Erg Chebbi. Only 14% of the world's deserts are covered by sand, but this is how we all imagine the desert
Erg Chebbi dunes at sunrise
Flowers from the root of the Tamaris tree. Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Driving through the desert, Morocco. The vast desert plain between Merzouga and Ourzina near the Algerian border driving southwest
To walk in these sand dunes was very tiresome
Sunset over Erg Chebbi
The wind created beautiful formations of the tiny grains of sand
You have to let out air from the tyres to get a better grip in the sand.
The track towards the right is from a camel.
Shadows of ripples and camels
Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Near midday there are no shadows to disclose the small ripples and no protection from the scorching sun
Wandering at sunrise over the sand dunes you find enormous beauty and calmness in Nature's creation of the soft dunes. The possibilities of meeting another living soul is minimal
A lonely palm tree suggest a water source underneath the dunes. Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Sunrise at Soussusvlei, Namibia
It had rained the week before, which is very unusual inSoussusvlei, and a lake had formed among the sand dunes
The tall sand dunes at Sesriem are among the tallest in the world, rising more than 300 metres. The wind blows the sand over the leeward side. Namibia
Windblown dune between Sesriem and Soussusvlei, Namibia
Due to the previous rain the ground and also the dunes themselves are covered by green grass. Soussusvlei, Namibia
The photo shows the hard packed sand over which the tall dunes spread out. Soussusvlei, Namibia
Dead vlei, Namibia. The trees could survive on the dry riverbed as long as they found a source of water underneath the dry surface. But the watercourse changed direction and the trees died a few hundred years ago. There are no living organisms,no bacteria and no humidity here, so the tree stumps remain intact instead of rotten away or being eaten up by insects or larvae.
Dead vlei, Namibia
Sand dunes at Wolvedans, Namibia. This is not a true desert landscape, rather a fairly dry steppe. There is a lot of iron in the sand causing its very red colour
The Argentine semi desert consists normally of mountains or rocks, but here vast sand dunes provided a resting place for the wild vicunas, a camelid. Altitude: 3,200m.
Khongoryn Els at sunrise, Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Whereas the sand in Namibia is reddish (see pictures before), in Gobi it is yellow and in Argentina (previous image) it is nearly white
Khongoryn Els singing sand dunes from afar. A dry riverbed in the foreground
The sand dunes eject a singing sound, when the wind blows over them
Khongoryn Els. Gobi Desert, Mongolia
The sand dunes captured from the steppes below.
Sand dunes form some of the most spectacular land forms on earth. They are formed by small grains of sand accumulating. The move to a large extent through the force of the wind. Large sand dunes exist mainly in deserts but they can form along beaches and other places too, where there isn’t any vegetation that bind the sand granules together.
The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world (Antarctica is the largest cold desert and larger than Sahara). The northern part of Sahara was formed when the ice withdrew from Europe after the last ice age. Around 3,500 BC the monsoon moved south and the southern part of the Saharan desert was formed.
Sahara has large sand seas called ergs, but also gravel plains and salt flats and mountains. The sand dunes of all deserts move with the wind. The windward side has a gentle slope whereas the leeward side, the slip face, are steeper. You can see that on several of the photos in the gallery below. The sand dunes can move, often 10-15 metres per year.
I have photographed sand dunes in Sahara and Namibia but also to a small extent in the Gobi desert and in Argentina. Khongoryn Els in the Gobi Desert is famous for its singing dunes. When the wind blows, the sand granules move and create a singing sound.
In both Namibia and Sahara the sand contains a lot of iron giving it an orange or in Namibia even red colour. Namibia has some of the tallest sand dunes in the world reaching more than 300 metres up.
