Deriba Caldera (Jebel Marra)

Where is the Deriba Caldera (Jebel Marra)?

The Deriba Caldera (Jebel Marra) is part of the Marrah Mountains, Darfur.

You will find it in: Sudan.

Summit: 12.950° N, 24.267° E

The story behind it

Jebel Marra is a volcanic mountain that rises out of the dry plains of Darfur, and at its top sits Deriba, a bowl several kilometres wide that formed when the volcano collapsed after an enormous eruption long ago. Inside the bowl lie two lakes, a larger one with salty water and a smaller one fed by rain and springs, both ringed by cliffs of dark lava and pale ash. Because the mountain is so high, clouds gather on its slopes and rain falls there even when the land around stays parched, so farmers of the Fur people grow oranges, wheat and vegetables on terraced fields. Hot springs steam near the shore and remind everyone that the volcano is only sleeping. Walkers who reach the rim look down on blue water held between grey and rusty red rock.

Find it on the globe

The Deriba Caldera (Jebel Marra) is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.