The Darfur Dome,western Sudan: the product of a subcontinental mantle plume

Field investigations, K-Ar age determinations and chemical data were used to describe the development of an intraplate volcanic province, the Darfur Dome, Sudan. Magmatism started 36 Ma ago at a small subvolcanic complex (Jebel Kussa) in the center of the dome and was active in the same area between 26 and 23 Ma. Two major volcanic fields (Marra Mountains and Tagabo Hills) developed between 16 and 10 Ma. Volcanism started again at 6.8 Ma with a third volcanic field (Meidob Hills) and at 4.3 Ma in the Marra Mountains and with the reactivation of the center. Activity then continued until the late Quaternary. Having started in the center of the Darfur Dome, volcanism moved in 36 Ma 200 km towards the NNE and 100 km SSW No essential difference in the alkaline magma types (basanitic to phonolitic-trachytic, with different amounts of assimilation of crustal material) in the different fields, was observed. Magmatism is thought to have been produced by a rising mantle plume and volcanism was triggered by stress resolution along the Central African Fault Zone.     

Digging into Google Earth: An analysis of “Crisis in Darfur”

Google publicists have suggested the Crisis in Darfur is an example of the Google Earth software’s “success at tangibly impacting what is happening on the ground.” Yet whether or not Google Earth’s interface, along with a medley of other media representations of the conflict, have impacted events on the ground or led to coherent policies of humanitarian intervention remains open to debate. This article draws upon critical approaches from media studies—namely discourse analysis—to analyze several aspects of the Google Earth/USHMM Crisis in Darfur project. While this project was no doubt developed with the noble intention of generating international awareness about widespread violence that has recently occurred in the Darfur region, it is important to evaluate how representations of global conflicts are changing with uses of new information technologies and whether such representations can actually achieve their desired impacts or effects. The article begins with a discussion of the Crisis in Darfur project’s history, proceeds to analyze some of the press coverage of the project and then moves to a critique of the layer using four categories of analysis: (1) the shifting role of satellite image; (2) the temporality of the interface; (3) the practice of conflict branding; and (4) the practice of “information intervention.” Throughout the article, I explore how the presentation of Darfur-related materials through Google Earth reproduces problematic Western tropes of African tragedy and misses an opportunity to generate public literacy around satellite images. I also consider how humanitarianism is intertwined with digital and disaster capitalism, and suggest that this instance of “information intervention” makes patently clear that high visual capital alone cannot resolve global conflicts.     

The Zaghawa and the Midob of North Darfur – A comparison of migration behaviour

Two ethnic groups of North Darfur, the Zaghawa and the Midob, are being compared as regards their migration behaviour and their identification in their destination areas. Both groups have severely suffered as a result of the drought phase of the last three decades, during which more than half of the Zaghawa and Midob have migrated southwards and to the towns. Despite the similarity of the two ethnic groups, being non-Arab agropastoralists who are socially and politically marginalised both within Darfur and within the Sudan, they show marked differences in their migration behaviour and ethnic solidarity. The Zaghawa migrants are considerably more economically successful than the Midob migrants. The main reasons are: – The Zaghawa started their outmigration earlier than the Midob. Thus, they could establish ethnically-based networks in Libya and the Gulf countries, to which Zaghawa migrants can resort to make a good start in their destination areas. By the time the Midob started their migration in the 1980s, the conditions of employment in the Arab oil countries had worsened. – The Zaghawa show a strong clan solidarity. They readily lend money to young members of their clan to cover the high costs of travelling to the Arab oil countries for work, where many of them have already established themselves. – The Midob, both in the Sudan and abroad, have much less resources available. The only country open for them outside the Sudan is Libya. Lacking capital, the Midob go there on camels, mostly illegally. Having no connections in Libya, except those to other poor Midob there, they usually try to work in herding sheep and goats, which is not a lucrative profession. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Female circumcision and ethnic identification in Sudan with special reference to the Berti of Darfur1

This article assesses the state of female circumcision in the Sudan with the primary emphasis being placed on the Berti of Darfur. Among other things, the article examines the factors that have so far led to the perpetuation of the practice and the failure of the anti-circumcision campaign. The author suggests a renewal of the campaign through the use of a comprehensive approach which encompasses the social, aesthetic, medical, identificational and religious variables involved in the practice. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.