Somme (river)

Coordinates: 50°11′10″N 01°38′35″E / 50.18611°N 1.64306°E / 50.18611; 1.64306
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
River Somme
)

For other uses, see Somme (disambiguation).

The Somme (

river in Picardy, northern France
.

The river is 245 km (152 mi) in length, from its source in the high ground of the former

Solent. This gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several fluvial terraces have been identified.[3]

Name

The Somme river was known in ancient times as Samara. It presumably means 'the summery river', that is to say the 'quiet river', stemming from an adjective *sam-aro- ('summery') itself derived from the Celtic root *samo- ('summer').[4][5]

The city of

Samarobriva (Gaulish: 'bridge on the Samara'). It is attested by the early 1st century BC as the chief town of the Ambiani, an ancient Gallic tribe of the region.[5] The modern department of Somme
was named after this river.

History

King Edward III Crossing the Somme (at the Battle of Blanchetaque): painting by Benjamin West
, 1788

The Somme has featured prominently in several military campaigns. In 1066, the invasion fleet of William the Conqueror assembled in the Bay of the Somme, at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. The river also featured in the 1346 withdrawal of Edward III of England's army, which forded the river at the Battle of Blanchetaque during the campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Crécy. Crossing the river also featured prominently in the campaign which led to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

In 1636, a Spanish army led by

Thirty Years War threatening Paris.[6]

Most famously, the

Villers Bretonneux
, which marked the beginning of the end of the war.

Fonsommes

Départements and towns along the river
The mouth of the Somme in the English Channel
The estuary is now much smaller than it once was but still extensive.

Tributaries

The tributaries listed comprise:

left tributaries:

  1. the Sommette,
  2. the Beine,
  3. the Allemagne,
  4. the Ingon,
  5. the Avre with tributaries Luce and Noye,
  6. the Selle,
  7. the Saint-Landon,
  8. the Airaines,
  9. the Trie,
  10. the Amboise and l'Avalasse

right tributaries:

  1. the Germaine,
  2. the Omignon,
  3. the Cologne,
  4. La Tortille,
  5. the Ancre,
  6. the Hallue,
  7. the Nièvre,
  8. the Scardon,
  9. the Dien

Hydrology

The river is characterized by a very gentle gradient and a steady flow. The valley is more or less steep-sided but its bottom is flat with

sufficient
to keep fen from forming.

This satellite photograph shows the fenny valley crossing the chalk to the sea on the left. The sinuous length at the centre of the picture lies downstream from Péronne.

One of the fens, the Marais de l'Île is a nature reserve in the town of St.Quentin. The traditional market gardens of

peat cutting
, the fen is now used for fishing and shooting

In 2001, the Somme valley was affected by particularly high floods, which were in large part due to a rise in the water table of the surrounding land.

Flow-rate data (external links)

Monthly flow rates

Catchment area 5,560 km2 (2,150 sq mi).

Flow rates at Hangest-sur-Somme

Daily flow rates compared with mean rates for the time of year at Hangest-sur-Somme (m³/s). Catchment area 4,835 km2 (1,867 sq mi).

  • for the year -

1993. 1995. 1997. 1998. 1999. 2001. 2003. 2005.

Flow rates at Péronne

Mean flow rates monthly and daily at Péronne (m³/s). Catchment area 1,294 km2 (500 sq mi).

  • for the year -

1987. 1989. 1991.1992.1993.
1995.1996.1997.1999.2000.2001.2002.2003.2004.2005.

The Marquenterre bird sanctuary at the mouth of the river

Navigation and canals

The construction of the Canal de la Somme began in 1770 and reached completion in 1843. It is 156 km (97 mi) long, beginning at St.Simon and opening into the Bay of the Somme. From St.Simon to Froissy (near Bray sur Somme, south of Albert), the canal is alongside the river. Thence to the sea, the river is partly river and partly navigation. From Abbeville, it is diverted through the silted, former estuary, to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, where the maritime canal, once called the canal du Duc d'Angoulême enters the English Channel.

An example of the lakes formed in the fen of the valley bottom. They attract wildfowlers and anglers.

The

1918 battle, links the Somme to northern France and Belgium and southward to the Oise. The Canal du Nord
also links the Somme to the Oise, at Noyon, thence to Paris.

References

Citations

  1. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6
    .
  3. S2CID 130418864
    .
  4. ^ Matasović 2009, p. 321.
  5. ^ a b Falileyev 2010, s.v. Samara and Samarobriva Ambianorum.
  6. ^ Hanotaux, Gabriel (1933–1947). Histoire du cardinal de Richelieu (in French). Vol. 5. Paris. 319–21, 327.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ISBN 9780752447933
    .

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Somme River.
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