2.4 The river Nile

• Aardrijkskunde
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

2.4 The river Nile

Aims

• Describe the upper, middle & lower courses of the river Nile;
• Explain the main uses of the river Nile.

Confluence (A meeting point of two rivers).

Confluence = A meeting point of two rivers.

Confluence of the Negro River and Solimões River, Brazil.

Confluence of the Danube River and Inn River, Germany.

The Nile

The Nile is a rain-fed river: All water comes from rainfall.

The discharge downstream depends on the amount of rainfall upstream.

Upstream

Measured from a point on the river towards the source.

Downstream

Measured from a point on the river towards the mouth.

Regime

Regime = The fluctuations (differences) in discharge throughout the year.

High during the rainy season. 

Low during the dry season.

Aswan High Dam

Less water flowing through the river downstream.

Upstream a lake is formed behind the dam to store the water.

The Sudd Wetland in South Sudan is an extremely large and flat piece of land, where water flows slowly.

Because of high temperatures, there is a high rate of  water evaporation = Water that goes from a liquid into a gaseous state.

Lower course

• The gradient decreases;
  
• The river becomes wider;
  
• Because of the Aswan Dam there are less sediments in the Nile Delta;
  
• The Delta is less fertile;
• Farmers use artificial fertilizers to grow crops.

The Nile delta and the sediment plume are visible from space.

The uses of the river Nile

• Drinking water;
• Oppurtunity to transport goods;
• Deposited sediments made the land fertile;
• They also provided building materials.

The Aswan Dam changed the river:

• Regulating the discharge;
• Assisting in flood prevention;
• Generate hydropower; electricity generated by the flow of water.

Areas of soil are flooded to provide soil for agriculture.

Using the river for cleaning and fishing in South Sudan.

Population

The population distribution is very uneven; places with a lot of available surface water are densely populated.

Look at the planner in Teams for the homework!