sudd

 

(sʊd) , swampy region, c.200 mi (320 km) long, and c.150 mi (240 km) wide, S Sudan, E central Africa. It is fed by the Bahr al-Jebel, the Bahr al-Ghazal, and the Bahr al-Arab, headwaters of the Nile. Thick aquatic vegetation (sudd) disperses the river water into numerous channels. About half the water is lost through evaporation and absorption before leaving the Sudd. The vegetation hinders navigation and long barred attempts to trace the Nile to its source. An Egyptian expedition first succeeded in crossing the Sudd in 1840. It took much effort to clear (1899–1903) a channel for regular navigation, and constant maintenance is necessary to keep it open. Construction on a canal to circumvent the Sudd and drain swampland for agriculture began in 1978 but was suspended in 1983.

The Sudd (Arabic سد, sadd, "barrier") is a vast swamp formed by the White Nile in southern Sudan. Its size is variable, but during the wet season it may be over 130,000 km² in area.

In the Sudd, the river flows through multiple tangled channels in a pattern that changes each year. Papyrus grows in dense thickets in the shallow water, which is frequented by crocodiles and hippopotami. Sometimes the matted vegetation breaks free of its moorings, building up into floating islands of vegetation up to 30 km in length. Such islands, in varying stages of decomposition, eventually break up. The sluggish waters are host to a large population of mosquitos and parasites that cause waterborne diseases. The Sudd is considered to be nearly impassable either overland or by watercraft.^[1] The early explorers searching for the source of the Nile experienced considerable difficulties, sometimes taking months to get through. In The White Nile, Alan Moorehead says of the Sudd, "there is no more formidable swamp in the world."

There are three main waterways through the swamp; the Bahr al Zaraf ("River of the Giraffes"), the Bahr al Ghazal ("River of the Gazelles"), and the Bahr al Jabal ("River of the Mountain"), which is the main connection to the Mountain Nile.

The Jonglei diversion canal

Because of the Sudd swamp, the water from the southwestern tributaries (the Bahr el Ghazal system) for all practical purposes does not reach the main river and is lost through evaporation and transpiration. Hydrogeologists in the early part of the 20th century proposed digging a canal east of the Sudd which would divert water from the Bahr al Jabal above the Sudd to a point farther down the White Nile, bypassing the swamps and carrying the White Nile's water's directly to the main channel of the river.

The Jonglei canal scheme was first studied by the government of Sudan in 1946 and plans were developed in 1954-59. Construction work on the canal began in 1978 but the outbreak of political instability in Sudan has held up work for many years. By 1984 when the Southern Sudanese rebels (SPLA) brought the works to a halt, 240km of the canal of a total of 360km had been excavated.

It is estimated that the Jonglei canal project would produce 4.8 x 10⁹ m³ of water per year. There are, however, complex environmental and social issues involved, which may limit the scope of the project in practical terms.

References and notes

External links

• Sudd on Google Map
• Saharan flooded grasslands (World Wildlife Fund)
• Elephant herds found on isolated south Sudan island

Coordinates: 8°00′N, 31°00′E

Donate to Wikimedia