What's under the desert sand?

When we think of deserts, we often think of endless white sand dunes. What lies beneath the sand?

Mystery beneath the desert sand

Of course, the answer to the above question will vary depending on where you are. Remember, desert sand can move a huge amount of time due to wind.

Deserts are often thought of as barren and empty landscapes. (Photo: Getty).

In fact, there are many different types of deserts, deserts . They depend on the inherent terrain of the area.

It could have been a mountain range, a plain, a forest, or even an ocean hidden beneath the sand. It could also have been a sinkhole, always ready to "swallow" prey above.

According to National Geographic , the sand layer near the surface of the desert is made up of coarse dust and fine sand particles. They can stick together to form a deep, wavy groove under the influence of desert winds.

Beneath the fine sand are many pebble-sized stones. They are mostly terrestrial, but have been worn down over time by river weathering and other factors.

Beneath the desert sands lies a mysterious world. (Photo: iStock).

Deserts can also form in the sea . In this case, the sea will be the agent contributing to the process of crushing the rocks along the coast, or under the seabed. Eventually, they will become dust particles, and contribute to the vast desert.

However, this process can take thousands or millions of years.

If we continue to dig down, we can find sand that has been compacted and transformed under pressure to form a layer of sedimentary sandstone , covering the bedrock of the area.

Here, the secrets of what lies beneath the sand desert will be revealed. They are actually the original landscape of the area, before being covered by a huge mass of sand.

In 2010, scientists found evidence of a large prehistoric lake beneath the sands of the Sahara Desert. It is believed to have formed about 250,000 years ago, when the Nile River flooded the area through a small channel.

Life in the desert

Humans have been living in deserts for millennia. (Photo: Getty).

Deserts usually have no rivers or streams. Therefore , life here is extremely rare because there are very few animals and plants that can adapt to the harsh, arid environment.

Yet humans have lived in the desert for millennia. Many different tribes and cultures have developed nomadic lifestyles, such as herding sheep, goats, camels, and yaks.

They regularly move across a large area of ​​desert with their herds of cattle. Their destination is the edge of the desert with grasslands and land for grazing.

Deserts are also home to many rare mineral resources. For example, many deserts have red sands because they contain laterite minerals . Or the Great Basin Desert in the United States has been famous for evaporite mining for many years.

Some deserts rich in salt minerals, such as the Atacama Desert in Chile, have been mined for sodium nitrate , an ingredient used in explosives and fertilizers since around 1850.

Deserts are also considered important sources of solar energy , due to their low cloud cover. Therefore, deserts receive a lot of sunlight and have many favorable factors for building energy plants.

Professor David Faiman from Ben-Gurion University once pointed out that with current technology, we could meet the world's entire electricity needs with just 10% of the Sahara desert.