Plaine de Massenya
| Plaine de Massenya | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Location: | Chad | ||
| Specialty: | Chari-Baguirmi region | ||
| Next city: | Massenya | ||
| Surface: | 25,260 km² | ||
The Plaine de Massenya ('Plain of Massenya') is located southwest of the geographic center of Chad , in the Chari-Baguirmi region , 170 km southeast of the capital of Chad, N'Djamena .
location
The eponymous city of Massenya is located in the northwest of the plain . It is a natural depression that extends between the Shari River and the Guera massif (1613 meters), houses an extensive wetland area and forms an important reservoir of groundwater for the region. Most of the wetland was declared a wetland of international importance on October 17, 2008, which is under the protection of the Ramsar Convention . This area extends over an area of 25,260 km².
geology
The surface formations of the Plaine de Massenya consist largely of alluvial alluvial soils, which were deposited in the plains during the Quaternary period due to the transgression and regression of Lake Paleochad . The late Quaternary alluvial deposits consist of individual series of sandy, loamy and clayey strata. These formations are located in the center and southwest of the lowland. The rock formations formed in the early to middle Quaternary consist of lateritic rocks and white clays . These formations are found in the south, northeast and northwest of the lowlands. These surface layers lie on a succession of sandstones and limestones, which were created in the Chalk to Paleogene ages , are collectively referred to as the Continental Terminal Aquifer and form a nationally important groundwater reservoir in the Chad basin .
Hydrology
The wetlands of the Plaine de Massenya owe their existence to the Barh Erguig, a seasonal tributary of the Sharis, which absorbs part of the river's flood and transports it into the plains. These overflows last on average from September to December, but flood events have become less frequent since the 1970s, so that the bed of the Bahr Erguig watercourse became partially overgrown or eroded and the water level in the wetlands became more dependent on regional rainfall. For the period from 1936 to 1967, the average water release from the Shari in the Barh Erguig was 74 m³ / s, across from Miltou, and 49 m³ / s in Massenya. During this period, the maximum flow was measured at 1438 m³ / s at the Miltou gauge and 1000 m³ / s in Massenya. Regional precipitation falls from June to September and is controlled by the intensity of the West African monsoons . The annual mean temperature is 26.7 ° C, with two maxima of the daily mean temperatures between May - June (31 ° C) and October (30 ° C). The lowest mean daily temperatures are reached in February at around 19 ° C.
ecology
flora
Important ecological elements of the plain are the water areas of the wetlands. They are home to a wide variety of different species of fish whose spawning areas are the floodplain areas in the gallery forests. The vegetation in the northern part of the plain corresponds to that of the Sahel zone , in whose savannas Anogeissus leocarpus , Terminalia sp. , Sclerocarya birrea and Balanites aegyptiaca are the dominant tree species. South of a line from Massenya to Bousso there are also moderately dense bush forests interspersed with trees such as Anogeissus leocarpus , Detarium microcarpum and Terminalia avicennoides .
fauna
The fauna is diverse and varied and provides a habitat for a large number of African mammals , birds and reptiles . Among other things, the tourist flagship species such as the African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) and the giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis ) occur in the plain.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Behera Commanda: Fiche descriptive sur les zones humides Ramsar (FDR) - version 2006-2008 ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Direction de Parcs Nationaux, des Réserves de faune et de la Chasse (French) available at Wetlands.org
- ^ The Annotated Ramsar List: Chad. In: archive.ramsar.org. January 14, 2002, accessed August 2, 2018 .
- ↑ Jacques Lemoalle: Aspects de la production et du fonctionnement écologique des zones humides tropicales Le bassin du lac Tchad (French) (PDF document)
- ↑ Sustainable Water Resources Management Lake Chad: Project Activities - Report N ° 1. (PDF; 1.2 MB) In: bgr.bund.de. BGR , April 2008, accessed on September 16, 2018 (English).
