Images related to Dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental

Erg Oriental, Algeria
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Erg Oriental, Algeria

Published Feb 12, 2007

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Erg Iabes, Algeria
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Erg Iabes, Algeria

This natural-color image from the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus sensor on the Landsat 7 satellite shows the emptiness of the Erg Iabès in western Algeria’s Adrar province.

Published Dec 3, 2009

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Star Dunes in Algeria
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Star Dunes in Algeria

Complex wind patterns left these distinctive star-shapes in the sands of the Grand Erg Oriental.

Published Sep 29, 2013

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Dune Types in the Issaouane Erg, Eastern Algeria
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Dune Types in the Issaouane Erg, Eastern Algeria

One of the main reasons that rainless regions like the Sahara Desert are interesting from the perspective of landscape science is that the work of flowing water—mainly streams and rivers—becomes less important than the work of wind. Over millennia, if enough sand is available, winds can generate dunes of enormous size, arranged in regular patterns. Long, linear dunes stretch generally north to south across much of northeast Algeria, covering a vast tract (~140,000 square kilometers) of the Sahara Desert known as the Erg Oriental. Erg means “dune sea” in Arabic, and the term has been adopted by modern geologists. Spanning this image from a point on the southwest margin of the erg (image center point: 28.9°N 4.8°W) are a series of 2-kilometer-wide linear dunes, comprised of red sand. The dune chains are more than 100 meters high. The “streets” between the dunes are grayer areas free of sand.

Published Sep 11, 2006

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Elevation Map of Badain Jaran Desert
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Elevation Map of Badain Jaran Desert

This digital elevation map of the Badain Jaran Desert shows multi-generation dunes, with smaller dunes resting atop larger ones.

Published Apr 20, 2011

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Dune Movement Around Aorounga
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Dune Movement Around Aorounga

Photographs taken by astronauts on the ISS in 2003 and 2013 show the evolution of a dune field in Chad.

Published Dec 9, 2013

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Issaouane Erg, Algeria
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Issaouane Erg, Algeria

he Issaouane Erg (sand sea) is located in eastern Algeria between the Tinrhert Plateau to the north and the Fadnoun Plateau to the south. Considered to be part of the Sahara Desert, the Issaouane Erg covers an area of approximately 38,000 km2. These complex dunes form the active southwestern border of the sand sea.

Published Feb 7, 2005

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Linear Dunes, Great Sand Sea, Egypt
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Linear Dunes, Great Sand Sea, Egypt

Winds shape the sands that were left behind by an ancient river.

Published Jun 4, 2012

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Registan Dunes
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Registan Dunes

Published Feb 3, 2004

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Linear Dunes, Namib Sand Sea
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Linear Dunes, Namib Sand Sea

Dunes grow upon dunes at one of the most visually spectacular places on Earth, at least from an astronaut’s perspective.

Published Nov 21, 2016

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Ar Rub’ al Khali Sand Sea, Arabian Peninsula
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Ar Rub’ al Khali Sand Sea, Arabian Peninsula

The Ar Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, covers much of the south-central portion of the Arabian Peninsula and is the largest continuous sand desert on Earth.

Published May 30, 2011

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