The Sahara Desert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Sahara Desert - Essay Example Most of such arid regions are because of the pattern of the Earth’s air circulation as well as the topography of the land. Sahara name its derivation emanates from an Arabic term Sahra meaning wilderness and the Arabic speakers use it to describe the barren nature of such a region. Sahara desert occupies 9.1 million square kilometres, which is almost equal to the area of the United States, which is 9.5 M Km2. The desert stretches all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red sea and it is not only the hottest in the world but also the driest. It covers many countries in Africa especially the northern area. The Atlantic Ocean binds the Sahara desert from the west whereas; the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea bind it from the North. In the East, the Red sea binds the desert, finally in the south, the Niger River partly binds the desert, and eventually the desert is exposed to semiarid lands known as the Sahel. Part of Sahara is plateau, which is elevated approximately 395-490 m above sea level. Mount Topside, which is as extinct volcano and the tallest mountain among the mountains of the Sahara, rises up to 3,265 m above sea level. The present deserts lay beneath what were seas in the ancient times. Because of this, ancient sands and calcareous deposits now foam sandstone and limestone found in these deserts. Sahara is a hot desert and the temperatures during summer daytimes exceed 90F for 8 months of the year, and often exceeding 100F (Osborne 27). The world record high temperature of 1370 F was evident in El Azizia, Libya; in North Africa’s Sahara Desert on September 13, 1922. The French colonial meteorologists measured this temperature 5 feet above the ground. The temperatures at night however drop by up to 50F. The nights are cold and in winter, they can fall below freezing (Osborne 27). There are three types of land surfaces in Sahara and they include Erg, Rag and Hamada (Keenan 43). Erg composes of dunes that have formed basins