Maroni River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Maroni or Marowijne (French: Maroni, Dutch: Marowijne, Sranan Tongo: Marwina-liba) is a river that originates in the Tumuk Humak Mountains, it forms the (disputed) border between French Guiana and Suriname. In its upper reaches, it is also known as the Lawa River, and close to its source it is known as the Marouini River.
There are two nature preserves located in the estuary region on the Surinamese side of the river, near the village of Galibi. They provide protection for the birds and the Leatherback Sea Turtles that hatch there.
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[edit] Border problems
In 1860 the question was posed from the French side, which of the two tributary rivers was the headwater, and thus the border. A joint French-Dutch commission was appointed to review the issue. The Dutch side of the commission consisted of J.H. Baron van Heerdt tot Eversberg, J.F.A. Cateau van Rosevelt and August Kappler. Luits Vidal, Ronmy]], Boudet and Dr. Rech composed the French side. In 1861 measurements were taken, which produced the following result: the Lawa had a flow rate of 35,960 m3/minute at a width of 436m; the Tapanahony had a flow rate of 20,291 m3/minute at a width of 285 m. Thus the Lawa River was the headwater of the Maroni River.
There were no problems with this decision until 1885. However, the discovery of gold in the area between the Lawa and the Tapanahony created a new border conflict. On November 29, 1888 France and The Netherlands reached an agreement that the conflict should be subject arbitration. Emperor Alexander III of Russia, acting as the arbitrator, decided that the Lawa was the headwater of the Maroni, and thus should be considered the border.
But now there was a new question: which river was the source of the Lawa River? The Netherlands considered the Marowini (the eastern tributary river) to be the source of the Lawa; the French considered the Litani, located further to the west, to be the source of the Lawa. This issue still has not been resolved to this date.
The ’’Litani’’ orginates in the Tumuk Humak Mountains at approximately 2½°N 55°W; along it’s path it is fed by ‘’Koele Koelebreek’’, the ‘’Lokereek’’, the ‘’Mapaonikreek’’ and the ‘’Oelemari’’.
The ‘’Marowini’’ also has its source in the Tumuk Humak Mountains, at approximately 2°N, 54°W; it also absorbs the ‘’Koelebreek’’, among others.
[edit] Numbers
The Maroni basin is 68,700 km²; above the island ‘’Langatabbetje’’ (110 km away from the mouth of the river) this area is 63,700 km². Between 1952 and 1973 the average flow rate near ‘’Langatabbetje’’ was about 1,700 m³/second. The minimum was 95 m³/second, the maximum 6,550 m³/second. The estuary is approximately 90 km long; the average tidal range in the estuary is 2m; in the dry season, the salt reaches about 40km upstream to the town of Albina.
The estimated potential hydro power for Suriname is between 1150 and 1250 megawatts.
[edit] Exploration
The Maroni is the most extensively studied of all the rivers in Suriname. In the 16th century there were already ships exploring the estuary through Keymis, Masham, De Berrio and Cabeliau and in the 17th century through Harcourt, Fisher and De Vries. In the 18th century more extensive excursions took place, to Mentell, Patris, Le Blond and Heneman and in the 19th century to Zegelaar, Crevaux, Coudreau, Ten Kate, Joost and more.
Of importance in the 20th century were the Gonini and Tapanahony expeditions, and the Tumuk Humak and Southern Border Expeditions. From these arose the research of the ‘’Geologisch Mijnbouwkundige Dienst’’ (GMD) and the ‘’Centraal Bureau voor Lucktkartering’’ (CBL).
[edit] References
- C.F.A. Bruijning und J. Voorhoeve (Ed.): Encyclopedie van Suriname. Amsterdam & Brussels 1977, B.V. Uitgeversmaatschappij Argus Elsevier, p. 256, 396-397; ISBN 90-10-01842-3.
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of 1 November 2006.
