Murzuq Desert

{{Short description|Sandy desert in Libya}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Idehan Murzuq | native_name = {{lang|ar|أدهان مرزق}} | native_name_lang =  | settlement_type = [[Erg]] | image_skyline =Sanddunes marzuq sandsea.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption =Marzuq Sand Sea seen from [[International Space Station|ISS]], 2008 (centered at {{Coord|24.5|N|12|E|display=inline}}). Detailed [[astronaut]] photograph, taken from [[low Earth orbit]], showing classic large and small sand masses of the central Sahara where wind is a more powerful land-shaping agent than water. | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map =Saharan topographic elements map.png | map_alt = | map_caption =Map of the topographic features of the Sahara | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|24|45|N|13|00|E|display=inline,title|region:MR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[Libya]] | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | area_footnotes = | area_urban_footnotes =  | area_rural_footnotes =  | area_metro_footnotes =  | area_magnitude =  | area_note = | area_water_percent = | area_rank = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank2_title = | area_total_km2 = 58000 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_km2 = | area_rural_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank2_km2 = | area_total_ha = | area_land_ha = | area_water_ha = | area_urban_ha = | area_rural_ha = | area_metro_ha = | area_blank1_ha = | area_blank2_ha = | length_km = | width_km = | dimensions_footnotes = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 660 | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website =  | footnotes = }} The '''Murzuq Desert''', '''Idehan Murzuq''', or '''Idhan Murzuq''' (also Murzaq, Murzuk, Marzuq and Murzak), is an [[Erg (landform)|erg]] in southwestern [[Libya]] with a surface of approximately 58,000 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WOcUNbRUGtwC&dq=%22Desert+Geomorphology%22+great+sand+sea&pg=PA403 Desert Geomorphology, p. 403]</ref> It is named after the town of [[Murzuk]] in the [[Fezzan]] region. Like the [[Idehan Ubari]] further north, the Idehan Murzuq is part of the greater [[Sahara Desert]] region. It is separated from the southern Sahara Desert by the [[Tibesti Mountains]] and the [[Tassili n'Ajjer]].

==Dune pattern== The ''“Draa”'' [[dunes]] (from the [[Arabic]] for “arm”) are very large masses of sand in the western part of Libya's vast Murzuq Desert, and they appear in satellite images as a broad network of yellow-orange sand masses, with smooth-floored, almost sand-free basins between them. Geologists think that the ''draa'' of the Marzuq were probably formed by winds different from the prevailing north-northeast winds of today.

Numerous smaller dunes have developed on the backs of the ''draa''. Three distinct dune types are visible in satellite images of the region: *[[Dunes#Longitudinal (Seif) and transverse dunes|Longitudinal dunes]], more or less parallel with the north winds. *[[Dunes#Longitudinal (Seif) and transverse dunes|Transverse dunes]], usually more curved and formed at right angles to the wind. *[[Dunes#Star|Star dunes]], in which several linear arms converge towards a single peak.

The upwind sides of the sand masses appear smoother than the downwind side. Wind is moving sand grains almost all the time. This means that the ''draa'' and the dunes are all moving as sand is added on the upwind side and blown off the downwind side. Small sand masses move much faster than large sand masses.

The ''draa'' are almost stationary, but the smaller dunes move relatively quickly across their backs. When the smaller dunes reach the downwind side of the ''draa'', they are obliterated; their sand is blown across the basins as individual grains.<ref>[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36675 Sand Dunes, Marzuq Sand Sea, Southwest Libya.] This article incorporates [[public domain]] text from this [[NASA]] website.</ref>

==Petroleum== Since oil exploration began in 1957, eleven oil fields, including [[Nc186|NC186]], have been discovered in the Murzuq Basin. Two of the fields are considered giants, and altogether there are more than 2 billion barrels of oil in reserves under the desert there.<ref>Rusk, Donald C. (2001) "Libya:Petroleum Potential of the Underexplored Basin Centers – A Twenty-First-Century Challenge" ''In'' Downey, Marlan W.; Threet, Jack C. and Morgan, William A. (2001) ''Petroleum Provinces of the Twenty-first Century'' (AAPG Memoir 74) American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma, pp. 429-452, p. 429, {{ISBN|0-89181-355-1}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Geography of Libya]] *[[List of ergs]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons-inline}} *[http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Collections/EarthObservatory/articles/MarzuqSandSeaLibya.htm View of the entire Murzuq Desert seen from the International Space Station]

[[Category:Deserts of Libya]] [[Category:Fezzan]] [[Category:Ergs of Africa]] [[Category:Sahara]]