July 24th, 2010 Category: Lakes

Algeria - June 30th, 2010

The part of Algeria near its border with Morocco is hilly (upper left quadrant), although as one moves southeastward these higher elevations gradually give way to a steppe landscape, and finally to the dunes of the Sahara Desert.

Despite the rather arid nature of the region, one lake can be seen to the right of the image center. In the full image, its colors range from dark blue to green, in contrast with the golden dunes nearby.

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July 14th, 2010 Category: Mountains

Algeria - June 30th, 2010

Two mountain ranges are visible amidst the orange sands of the Sahara Desert in Algeria: the Tassili n’Ajjer, with a pointed triangular shape (center), and the Ahaggar Mountains to the south, separated from the former by a stretch of light sands.

Upon opening the full image, some dust appears to be hanging in the air to the south of the mountains. This later became a more intense dust storm (click here for article).

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July 8th, 2010 Category: Dust Storms, Mountains

Algeria - July 4th, 2010

Strong winds kick up clouds of sand and dust from the Sahara Desert over Algeria.The dust is whitish tan in color like the desert sands to the south, in contrast with the golden orange tones of the expansive ergs to the north.

The lower half of this image is mostly veiled by the shifting sands. Just below the center, the Ahaggar Mountains are mostly obscured; only the northwestern part of the range can be seen. In the upper half, several bands of dust can be seen blowing over the brown mountains of the Tassili n’Ajjer range.

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July 5th, 2010 Category: Image of the day, Mountains

Algeria - April 28th, 2010

Part of the Illizi province (wilaya), in the south-eastern corner of Algeria, is visible here. The upper half of the image shows the orangey sand dunes of the Sahara Desert, while the lower half shows the brown slopes of the Tassili n’Ajjer mountain range.

The name of the range means “Plateau of the Rivers” in Tamazight. As the name suggests, the topography of the range is deeply indented, eroded by rivers in the past. Today the range is drier, although due to the altitude and the water-holding properties of the sandstone, the vegetation is somewhat richer than the surrounding desert.

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June 14th, 2010 Category: Mountains

Algeria - June 2nd, 2010

Algeria has an area of 919,595 sq mi (2,381,741 sq km) and a population (2009 est.) of around 35,369,000. The capital is Algiers.

Algeria has the second largest land area (after Sudan) on the continent. The coastline has numerous bays, and the country’s rivers are small and generally seasonal. Northern Algeria is mountainous and is crossed from east to west by the Atlas Mountains; its highest point, elevation 7,638 ft (2,328 m), is Mount Chélia.

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May 31st, 2010 Category: Lakes, Mountains

Algeria - April 14th, 2010

These brown areas of hills are located in the southernmost part of Béchar, a province (wilaya) in Algeria, named after its capital Béchar. Despite the aridity of most of the area, a lake is visiable near the right edge.

The orange colored sand dunes reaching the base of the hills in the upper right quadrant are the southwesternmost edge of the Grand Erg Occidental (Great Western Sand Sea), the second largest erg in northern Algeria.

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May 29th, 2010 Category: Snapshots

Morocco and Algeria - April 14th, 2010

This image stretches across Morocco to Algeria, from fertile green coastal areas to the sandy dunes of the Sahara Desert. The Strait of Gibraltar is also visible in the upper left corner.

The dunes of the desert areas are in the upper part of the Grand Erg Occidental (also known as the Western Sand Sea), the second largest erg in northern Algeria, after the Grand Erg Oriental.

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May 24th, 2010 Category: Snapshots

Algeria - April 28th, 2010

The Grand Erg Oriental, meaning the “‘Great Eastern Sand Sea”, is a large erg or “field of sand dunes” in the Sahara desert. Situated for the most part in Saharan lowlands of northeast Algeria, the Grand Erg Oriental covers an area some 600 km wide by 200 km north to south. The erg’s northeastern corner spills over into neighbouring Tunisia.

In a desert region, an erg is an area of large accumulation of sand, generally in the bottom of a huge basin in which a former river piled up alluvium. Ergs are areas of actively shifting dunes, “fossilized” dunes, or extensive sand sheets. The sand is generally loose and is extremely difficult to cross.

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May 14th, 2010 Category: Salt Flats

Algeria - April 14th, 2010

Two large salt flats are visible in the Algerian province (wilaya) of Djelfa. It was first established by the administrative reorganization of 1974, and is home to over 1.2 million inhabitants.

The province is made up of 12 districts, which are further divided into 36 communes or municipalities. The capital of the province is also named Djelfa. Localities in this province include Tadmit, El Khemis, and Selmana.

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