Ad-Dahna Desert is the central division of the Arabian Desert. It is a corridor of sandy terrain forming a bow-like shape that connects

an-Nafud An Nafud or Al-Nefud or The Nefud ( ar, صحراء النفود, ṣahrā' an-Nafūd) is a desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula at , occupying a great oval depression. It is long and wide, with an area of . The Nafud is an erg ...

desert in the north to

Rub' al-Khali The Rub' al KhaliOther standardized transliterations include: / . The ' is the assimilated Arabic definite article, ', which can also be transliterated as '. (; ar, ٱلرُّبْع ٱلْخَالِي (), the "Empty Quarter") is the sand des ...

desert in the south. Its length is more than siding Twaik Mountains from the east and does not exceed in width. It is also considered the geographical margin separating Al-Ahsa Province from

Najd Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...

. Al-Dahna Desert is therefore the string that connects the great deserts of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The desert is a series of seven successive deserts, separated from one another by plains. Roads pass through Al-Dahnā, linking Kuwait with Al-Zilfī and

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

and connecting Riyadh with Hasa.

Al-Dahna Ad-Dahna Desert is the central division of the Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands, Arabian Desert. It is a corridor of sandy terrain forming a bow-like shape that connects an-Nafud desert in the north to Rub' al-Khali des ...

desert is formed of high sand dunes spreading horizontally which are called veins ( ar, عُرُوْق, ʿUrūq), mostly red in color since it contains

Iron Oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

Caves

Beneath the harsh deserts of Saudi Arabia lie dark chambers and complex mazes filled with

crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...

structures,

stalactites A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...

and

stalagmites A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

. The limestone floor of the Summan plateau, a

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

area to the east of the ad-Dahna desert, is riddled with such caves, known locally as ''Dahls''. Some have tiny entrances which open into caves, others lead into a maze of passages which can be several kilometers long. Local

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

have always known these caves and some were used as water supplies. They were first systematically studied in the 1981, and later explored and reported by the

Saudi Geological Survey The Saudi Geological Survey (SGS; ar, هيئة المساحة الجيولوجية السعودية) is the national geological survey of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. History and profile The SGS was established as an independent entity attached ...

References

External links

Deserts of Saudi Arabia Ergs Najd {{SaudiArabia-geo-stub

Caves

See also

References

External links