Where Did the Sand in the Sahara Desert Come From?
Scientists used to believe that the sand in the Sahara Desert was left there by sea water that once covered the area.
It is true that much of the Sahara was covered with water more than 100 million years ago. But we now know that the Sahara's sand is much newer than that.
The Sahara's sand is actually all that is left of soil that lost its moisture. The Sahara area was much wetter about a million years ago, with rivers, trees, and grass. But when the Ice Age ended about a half- million years ago, the climate in the Sahara grew hotter and drier.
The soil gradually dried out and was eroded by the wind. The large amounts of oil found in parts of the Sahara prove that the area was once inhabited by many plants and animals.
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Sahara Forest
I worked in Marsa el Brega in the 90's, I travelled as far as Zelton, about 150km from the Med. During my time there I was privileged to be able to travel into the desert. There I discovered huge areas of petrified wood as far as the eye could see. What amazed me was that mixed with the wood was outcroppings of the remains coral and other sea creatures. One of the things I dug up was a sand dollar, incredible as it may seem, it is almost identical to the sand dollar found on the beach today. I have read many articles about the time line of the Sahara, none of which gives a realistic time frame. It is obvious to anyone who seen this to realize that the Sahara was once a thriving forest, the ocean then inundated the forest for what must have been millions of years to turn the wood to solid stone. There can be no other explanation as the desert is so saline that it could never have supported the growth of trees that I have seen. If anyone reading this has a true (as far as science can prove) time line of the Sahara, I would love to know.
My email address is: kuwaitwarden@yahoo.com
Thank you.
Bob
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