The Bahr el Arab rift is a major geological feature in the southwest

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 ...

. The Bahr el Arab rift is made up of the Baggara

graben In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...

, between the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

and the

Nuba Mountains The Nuba Mountains ( ar, جبال النوبة), also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages, ...

to the east, and the Sudd graben further south. It terminates to the north on the faulted

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

deposits south of the Darfur Dome. The Babanusa trough has extensive faulting, increasing towards the south, reaching a depth of 5 km at the

Unity oil field The Unity oil field is a major oil field in the Ruweng Administrative Area, South Sudan. It lies to the north of the state capital Bentiu in Rubkona County. The oil field, and the Heglig field further north, were discovered by Chevron Corporatio ...

and 11 km south of the

Bentiu Bentiu, also spelled Bantiu, is a city in South Sudan and capital of the state of Unity State. Location Bentiu is located in Rubkona County, Unity State, in northern South Sudan, near the international border with the Republic of the Sudan. It li ...

oil fields.

References

Aulacogens Geology of South Sudan Geology of Sudan Mesozoic Africa Geography of South Sudan Geography of Sudan Rifts and grabens {{tectonics-stub