Well, where we do not. This can be attributed both to the climate and to the surrounding nature. People who live in the tropics often dream of a cold. And vice versa. Our planet is characterized by a huge variety of climate, weather, terrain, plants, animals - you can list endlessly. And each of us likes his 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 "walking and watching." 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, just such a thought has visited your head now. But in such extreme places, there are often even more amazing things than in a familiar and comfortable climate. Take, for example, the desert. It would seem that there you can see? But here the stony deserts of the Sahara fascinate with its unusual beauty. Let's find out what it is, and maybe a desire to see it with your own eyes will wake up in you!
What is a rocky desert
The name itself actually already prompts an understanding of how this type of desert looks like in reality. The rocky desert, it’s a gamada (remember this word, it is very often found in crosswords and crosswords), is such a kind of desert that develops in poorly weathered areas that are covered with gravel and pebbles. There is almost no soil and vegetation on the surface of such a desert, and the animals living there are typical and characteristic of the desert habitat.
And what is there in our 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 - in the Sahara. Sugar occupies almost 30% of the entire 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 from the west, the Red Sea - from the east. The southern borders are indicated by sand dunes, which are inactive. The Sahara partly covers the territory of more than ten states - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, etc. The peculiarity of the Sahara is that it cannot be fully assigned to a certain category of any desert, it has territories of all kinds, but sandy-stony dominates. Every year there is an increase in the Sahara. It increases southward by 6-10 kilometers.
Small geographic overview
Sugar is known for three main types of surfaces: erga, rega and hamada. Ergi is a huge sandy area covered with dunes. Rega is a plain that is constantly and continuously blown by the winds, covered with sand from coarse gravel, gravel and pebbles. And the gamada is a high plateau that is covered with rock and shale. It is because of the presence of all types of desert surfaces that the Sahara belongs to the sandy-stony deserts.
The principle of the formation of gamads
Gamada is the primary formation in relation to ergs and regs. The Sahara is rich in several large mountain ranges at once, which have been drained during centuries of erosion, and only a plateau has remained of them. Very often, when you are on the gamad, you don’t even suspect that you are actually on a hill, because they have become so flat and vast. We can say that the mountains turned into rocky deserts. Rains in the Sahara are extremely rare, and on the plains as rare as possible. The rocky surface does not let water through - so there is no vegetation on the gamads. Water rolls down, taking away the upper layers. Due to such a discharge of water from the hamada, a rega is formed further. But this is not what our conversation is about now.
Relief as a criterion for division
The classification of rocky deserts is basically based on a relief feature. Among them stand out such as flat and flat plateaus, plains or plateaus with a weak slope, slopes, elevations and respect. The latter are special territories, elongated and elevated, flat or with a slightly wavy or even convex peak.
Local inhabitants
70% of Sahara is occupied by gamads. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how large a territorial area can be made of rocky desert. Photos from aerodrons prove that it is very beautiful, although suitable for life for a small number of living creatures. As for flora and fauna, the plant world is represented by a small number of unpretentious plants. Freodolia and lemonastrum - shrubs typical of rocky deserts, are fixed on some screes. In the tropics, you can often see succulents on the rocky surface. They are represented by cissuses, which have barrel-thick trunks, euphorbia, a variety of cacti, yuccas and agaves. Another plant that can exist in a desert climate is lichens. They cover the stones and paint them in various colors. Therefore, in the desert there are many white, black, red and yellow stones. Among animals, scorpions, phalanges and geckos are most often found. Of snakes, the muzzle lives under such conditions.
Going 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 it is not popular tourist routes, but something unusual, it will make even more impression. Many people say that after visiting the desert, their worldview changes in many ways. The vision of emptiness makes you think about your life and partially rethink it. People begin to fill their everyday lives 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 us to discover new facets of the person and himself. The world around is interesting and unknown, and brings a lot of new experiences that can turn your life around.