Nubian Desert

The Nubian Desert is located in northern Africa, and forms the eastern part of the Sahara desert. It is located in northern Sudan and extends to the west by the Libyan desert adjacent, from the region of the Nile to the Red Sea.

The sequel to the dry arid area north of Lake Nasser in Egypt belongs to the Arabian desert. In the central area of the desert at Wadi Halfa, the precipitates are less than 5 mm in middle and may for years or decades completely absent. Up the Nile to take the rainfall, in Dongola 25 mm per year are already being measured, which usually falls in August. Further south in Khartoum fall partly by torrential rain, with similarly sparse or no vegetation in the summer months. On the Red Sea may occur in the area of Port Sudan in the dry and cool season in the winter rains.

In contrast to the Libyan desert, there are hardly any sand dunes ( ergs ), but over long stretches sand surfaces ( Serir ) below 500 m altitude, which are interspersed with boulders and outcrops and single mountains or mountain ranges from crusted and therefore sharp, but overall fragile and erodible sandstones. The substrate consists of a Mesozoic sandstone base. The terrain rises from the Nile to the east direction. The highest elevations are in a parallel to the Red Sea mountain range running and reachable by mountain Oda 2259 m altitude. This is followed by a foreshore which narrows from about 60 miles wide in the south of the Eritrean border to a 20 -mile-wide strip along the Egyptian border and consists of barren sand and clay soils.

In the Nubian Desert Oases and not just a few water points are available. For the construction and operation of the railway between Wadi Halfa and Abu Hamad some deep wells were drilled.