The Nahe () is a river in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, Germany, a left tributary to the Rhine. It has also given name to the wine region Nahe situated around it. The name Nahe is derived from the Latin word Nava, which is supposed to be based upon the Celtic origin for the wild river. The Nahe separates the northern part of the Palatinate from the Hunsrück. It rises in the area of Nohfelden (Saarland), flowing through Rhineland-Palatinate and joining the Rhine in Bingen. Its length is . Towns along the Nahe include Idar-Oberstein, Kirn, Bad Kreuznach and Bingen. Hydrology The drainage basin of the river covers an area of . Due to this relatively large area compared to the river's length high floods can occur along its middle and lower course within only a few hours, however flowing off also quickly. In 1993 and 1995 in Bad Kreuznach a flow of more than was measured and more than at its mouth into the Rhine. The dimensions of the drainage basin are shown in the map. Its boundaries clock-wise, beginning in the East: the highlands of the Rheinhessische Schweiz as drainage divide to the Rhine the Donnersberg massif as drainage divide to the rivers Selz and Rhine the North Palatine Uplands as drainage divide to the rivers Pfrimm and Rhine eastwards as well as to the rivers Wallhalb and Schwarzbach (Blies) southwards the Hunsrück as drainage divide to the rivers Prims, Blies and Saar in the South respectively to the Moselle in the North the mountains of the Binger Wald (Bingen forest) as drainage divide to the Rhine towards North Geology and Wildlife The rocks in the Nahe region are predominantly of Cisuralian (early Permian) age and part of the Rotliegendes. At that time, an impetuous volcanism appeared in the region. Huge deposits of the reddish volcanic rock Rhyolite and of the more alkaline volcanic rock Andesite were left. The valleys of the Nahe and its tributaries have been being formed since 2.6 million years ago during the Quaternary, the geologically latest period, as a result of ground heaving of the surrounding mountains of Hunsrück and North Palatine Uplands. This led to a steep decline of all waters and hence to strong erosion activities. Particularly strong erosion occurred in warmer melting periods during the ice ages, when tundra climate reigned, and the soil was not protected by a dense cover of