Sossusvlei
The Sossusvlei,
Namibia's famous highlight in the heart of the Namib Desert, is
a huge clay pan, enclosed by giant sand dunes. Some of the spectacular
hills of sand are, at a height of 300 metres, the highest in the
world. Only after a heavy rainfall, which is a rare event in this
area, does the vlei fill with water. As the clay layers hardly allow
any water infiltration, a turquoise lake will remain for quite some
time.
The dunes
of the Namib desert have developed over a period of many millions
of years. It is thought that the vast quantities of sand were deposited
into the Alantic Ocean by the Orange river. This material was subsequently
moved northwards by the Benguela current to be dumped back onto
the land by the surf.
The coastal
dunes developed as a result of this and were shifted further and
further inland by the wind. Wind continuously reshapes the patterns
of the huge dunes of the Namib desert. It timelessly forces the
grains of sand on the flat windward slope upwards to the crest of
the dune. Here they fall down in the wind shade. The leeward slope
is therefore always considerably steeper than the windward side.
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