Editing Nile (section)

=== Integrated Nile ===
There are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following the present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Rushdi Said postulates that Egypt supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history.<ref name="Said1981">Said, R. (1981). ''The geological evolution of the River Nile''. [[Springer Verlag]].</ref>

The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile, the Atbara and the Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into [[Tertiary]] times.<ref name="WW1980">Williams, M.A.J.; Williams, F. (1980). ''Evolution of Nile Basin''. In M.A.J. Williams and H. Faure (eds). ''The Sahara and the Nile''. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 207–224.</ref>

R. B. Salama suggests that a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System that during the [[Paleogene]] and [[Neogene]] periods (66&nbsp;million to 2.588&nbsp;million years ago): [[Melut Basin|Mellut rift]], [[White Nile rift]], [[Blue Nile rift]], [[Atbara rift]] and [[Sag El Naam rift]].<ref name="Salama1987">{{Cite journal |last=Salama, R.B. |year=1987 |title=The evolution of the River Nile, The buried saline rift lakes in Sudan |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=899–913 |doi=10.1016/0899-5362(87)90049-2 }}</ref>
The Mellut Basin is nearly {{convert|12|km|mi|sp=us|sigfig=2}} deep at its central part. This rift could possibly be still active, with reported [[Tectonics|tectonic]] activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The [[Sudd]] swamp which forms the central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift system, although shallower than the [[Bahr el Arab rift]], is about {{convert|9|km|mi|sp=us|sigfig=2}} deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be {{convert|5|–|9|km|sp=us|sigfig=2}}. These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition was enough to fill and connect them.

The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift systems.<ref name="Salama1997">Salama, R.B. (1997). ''Rift Basins of Sudan. African Basins, Sedimentary Basins of the World. 3.'' Edited by R.C. Selley (Series Editor K.J. Hsu) pp. 105–149. ElSevier, Amsterdam.</ref> The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The Atbarah overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to the main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago during the [[African humid period]].