The Physiography of the Central Sudan

作者：Martin A.J. Williams, Donald Adamson · 发表于：Geographical Journal · 年份：1973 · DOI：10.2307/1795032 · 被引用次数：62 · 研究领域：Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes、Soil erosion and sediment transport、Geological formations and processes

The geological history of the Nile in the Sudan has been reviewed comprehensively by Berry and Whiteman (1968), Butzer and Hansen (1968), and more recently by Whiteman (1971). Recent fieldwork by the authors in central Sudan has more than trebled the number of radiocarbon dates available from that region, and has added significant detail to knowledge of the age and origin of the Gezira plain and the late Quaternary history of the Blue and White Niles. This paper discusses the prior-stream channels and associated sand deposits in the Gezira, and the evidence for higher Nile levels in late Pleistocene and Recent times. It is proposed that the hydrological changes which took place in central Sudan during the past 12 millennia reflect climatic changes of regional extent. Before a consideration of the Pleistocene sequence of events, the present-day climate, vegetation and river regimes are briefly reviewed.