egyptandthesahara.doc

EGYPT AND THE SAHARA 1 : PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 1.1 Landforms 001. The Sahara is the worlds largest desert, extending 4,000 kms from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and from the Mediterranean Sea southwards to merge with the tropical savannas of West Africa. With an area of almost 10 million square kilometres it covers almost a third of the African continent! 002. This region has not always been arid. In places the surface of today’s desert is littered with fossils, which demonstrate that at different stages in geological time the area was covered by sea. (Fossil bed near Bir Wahed in the Libyan Sand Sea) 003. Its initial desiccation was caused by changes in atmospheric circulation in late Cainozoic time (roughly 3 million years ago), and by plate tectonics -- notably the movement of the northern portion of the African plate from wet equatorial latitudes into the dry tropics. (Part of the Erg d’Admer near Djanet) 004. Its progressive desiccation thereafter was caused in part by prehistoric peoples who contributed to the destruction of the local plant cover. It is a process that continues to this day because of overgrazing and the ploughing of lands ill-suited to cultivation. So the desert continues to grow in size. (Cave painting of prehistoric herding in the Tassili-n-Ajjer) 005. The word Sahara is derived from the Arabic word sahra, which indicates an empty area or wilderness. It is one of the most hostile environments on earth, where all life -- plant, animal and human -- must adapt if it is to survive. (The Erg d’Admer near Djanet) 006. There are deserts in Australia, too, but nowhere where you could you climb on to the roof of a 4WD, look around you and see no vegetation at all. In the Sahara, though, you can drive for days and not see a single plant! (South of In Amenas) 007. When they think of the Sahara most people imagine an ocean of large sand dunes. However, sand seas (or ergs) cover only a sixth of its area. The sand itself is driven