. This is the beginning of the Barotse Floodplain, the most notable feature of the upper Zambezi, but this northern part does not flood so much and includes islands of higher land in the middle.


title: Zambezi

text: Abouy 30 km below the confluence of the Lungwebungu, the country becomes very flat, and the typical Barotse Floodplain landscape unfolds, with the flood reaching a width of 25 km in the rainy season. For more than 200 km downstream, the annual flood cycle dominates the natural environment and human life, society, and culture. About 80 km further down, the Luanginga, which with its tributaries drains a large area to the west, joins the Zambezi. A short distance higher up on the east, the main stream is joined in the rainy season by overflow of the Luampa/Luena system.


title: Zambezi

text: A short distance downstream of the confluence with the Luanginga is Lealui, one of the capitals of the Lozi people, who populate the Zambian region of Barotseland in the Western Province. The chief of the Lozi maintains one of his two compounds at Lealui; the other is at Limulunga, which is on high ground and serves as the capital during the rainy season. The annual move from Lealui to Limulunga is a major event, celebrated as one of Zambia's best-known festivals, the Kuomboka.


title: Zambezi

text: After Lealui, the river turns south-southeast. From the east, it continues to receive numerous small streams, but on the west, it is without major tributaries for 240 km. Before this, the Ngonye Falls and subsequent rapids interrupt navigation. South of Ngonye Falls, the river briefly borders Namibia's Caprivi Strip. Below the junction of the Cuando River and the Zambezi, the river bends almost due east. Here, the river is broad and shallow and flows slowly, but as it flows eastward towards the border of the great central plateau of Africa, it reaches a chasm into which the Victoria Falls plunge.


title: Zambezi

text: The Victoria Falls are considered the boundary between the upper and middle Zambezi. Below them, the river continues to flow due east for about , cutting through perpendicular walls of basalt 20 to 60 m (66 to 200 ft) apart in hills 200 to 250 m (660 to 820 ft) high. The river flows swiftly through the Batoka Gorge, the current being continually interrupted by reefs. It has been described as one of the world's most spectacular whitewater trips, a tremendous challenge for kayakers and rafters alike. Beyond the gorge are a succession of rapids that end 240 km (150 mi) below Victoria Falls. Over this distance, the river drops .


title: Zambezi

text: At this point, the river enters Lake Kariba, created in 1959 following the completion of the Kariba Dam. The lake is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, and the hydroelectric power-generating facilities at the dam provide electricity to much of Zambia and Zimbabwe.


title: Zambezi

text: The |Luangwa] and Kafue Rivers are the two largest left-hand tributaries of the Zambezi. The Kafue joins the main river in a quiet, deep stream about wide. From this point, the northward bend of the Zambezi is checked, and the stream continues due east. At the confluence of the Luangwa (15°37' S), it enters Mozambique.


title: Zambezi

text: The middle Zambezi ends where the river enters Lake Cahora Bassa, formerly the site of dangerous rapids known as Kebrabassa; the lake was created in 1974 by the construction of the Cahora Bassa Dam.


title: Zambezi

text: The lower Zambezi's 650 km from Cahora Bassa to the Indian Ocean is navigable, although the river is shallow in many places during the dry season. This shallowness arises as the river enters a broad valley and spreads out over a large area. Only at one point, the Lupata Gorge, 320 km from its mouth, is the river confined between high hills. Here, it is scarcely 200 m wide. Elsewhere it is from 5 to 8 km wide, flowing gently in many streams. The river bed is sandy, and the banks are low and reed-fringed. At places, however, and especially in the rainy season, the streams unite into one broad, fast-flowing river.


title: Zambezi

text: About 160 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 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 the overflow of the Zambezi in the rainy season.


title: Zambezi

text: The delta of the Zambezi is today about half as broad as it was before the construction of the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams controlled the seasonal variations in the flow rate of the river. Before the dams were built, seasonal flooding of the Zambezi had quite a different impact on the ecosystems of the delta from today, as it brought nutrient-rich fresh water down to the Indian Ocean coastal wetlands. The lower Zambezi experienced a small flood surge early in the dry season as rain in the Gwembe catchment and north-eastern Zimbabwe rushed through while rain in the upper Zambezi, Kafue, and Lake Malawi basins, and Luangwa to a lesser extent, is held back by swamps and floodplains.


title: Zambezi

text: The discharges of these systems contribute to a much larger flood in March or April, with a mean monthly maximum for April of per second at the delta. The record flood was more than three times as big, per second being recorded in 1958. By contrast, the discharge at the end of the dry season averaged just per second.


title: Zambezi

text: In the 1960s and 1970s, the building of dams changed that pattern completely. Downstream, the mean monthly minimum–maximum was per second; now it is per second. Medium-level floods especially, of the kind to which the ecology of the lower Zambezi was adapted, happen less often and have a shorter duration. As with the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam's deleterious effects on the Kafue Flats, this has these effects:


title: Zambezi

text: The Zambezi Delta has extensive seasonally and permanentlybflooded grasslands, savannas, and swamp forests. Together with the floodplains of the Buzi, Pungwe, and Save Rivers, the Zambezi's floodplains make up the World Wildlife Fund's Zambezian coastal flooded savanna ecoregion in Mozambique. The flooded savannas lie close to the Indian Ocean coast. Mangroves fringe the delta's shoreline.


title: Zambezi

text: Although the dams have stemmed some of the annual flooding of the lower Zambezi and caused the area of floodplain to be greatly reduced, they have not removed flooding completely. They cannot control extreme floods, and they have only made medium-level floods less frequent. When heavy rain in the lower Zambezi combines with significant runoff upstream, massive floods still happen, and the wetlands are still an important habitat. The shrinking of the wetlands, though, resulted in uncontrolled hunting of animals such as buffalo and waterbuck during the Mozambican Civil War.


title: Zambezi

text: Although the region has had a reduction in the populations of the large mammals, it is still home to some, including the reedbuck and migrating eland. Carnivores found here include lion ("Panthera leo"), leopard ("Panthera pardus"), cheetah ("Acinonyx jubatus"), spotted hyena ("Crocuta crocuta"), and side-striped jackal ("Canis adustus"). The floodplains are a haven for migratory waterbirds, including pintails, garganey, African openbill ("Anastomus lamelligerus"), saddle-billed stork ("Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis"), wattled crane ("Bugeranus carunculatus"), and great white pelican ("Pelecanus onocrotalus").


title: Zambezi

text: Reptiles include Nile crocodile ("Crocodylus niloticus"), Nile monitor lizard ("Varanus niloticus"), African rock python ("Python sebae"), the endemic Pungwe worm snake ("Leptotyphlops pungwensis"), and three other snakes that are nearly endemic - floodplain water snake ("Lycodonomorphus whytei obscuriventris"), dwarf wolf snake ("Lycophidion nanus"), and swamp viper ("Proatheris").


title: Zambezi

text: The north of the Zambezi basin has mean annual rainfall of 1100 to 1400 mm, which declines towards the south, reaching about half that figure in the south-west. The rain falls in a 4-to-6-month summer rainy season when the intertropical convergence zone moves over the basin from the north between October and March. Evaporation rates are high (1600 mm-2300 mm), and much water is lost this way in swamps and floodplains, especially in the south-west of the basin.


title: Zambezi

text: The river supports large populations of many animals. Hippopotamuses are abundant along most of the calm stretches of the river, as well as Nile crocodiles. Monitor lizards are found in many places. Birds are abundant, with species including heron, pelican, egret, lesser flamingo, and African fish eagle present in large numbers. Riverine woodland also supports many large animals, such as buffalo, zebras, giraffes, and elephants.


title: Zambezi

text: The Zambezi also supports several hundred species of fish, some of which are endemic to the river. Important species include cichlids, which are fished heavily for food, as well as catfish, tigerfish, yellowfish, and other large species. The bull shark is sometimes known as the Zambezi shark after the river, not to be mistaken with "Glyphis" freshwater shark genus that inhabit the river, as well.


title: Zambezi

text: "Source: Beilfuss & Dos Santos (2001)" The Okavango Basin is not included in the figures because it only occasionally overflows to any extent into the Zambezi.


title: Zambezi

text: Because of the rainfall distribution, northern tributaries contribute much more water than southern ones; for example: The Northern Highlands catchment of the upper Zambezi contributes 25%, Kafue 8%, Luangwa and Shire Rivers 16% each, total 65% of Zambezi discharge. The large Cuando basin in the south-west, though, contributes only about 2 m/s because most is lost through evaporation in its swamp systems. The 1940s and 1950s were particularly wet decades in the basin. Since 1975, it has been drier, the average discharge being only 70% of that for the years 1930 to 1958.


title: Zambezi

text: Up to the Late Pliocene or Pleistocene (more than two million years ago), the upper Zambezi flowed south through what is now the Makgadikgadi Pan to the Limpopo River. The change of the river course is the result of epeirogenic movements that lifted up the surface at the present-day water divide between both rivers.


title: Zambezi

text: Meanwhile, east, a western tributary of the Shire River in the East African Rift's southern extension through Malawi eroded a deep valley on its western escarpment. At a slow rate, the middle Zambezi started cutting back the bed of its river towards the west, aided by grabens (rift valleys) forming along its course in an east–west axis. As it did so, it captured several south-flowing rivers such as the Luangwa and Kafue.


title: Zambezi

text: Eventually, the large lake trapped at Makgadikgadi (or a tributary of it) was captured by the middle Zambezi cutting back towards it, and emptied eastwards. The upper Zambezi was captured , as well. The middle Zambezi was about lower than the upper Zambezi, and a high waterfall formed at the edge of the basalt plateau across which the upper river flows. This was the first Victoria Falls, somewhere down the Batoka Gorge near where Lake Kariba is now.


title: Zambezi

text: The first European to come across the Zambezi River was Vasco da Gama in January 1498, who anchored at what he called "Rio dos Bons Sinais" (River of Good Omens), now the Quelimane or Quá-Qua, a small river on the northern end of the delta, which at that time was connected by navigable channels to the Zambezi River proper (the connection silted up by the 1830s). In a few of the oldest maps, the entire river is denoted as such. By the 16th century, a new name emerged, the "Cuama" River (sometimes "Quama" or "Zuama"). Cuama was the local name given by the dwellers of the Swahili coast for an outpost located on one of the southerly islands of the delta (near the Luabo channel). Most old nautical maps denote the Luabo entry as Cuama, the entire delta as the "rivers of Cuama", and the Zambezi proper as the "Cuama River".


title: Zambezi

text: In 1552, Portuguese chronicler João de Barros noted that the same Cuama River was called "Zembere" by the inland people of Monomatapa. The Portuguese Dominican friar João dos Santos, visiting Monomatapa in 1597 reported it as "Zambeze" (Bantu languages frequently shifts between z and r) and inquired into the origins of the name; he was told it was named after a people.


title: Zambezi

text: Thus, the term "Zambezi" is after a people who live by a great lake to the north. The most likely candidates are the "M'biza", or Bisa people (in older texts given as Muisa, Movisa, Abisa, Ambios, and other variations), a Bantu people who live in what is now central-eastern Zambia, between the Zambezi River and Lake Bangweolo (at the time, before the Lunda invasion, the Bisa would have likely stretched further north, possibly to Lake Tanganyika). The Bisa had a reputation as great cloth traders throughout the region.


title: Zambezi

text: In a curious note, Goese-born Portuguese trader Manuel Caetano Pereira, who traveled to the Bisa homelands in 1796, was surprised to be shown a second, separate river referred to as the "Zambezi". This "other Zambezi" that puzzled Pereira is most likely what modern sources spell the Chambeshi River in northern Zambia.


title: Zambezi

text: The Monomatapa notion (reported by Santos) that the Zambezi was sourced from a great internal lake might be a reference to one of the African Great Lakes. One of the names reported by early explorers for Lake Malawi was "Lake Zambre" (probably a corruption of "Zambezi"), possibly because Lake Malawi is connected to the lower Zambezi via the Shire River. The Monomatapa story resonated with the old European notion, drawn from classical antiquity, that all the great African rivers—the Nile, the Senegal, the Congo, and the Zambezi—were all sourced from the same great internal lake. The Portuguese were also told that the Mozambican Espirito Santo "river" (actually an estuary formed by the Umbeluzi, Matola, and Tembe Rivers) was sourced from a lake (hence its outlet became known as Delagoa Bay). As a result, several old maps depict the Zambezi and the "Espirito Santo" Rivers converging deep in the interior, at the same lake.