Imatong Mountains
| Imatong Mountains | |
|---|---|
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| Elevation | 2,071 metres (6,795 ft) |
| Geography | |
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| Country | South Sudan |
| State | Imatong State |
| Range coordinates | 3°57′N 32°54′E / 3.95°N 32.9°ECoordinates: 3°57′N 32°54′E / 3.95°N 32.9°E |
The Imatong Mountains (also Immatong, or rarely Matonge) are mainly located in Imatong State in southeastern South Sudan, and extend into the Northern Region of Uganda. It was earlier a part of Eastern Equatoria before reorganisation of states.
Mount Kinyeti is the highest mountain of the range at 3,187 metres (10,456 ft), and the highest point of South Sudan.
The range has an equatorial climate and had dense montane forests supporting diverse wildlife. Since the mid-20th century the rich ecology has increasingly been severely degraded by native forest clearance and subsistence farming, causing extensive erosion of the slopes.
The Imatong Mountains massif lies mainly within Torit County (western part) and Ikotos County (eastern part) of Imatong State. It is located some 190 kilometres (120 mi) southeast of Juba and south of the main road from Torit to the Kenyan border town of Lokichoggio.
The mountain range rises steeply from the surrounding plains, which slope gradually down from about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) on the South Sudan-Uganda border in the south to 600 metres (2,000 ft) at Torit in the north.
These plains are crossed by many streams, separated by low, rounded ridges, and dotted with small gneiss hills, outliers of the main mountain range.
The mountains are formed of crystalline basement rock that rises through the Tertiary and Quaternary unconsolidated deposits of the plains in the South Sudan-Uganda frontier zone. The most widespread types of rock are leucocratic gneisses rich in quartz. The mountains are sharply faulted and are the source of many year-round rivers.
The mountains are highest in the southeast where a group of peaks reach about 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), and the tallest, Mount Kinyeti, reaches 3,187 metres (10,456 ft). This central block group of high mountains around Mount Kinyeti are sometimes called the Lomariti or Lolibai mountains, and the high central part on the Uganda side is sometimes called the Lomwaga Mountains.
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Wikipedia