Considered one of many footage moreover reveals a crater-like formation inside the desert.
An astronaut of the European Space Firm (ESA) has shared breathtaking footage of the Namib Desert in western Namibia captured from space. The Namib is believed to be among the many many oldest deserts on Earth, courting once more 55 million years.
In a put up on X, beforehand Twitter, on Friday, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen shared a few footage of the Namib showcasing the choices of the coastal desert. “The rolling sand seas of the Namib desert alongside the coast of Namibia. It is possibly the world’s oldest desert, stretching once more 55-80 million years,” he wrote.
Considered one of many footage moreover reveals a crater-like formation inside the desert surrounded by sand dunes which, consistent with Mr Mogensen, is the Brukkaros Mountain.
“Just a bit inland of the sand dunes, is the Brukkaros Mountain. Although it looks like a meteor crater when seen from space, it is actually a caldera, about 4 km in diameter, that formed from an underground explosion when groundwater was superheated by rising magma,” he wrote.
The rolling sand seas of the Namib desert alongside the coast of Namibia???????? It is possibly the world’s oldest desert, stretching once more 55-80 million years. Just a bit inland of the sand dunes, is the Brukkaros Mountain ????Although it looks like a meteor crater when see from space, it is… pic.twitter.com/dCeUpuhEkl
— Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) September 15, 2023
The Namib, considered to be one among many driest areas on Earth, means “an area the place there could also be nothing” inside the native Nama language.
In step with US space firm NASA, the Namib coastal desert is formed on account of a cool ocean current generally known as the Benguela Current. The current suppresses rainfall inside the space nonetheless creates morning fog that may get trapped on the ground of the sand dunes and permits sparse vegetation growth in some areas.
The dunes in Namib Desert, formed by strong onshore winds, are the tallest on this planet measuring as extreme as 1,167 toes in areas.
The dunes are created when materials get transported from a whole lot of kilomteres by river, ocean current, and wind. The reptiles and mammals inside the arid space depend upon fog, which is their major provide of water.
