Rocky desert: types, description, education

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

It's good where we are not. This can be attributed both to the climate and to the natural environment. People who live in the tropics often dream of the cold. And vice versa. Our planet is characterized by a huge variety of climate, weather, terrain, plants, animals - the list is endless. And each of us likes our own. When planning a trip, people are guided by a variety of factors: someone is looking for a beach holiday, while others choose the direction of "walk and see". One person will choose a warm mild climate, another needs a cooler one. And there are desperate daredevils who will go either in extreme cold or in extreme heat. Why do they need it? Most likely, this is the thought that has now visited your head. But in such extreme places there are often even more amazing things than in the usual and comfortable climate. Take, for example, deserts. It would seem, what can you see there? But the rocky deserts of the Sahara fascinate with their unusual beauty. Let's find out what it is, and maybe you will wake up with a desire to see it with your own eyes!

What is the rocky desert

The name itself actually already suggests an understanding of what the mentioned type of desert looks like in reality. The rocky desert, also known as hamada (remember this word, it is very often found in crosswords and crossword puzzles), is a kind of desert that develops in poorly weathered areas that are covered with rubble and pebbles. On the surface of such a desert, there is almost no soil and vegetation cover, and the animals living there are typical and characteristic of the desert range.

What do we have in the Sahara?

Sahara is the largest and hottest desert on our planet, and in terms of area it is in second place after the Antarctic desert. Located in northern Africa. The largest number of rocky deserts is in the Sahara. Sahara occupies almost 30% of the entire area of the African continent, which is comparable in size to the territory of Brazil. The direction of the territory west-east is 4800 km, north-south is 800-1200 km. The Atlantic Ocean washes the Sahara on the western side, the Red Sea on the eastern side. The southern borders are marked by sand dunes, which are inactive. The territory of the Sahara partly covers the territory of more than ten states - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, etc. it has territories of all kinds, but sandy-stony prevails. Every year there is an increase in the Sahara. It increases in a southerly direction by 6-10 kilometers.

Small geographic overview

Sahara is known for three main types of surfaces: erga, rega and gamada. Ergi is a huge sandy area covered with dunes. Rega is a plain that is constantly and continuously blown by the winds, covered with coarse grain sand, gravel and pebbles. And hamada is a high plateau, which is covered with stony rocks and shales. It is because of the presence of all kinds of desert surfaces that the Sahara is classified as a sandy-stony desert.

Principle of gamad formation

Gamada is the primary shaping in relation to ergs and regs. The Sahara is rich in several large mountain ranges at once, which have worn off over the centuries of erosion, and only a plateau remains from them. Very often, when you are on a hamada, you don’t even suspect that you are actually on a hill, because they have become so flat and spacious. We can say that the mountains have turned into rocky deserts. Rain in the Sahara is extremely rare, and on the plains it is extremely rare. The rocky surface does not allow water to pass through - therefore there is no vegetation on the hamads. Water rolls down, carrying with it the upper layers. Due to such a drain of water from the hamada, a rega is further formed. But that's not what we're talking about now.

Relief as a division criterion

Classification of stony deserts is basically carried out according to relief. Among them stand out such as flat and flat plateaus, plains or plateaus with a slight slope, slopes, uplands and uvags. Recent -these are special territories, elongated and elevated, flat or with a slightly wavy or even convex top.

Locals

70% of the Sahara is occupied by hamads. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine how a large territorial area can consist of a rocky desert. Photos from airdrones prove that it is very beautiful, although it is habitable for a small number of living beings. As for the flora and fauna, the plant world is represented by a small number of unpretentious plants. Freodolia and limonastrum - shrubs typical of rocky deserts, are fixed on some screes. In the tropics, succulents can often be seen on a rocky surface. They are represented by cissus, which have barrel-shaped trunks, spurge, a variety of cacti, yucca and agave. Another plant that can exist in desert climates is lichens. They cover the stones and paint them in different colors. Therefore, there are many white, black, red and yellow stones in the desert. Among animals, scorpions, phalanxes and geckos are most often found. Of the snakes in such conditions, the muzzle lives.

To go on a trip to the desert or not, it's up to you. But many experienced travelers believe that everyone should see it with their own eyes. And if these are not pop tourist routes, but something unusual, it will make even more impression. Many people note that after visiting the desert, their worldview changes in many ways. The vision of emptiness makes you think about your life and partly rethink it. people startfill their everyday life with useful and interesting things, get rid of the routine and what brings them negative emotions. So we can say that visiting the desert has not only an aesthetic effect, but also a powerful psychological one, forcing you to discover new facets of personality and yourself. The world around is interesting and unknown, and brings a lot of new experiences that can turn your life around.