Geology Reports⌕ Search

Geology topics

Research about Sudan

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Sudan.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2012

Flood pulsing in the Sudd wetland: analysis of seasonal variations in 2 inundation and evapotranspiration in Southern Sudan

Located on the Bahr el Jebel in South Sudan, the Sudd is one of the largest floodplain wetlands in the world. Seasonal inundation drives the hydrologic, geomorphological, and ecological processes, and the annual flood pulse is essential to the functioning of the Sudd. Despite the importance of the flood pulse, various hydrological interventions are planned upstream of the Sudd to increase economic benefits and food security. These will not be without consequences, in particular for wetlands where the biological productivity, biodiversity, and human livelihoods are dependent on the flood pulse and both the costs and benefits need to be carefully evaluated. Many African countries still lack regional baseline information on the temporal extent, distribution, and characteristics of wetlands, making it hard to assess the consequences of development interventions. Because of political instability in Sudan and the inaccessible nature of the Sudd, recent measurements of flooding and seasonal dynamics are inadequate. Analyses of multitemporal and multisensor remote sensing datasets are presented in this paper, in order to investigate and characterize flood pulsing within the Sudd wetland over a 12-month period. Wetland area has been mapped along with dominant components of open water and flooded vegetation at five time periods over a single year. The total area of flooding (both rain and river fed) over the 12 months was 41 334 km2, with 9176 km2 of this constituting the permanent wetland. Mean annual total evaporation is shown to be higher and with narrower distribution of values from areas of open water (1718 mm) than from flooded vegetation (1641 mm). Although the exact figures require validation against ground-based measurements, the results highlight the relative differences in inundation patterns and evaporation across the Sudd.

Earth Interactions↗
USGS2011

A climate trend analysis of Sudan

Summer rains in western and southern Sudan have declined by 10-20 percent since the mid-1970s. Observed warming of more than 1 degree Celsius is equivalent to another 10-20 percent reduction in rainfall for crops. The warming and drying have impacted southern Darfur and areas around Juba. Rainfall declines west of Juba threaten southern Sudan's future food production prospects. In many cases, areas with changing climate are coincident with zones of substantial conflict, suggesting some degree of association; however, the contribution of climate change to these conflicts is not currently understood. Rapid population growth and the expansion of farming and pastoralism under a more variable climate regime could dramatically increase the number of at-risk people in Sudan over the next 20 years.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1990

Procedures for woody vegetation surveys in the Kazgail rural council area, Kordofan, Sudan

Efforts to reforest parts of the Kordofan Province of Sudan are receiving support from international development agencies. These efforts include planning and implementing reforestation activities that require the collection of natural resources and socioeconomic data, and the preparation of base maps. A combination of remote sensing, geographic information system and global positioning systems procedures are used in this study to meet these requirements. Remote sensing techniques were used to provide base maps and to guide the compilation of vegetation resources maps. These techniques provided a rapid and efficient method for documenting available resources. Pocket‐sized global positioning system units were used to establish the location of field data collected for mapping and resource analysis. A microcomputer data management system tabulated and displayed the field data. The resulting system for data analysis, management, and planning has been adopted for the mapping and inventory of the Gum Belt of Sudan.

Geocarto International↗
USGS1982

Implications of the Precambrian lineaments on the Red Sea tectonics based on Landsat study of northeast Sudan

Lineament analysis of a Landsat Imagery mosaic (scale 1:1,000,000) of northeast Sugdan indicate significant curvilinear as well as rectilinear fracture patterns of possible Precambrian age. Rectilinear features trend dominantly in N-S (± 10°), NNW and ENE, and less commonly in NW and EW directions. The Precambrian fractures closely match, and have possibly accommodated the Tertiary structures of the Red Sea rift. Projection of the ENE continental fractures offshore on the basis of a modified trend due to rift movements, and "principle of equidistances," corresponds with apparently more precise locations of possible transverse faults. Projections of the proposed transverse faults generally conform with breaks in bathymetric contours, and azimuth trend of the axial trough. Hot brine pools, shallow focus epicenters and anomalous heat flow measurements, all tend to lie at or close to the intersection of the transverse faults and axis of the deep waters. The transverse faults exhibit a general N35-50°E trend as compared with the N60-70_Etrend of the ancestor continental fractures. Deflection in trend caused by faults coinciding with the presnet shore line, may indicate lateral displacement prior to the initial hase of rifting in Miocene times. It also supports the hypothesis of a "two-phase rifting" of the Red Sea. Spreading movements proposed along transverse faults with trend values exceeding N50°E may not be applicable, at least for the more recent separation movements.

Global Tectonics and Metallogeny↗