A place that looks like the surface of Mars and is associated with many unsolved mysteries. This place is a desert whose name is Namib Desert. This desert extends far into the northern part of South Africa and extends through southern Angola to Namibia. Recently, some mesmerizing images of this amazing desert have emerged on social media that are truly surprising.
A European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut has shared beautiful images of the Namib Desert in western Namibia from space. The Namib is considered one of the oldest deserts on earth and is 55 million years old.
In a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) last Friday, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen shared some photos showing the features of the Namib coastal desert. He wrote in the caption of the images: “The rolling sea of sand of the Namib Desert along the coast of Namibia.” This is probably the oldest desert in the world, dating back 55-80 million years.
One of the photos also shows a crater-like structure in the desert surrounded by sand dunes, which Andreas Mogensen says is Mount Brukkaros. He further wrote: “A small section of sand dunes inland is the Brukkaros Mountains.” Although it looks like a meteor crater from space, it is actually a caldera about 4 km in diameter, formed by an underground eruption , when rising magma made the groundwater extremely hot. I went there.” Namib (considered one of the driest places on earth) means “the area where there is nothing” in the local Nama language.
See post here
https://twitter.com/Astro_Andreas/status/1702711925996400990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
According to the US space agency NASA, the Namib coastal desert was created by the cold ocean current called the Benguela Current. The current prevents rainfall in the area, but creates morning fog that settles on the surface of the sand dunes and allows sparse vegetation growth in some places.
The dunes formed by strong coastal winds in the Namib Desert are the highest in the world, reaching heights of up to 1,167 feet in some places. These dunes form when material is transported from thousands of kilometers away by rivers, ocean currents and wind. Reptiles and mammals in dry areas rely on fog as their primary source of water.
