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The Somme ( , , ) is a
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
in Picardy, northern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the
Bay of the Somme Baie de Somme (''Bay of the Somme'' or ''Somme Bay'') is a large estuary in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The bay drains six rivers into the English Channel, principally the River Somme, and covers a total area of . The bay is noted for ...
, in the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...
. It lies in the geological syncline which also forms the Solent. This gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several
fluvial terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial ...
s have been identified.


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 Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
root *''samo''- ('summer')., s.v. ''Samara'' and ''Samarobriva Ambianorum.'' The city of
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
was also known as '' 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. The modern department of
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...
was named after this river.


History

left, '' 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 Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...
's army, which forded the river at the Battle of Blanchetaque during the campaign, which culminated in the
Battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King EdwardIII. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France du ...
. 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 Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, crossed the Somme defeating a French army during the
Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
threatening Paris. Most famously, the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...
, during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, lasted from July to November 1916 and resulted in more than a million casualties. Private A. S. Bullock in his wartime memoir recalled his first sight of it in early April 1918: "... we reached a small place called Hengest sur Somme. The train stopped and we descended. There in front of us was a muddy, sluggish and somewhat narrow stream, which has given its name to one of the most awful battles in history – the Somme." The great battles that finally stopped the German advance in the Spring Offensive of 1918 were fought around the valley of the Somme in places like Villers Bretonneux, which marked the beginning of the end of the war.


Départements and towns along the river

* Aisne: Saint-Quentin *
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...
: Ham, Péronne,
Corbie Corbie (; nl, Korbei) is a commune of the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The small town is situated up river from Amiens, in the département of Somme and is the main town of the canton of Corbie. It lies ...
,
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, Abbeville, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Le Crotoy


Tributaries

The tributaries listed comprise:


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
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...
s and pools. These characteristics of steady flow and flooded valley bottom arise from the river's being fed by the ground water in the
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...
basin in which it lies. At earlier, colder times, from the
Günz The Günz is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is formed near Lauben by the confluence of its two source rivers: the Östliche Günz (eastern Günz) and the Westliche Günz (western Günz). It is approx. long (including its western source riv ...
to the Würm (Beestonian or Nebraskan to Devensian or Wisconsinian) the river has cut down into the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
geology to a level below the modern
water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...
. The valley bottom has now therefore, filled with water which, in turn, has filled with
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...
. This picture, of the source of the Somme in 1986, shows it when the water table had fallen below the surface of the chalk in which the
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...
lies. Here, the flow of water had been 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
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, the ''Hortillonages'' are on this sort of land but drained. Once exploited for 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 The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...
of the surrounding land.


Flow-rate data (external links)


Monthly flow rates

Catchment area .
at Abbeville


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 . * for the year
1993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005


Flow rates at Péronne

Mean flow rates monthly and daily at Péronne (m³/s). Catchment area . * for the year
198619871988198919901991199219931994
19951996199719981999200020012002200320042005


Navigation and canals

The construction of the '' Canal de la Somme'' began in 1770 and reached completion in 1843. It is 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
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...
ed, former
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
, to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, where the maritime canal, once called the canal du Duc d'Angoulême enters the English Channel. The St Quentin Canal, famous for the 1918 battle, links the Somme to northern France and
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
and southward to the Oise. The
Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...
also links the Somme to the Oise, at Noyon, thence to Paris.


References


Citations


Sources

* Delattre, Ch., Mériaux, E. and Waterlot, M. ''Guides Géologiques Régionaux: Région du Nord, Flandre Artois Boulonnais Picardie'' (1973) * *


External links


Pictures from the Somme
{{Authority control
Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...
Rivers of Aisne Rivers of Somme (department) Rivers of Hauts-de-France