Sinai Peninsula, Egypt 1991 The deep blue waters of the northern Red Sea provide a striking contrast to the sandy landforms (tans) and hills and mountains (browns) of the arid landscape of northeastern Egypt, northwestern Saudi Arabia, southern Israel, and a small part of southwestern Jordan. Elevations for the mountains that ring the northern end of the Red Sea vary from approximately 2000 feet (610 meters) to 3000 feet (910 meters), with many peaks exceeding 6000 feet (1800 meters)—one peak exceeds 8000 feet (2440 meters). The light, more highly reflective pattern in the north-central Sinai is a drainage network of dry stream channels and lakebeds. Other landforms include the northernmost extent of the Nile River and its delta, the Suez Canal (northwest side of the Sinai Peninsula), the Gulf of Aqaba (southeast side of Sinai), the Dead Sea Rift, and the demarcation line in the desert between Israel and Egypt along the eastern edge of the Sinai caused by Israel’s emphasis on agriculture. Numerous coral reefs and small islands are visible east of Egypt near the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. (by NASA).
Deserto da Namíbia
Namib Desert, Namibia 1985. The Namib Desert, for which the country of Namibia is named, is a classic example of a coastal desert along the southwestern side of a Southern Hemisphere continent. With a cold ocean current offshore, practically no natural conditions exist to produce any form of precipitation. Low, ground-hugging stratus clouds (fog) sometimes develop along the shoreline. When the fog moves onshore, it can provide the only form of moisture that parts of the Namib Desert receive for decades. This south-looking photograph shows two different physiographic provinces: a sand desert immediately adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and a more diversified area of rocks and low hills inland. The sandy desert along the coast (known as the Skeleton Coast because it is part of the Namibia and Angola coastlines where numerous shipwrecks occurred during the last few centuries) consists of transverse dunes. A series of sand dunes parallel to one another was created by the wind blowing at right angles to the ridges. The windward (western) face has a more gentle slope, and the leeward (eastern) face tends to be steeper. The vertical distance between crest and trough can exceed 300 feet (90 meters). The entire region is so dry that no permanent watercourse flows from the higher elevations in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. (by NASA).
Estreito de Gibraltar (NASA).
Península do Sinai, Egito.
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