The Marrah Mountains or Marra Mountains ( Fur, Fugo Marra; ar, جبل مرة, Jebel Marra are a range of volcanic peaks in a massif that rises up to . They are the highest mountains in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Geography

The mountains are located in the center of the

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

region of

on the border of the states of South Darfur and Central Darfur, with a smaller part of the range in the state of North Darfur. The highest point is

Deriba Caldera Deriba is a Pleistocene or Holocene caldera in Darfur, Sudan. Part of the volcanoes of the Marra Mountains, it lies on the Darfur dome and like the Tagabo Hills and Meidob Hills volcanism may be the product of a mantle plume. After the separati ...

. The upper reaches of the massif is a small area of temperate climate with high rainfall and permanent springs of water amidst the dry savanna and scrub of the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

below. Apart from the Aïr Mountains in Niger which are on the border of the Sahara proper, the Marrah Mountains are the only major mountain range in the otherwise flat Sahel, rising up to above the plain, but are relatively unknown owing to lack of development and political conflict in the region. The last eruption occurred around

1500 BC The 1500s BC was a decade lasting from January 1, 1509 BC to December 31, 1500 BC. Events and trends * 1506 BC — Cecrops, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus. *c. 150 ...

. The centre of activity was

, and involved

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

collapse following the eruption of pumice and pyroclastic flows which travelled over from the volcano. The vegetation was described by Gerald Wickens.

History

In course of the War in Darfur, the Marrah Mountains fell under control of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement/Army faction loyal to

Abdul Wahid al Nur Abdul Wahid Mohamed al Nur (also Abdel Wahid el-Nur or Abdulwahid Mohammed Nour; ar, عبد الواحد محمد نور, ''ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Muḥammad Nūr''; born in 1968) is the leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (al Nur) faction ...

. The mountains remained one of the group's most important strongholds, housing several of its bases, as of 2021.

Footnotes

References

* Mountain ranges of Sudan Volcanoes of Sudan Volcanic fields Sahel Darfur {{Sudan-geo-stub