Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert is considered an ecosystem because it comprises a complex network of living organisms and their physical environment, interacting in a delicate balance. It supports a variety of species, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, all adapted to its extreme conditions, such as high temperatures and low rainfall. The interactions among these organisms, along with the desert's unique climate and geography, contribute to its distinct ecological processes. This makes the Sahara a dynamic and functional ecosystem despite its harsh environment.

I asked a similar question of Dr. Christopher S. Swezey in 2001:

Hi - I recently came across your letter to Science in the 10/8/99

issue and thought you might be able to answer a question I have had

since visiting the Sahara in 1985: how deep is the sand at its

deepest? Or how deep at the greatest depth that has been sampled or

imaged? Are your thermoluminscence data from drilling core samples?

Thanks in advance for satisfying my idle curiosity.

--

Gantt Galloway

Here's the answer he gave me:

Much of the Sahara is characterized by bare rock, and the sand in the

Sahara tends to occur in discrete groups (usually topographic basins).

Large areas covered by sand are called sand seas or "ergs." Within ergs,

however, the amount of sand cover is variable. Dunes take on different

shapes, as a function of wind characteristics and the amount of sand

available. Barchan dunes (small crescentic dunes) form where the wind is

unidirectional and where there is not much sand available. The interdune

areas associated with barchan dunes consist of bare rock or some other

non-sandy substrate. In contrast, star dunes form where the winds are

multidirectional and where there is a lot of sand available.

I am most familiar with the Grand Erg Oriental (Great Eastern Sand Sea) of

Tunisia and Algeria. This erg is characterized by barchan dunes and other

small linear dunes in the north, larger dunes with various linear and

grid-like shapes further south, and star dunes at the extreme southeastern

part of the erg. The tallest star dunes of this erg are 320 m high, and

the interdune areas around the star dunes are filled with sand (Star dunes

in most other regions of the Sahara are not as tall as the star dunes of

the Grand Erg Oriental, so I assume that the sand cover is less thick in

these other regions). I am not certain how thick the sand would be if you

drilled a well in the middle of an interdune area among the Erg Oriental

star dunes (maybe 150 m, maximum?). I do know that the dunes of the Erg

Oriental rest on top of sandstones of Miocene age (~5-23 million years

old), that these sandstones are exposed in the interdune areas to the

north. Some oil companies have drilled wells in the southern part of the

sand sea, but their targets are very deep and they rarely report the

thicknesses of the younger sediments near the surface.

My thermoluminescence dates from the Grand Erg Oriental were from small

outcrops on the northern margin of the erg, where wind-blown sand deposits

interfinger with lake and river deposits. I chose this area because it is

a basin that lies below sea level, and is still subsiding. I thought that

this might have the oldest record of wind-blown sediments in the Sahara. I

found out, however, that most of these sediments are relatively young

(<18,000 years old), and that these relatively young sediments rest

directly on top of much older Miocene sandstones. This pattern of

relatively young sediments (thousands of years old) resting on top of much

older sandstones (millions of years old) is consistent with what is

observed in most of the rest of the Sahara. If I were to go back to the

Sahara today and look for the oldest record of wind-blown sand, I would

probably look in the area of Lake Chad (another basin that is subsiding,

and filling up with sediments).

Anyway, that may be more information that you wanted. I did most of my

work in the Sahara when I was in graduate school (Univ. of Texas at Austin,

and Univ. Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg - France). When I wrote the letter

to Science, I was employed by British Petroleum in Texas, but about a year

and a half ago I quit BP and took a job with the U. S. Geological Survey.

I am currently working on putting together a story on the origin of the

Sahara Desert, and I am also working on various projects associated with

the Appalachians.

Thanks for contacting me, and let me know if you have any other questions.

- Chris.

Its about 5000km away

The Sahara desert IS NOT hot all the time.Because the temperature in there always be changes.

Example : In the afternoon,the Sahara desert is very hot.But,in the night,the temperature in the Sahara desert changes be colder.

Sahara desert doesn't have much of the agriculture.This happens because the climatic conditions in Sahara doesn't support the growth for plants.Eventhough plants like cactus and date palm tree grow here.These plants have long roots to absorb water from the deep soil and they have spine like leaves or sometimes no leaves at all for preventing transpiration(loosing water)through leaves.

The Western Desert is 262,000 square miles. It is made up of canyons, dunes, and oases. The Western Desert is located in Egypt.

Cacti are native to the Americas and are not found naturally in the Sahara Desert.

i dont know you tell me okay.

The Sahara desert covers a vast area so there are variations between regions. The Sahara desert is the hottest place with average temperatures over 86f/30c. Daily variants have been recorded as being as extreme as being between -5c/31f to over 100f/37.5c

The highest temp in the Sahara is 136 degrees and the lowest temp in the Sahara is 86 degrees

Since you need a grade you need to do it. We don't help you cheat and that is what you are asking us to do. The only way you will learn is by using your brain, not mine.

There are 3 main religions of Africa: Islam, Christian and Traditional. However, Traditional is mostly in the south; Islam and Christianity are the main Saharan religions.

boom boom pow

The war in the deserts of Egypt & Libya were important for two reasons.

Firstly, Britain stood alone and desparately needed to safeguard the Suez Canal which was her short-cut to the East.

Secondly, as far as Britain was concerned, it was the only game in town. France had fallen, Britain had narrowly avoided invasion from the Germans. Britain was not strong enough to take the fight back to Europe and all she had left was (still) the most powerful navy in the world and a foothold in North Africa.

To begin with Britain was fighting the Italians who were trying to expand their Empire. They made short work of them and soon pushed them back deep into Libya. Hitler then agreed to help Mussolini and sent Rommel with his Afrika Korps. This was a shock to the British who were thrown all the way back to a small railway halt called El Alamein where the 'impassable' Qattara Depression came close to the sea. There they held the Germans while both sides struggled to build up enough strength to break the impasse.

Eventually, General Montgomery leading the 8th Army, launched a devastating blow on Rommel which forced him back. Montgomery kept up his advantage and never allowed Rommel to re-group or counter-attack.

Soon afterwards the Americans landed in Vichy-French controlled Algeria in West Africa and between Montgomery in the East and Patton in the West slowly squeezed Rommel out of Africa altogether. From there combined British/American forces launched an invasion of Sicily and then Italy while the D-Day landings were being planned in England. The success of D-Day and the German troops held down in Southern Europe hastened the end of the Nazi regime.

Of major importance too was to block German attack routes to India and in particular the oil in the Caucasus

The African campaign was also important because I believe it was the first time that Germany had proven to be beatable. Rommel had an impeccable reputation and there was a myth about him that he was unbeatable. It is nteresting to note that Rommel was executed by Hitler for wanting to overthrow Hitler. Romel was given a state funeral so he could be honoured by the German people. The question comes to my mind as to whether the defeat was orchestrated in terms of wanting to make Hitler look bad so that people would turn against him and Romel could take over.

The language that is mostly spoken in The Sahara Desert is Arabic
Arabic is the main language spoken in the Sahara desert
Most speak Arabic.
what languages do they speak in the sahra desert

No one really knows. Not a lot of research has been done on the Sahara because it is so windy. Scientistscan't exactelyy study it untill the dust bowl is over. hope this helped fellow samaritons!

Most of those who live in countries covered by the Sahara Desert live in North Africa along or near the Mediterranean coastline
Most people in the Sahara desert live near the Nile River because it is one of the only reliable water sources.

The Yangtze River Dolphin (lipotes vexillifer) that is thought to have gone extinct this year but scientists believe that there may a handful left but they cannot confirn that there is even that many left, thay cant seem to locate them. If it is not the Yangtze River Dolphin, then it would be a speicies of rabbit called the Riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis). Good question! It's a stumper.

Every one know that the Sahara desert is the world's largest hot desert - a vast ocean of sand where the heat is so terriable that men and animals die of thirst. But it was once beautiful, green and fertile place. Scientist belive that around 10,000 B.C., the Earth's orbit wobbled slightly, causing a shift in weather patterns. The monsoons which drench Southern Africa to day shift up, pouring water into the Sahara, where it forrmed bodies of water. plant life flourished and plants were followed by animals and humans, who established lively civilizations. When weather pattern shifted again, the Sahara turned to being a desert once more.

The Sahel is not a desert. It is a distinct biome, a grassland, bordering the southern Sahara.

animals that live in the Sahara desert adapt not only because they are used to the heat but also because they have tongues to pant. like dogs. they pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant until they drop dead.

animals that live in the Sahara desert adapt not only because they are used to the heat but also because they have tongues to pant. like dogs. they pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant until they drop dead.

animals that live in the Sahara desert adapt not only because they are used to the heat but also because they have tongues to pant. like dogs. they pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant and pant until they drop dead.

Not that much

Sand sheets, mountains, dunes, plateaus, (ect.)

"they get food and then that food gets digested into the saliva and terned into a kinda liquid and then that gives them energy when they need it. and any way snakes only use energy when they strike pray and when the are waiting to strike the don't use much energy so they don't need much. there is a snake in the amazon rain forest which can live without food for months without dieing"

Not exactly. An animal is always using energy to keep itself alive. The question is how much energy is used. Snakes do try to stay in the shade and stay still, but that is to regulate their temperature. Snakes and other reptiles are ectothermic, they get much of their energy from the sun. The do not regulate their body temperature like humans do. If we get too hot we sweat to cool down; if we get too cold we shiver to make heat. Snakes can't do that, they have to either find a cooler, or warmer place to stay.

Snakes can go a long time between eating by slowing down their metabolism, or how fast their body uses energy.

Snakes in the Sarah have specific adaptions to living in such a hot area. First, many use a side-winding type of locomotion, just like the Side-Winder in the United States. This allows them to move over loose sand without sinking in.

Secondly, there are certain snakes there called Saw-Scales. They reduce water loss by not hissing to warn off predators. You lose water every time you breath or speak. These snakes reduced that by making a hissing sound when they rub their scales together instead of hissing out loud.

Snakes also avoid water loss by excreting less water than mammals.

The two physical features that make the Sahara Desert more livable are the oasis and the plants.

Sahara is A desert. ONE desert. It is Not divided into sub-deserts. Sahara is in Africa.