in ARABIA

The Arabian Desert

Area: 1,300,000 sq km (500,000 sq miles)

Located at the peninsula of Arabia is the Arabian Desert which is the second largest desert, and is as large as the Australian Desert. As we look back to millions ago, when the great plateau which stood here was flooded by the sea and tilted. The oil deposited and as a result, the sea floor was changed into a limestone plateau, and this is the substratum of the Arabian Desert. The center of the desert consists of bare, windswept rock which are sometimes cut or interrupted by other escarpments or cliffs. In the southern third of the peninsula, is a place with giant sand valleys, and this is the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter). It has already existed for approximately two million years! But beware, there are treacherous quicksands here which can swallow you up! Then further north of the Rub al Khali, is the An Nafud which is smaller in size, famous for its spectacular crescent-shaped dunes called 'barchans'. But there are also dangerous places like the salt pans--salty crusts which lies over a soft muddy quagmire. Wind comes to the interior in December, May and June, then there are floods followed by torrential rains. All these deposits sand and gravel and other essential characteristics for the desert.