The Calanshio Sand Sea (Sarīr Kalanshiyū ar Ramlī al Kabīr) is a
sand desert region located in the
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates t ...
, of the
Kufra District
Kufra or Kofra ( ar, الكفرة '), also spelled ''Cufra'' in Italian, is the largest district of Libya. Its capital is Al Jawf, one of the oases in Kufra basin. There is a very large oil refinery near the capital. In the late 15th century, L ...
in
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
, eastern
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. It has a surface of approximately 62,000 km².
BoksburgHistorical.com: ''African Relics'' (Calanshio Sand Sea and "Lady Be Good")
The erg extends from Jaghbub
Jaghbub ( ar, الجغبوب) is a remote desert village in the Al Jaghbub Oasis in the eastern Libyan Desert. It is actually closer to the Egyptian town of Siwa than to any Libyan town of note. The oasis is located in Butnan District and was th ...
and Jalo in the north to Kufra
Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of nineteenth century Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...
in the south, a distance of 500km.
The erg lies parallel to the Egyptian Sand Sea
The Great Sand Sea is an approximately sand desert (erg) in the Sahara between western Egypt and eastern Libya in North Africa. Some 74% of the area is covered by sand dunes.
Geography
The Great Sand Sea stretches about from north to south a ...
and is contiguous with it at their northern ends. They contain dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s up to 110m in height: these lie in a roughly north-south direction and were created by the wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
.
The Calanshio Sand Sea is the site of the missing World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
'' Lady Be Good''. The wreck was discovered north of Kufra
Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of nineteenth century Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...
15 years after it was reported missing in 1943. The crew bailed out believing they were over the sea, when their plane ran out of fuel, and they became lost. When they landed in the Libyan Desert they could feel a northwesterly breeze. Thinking they were near the Mediterranean, they headed into the wind hoping it would lead them to safety. However, they were more than inland from the Mediterranean, and slowly died from dehydration after covering with minimal water in a place so dry even the desert 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 ...
s refuse to enter.
See also
*Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates t ...
**Ribiana Sand Sea
The Rabyanah Sand Sea, Rabyanah, is a sand desert region in the southeastern sector of Libya with a surface of approximately 65,000 km2.
Geography
The area of the Rabyanah Sand Sea is in the western part of the Libyan Desert in the Kufra D ...
**Idehan Murzuq
The Murzuq Desert, Idehan Murzuq, Idhan Murzuq, (also Murzaq, Murzuk, Marzuq and Murzak), is an erg in southwestern Libya with a surface of approximately 58,000 km2. It is named after the town of Murzuk in the Fezzan. Like the Idehan Ubari further ...
**Idehan Ubari
The Ubari Desert, Idehan Ubari, Idehan Awbari (''Idehan'' means ''fine sand'' in Tamasheq) or Ubari Erg is an erg in the hyper-arid Fezzan region of southwestern Libya with a surface of approximately 58,000 km². The area of the Ubari desert has b ...
References
External links
"Body and wallets lie among 200-foot dunes" ("Lady Be Good in the Calanshio Sand Sea)
Dunes of Libya
Deserts of Libya
Sahara
Kufra District
Cyrenaica
Landforms of Libya
Ergs of Africa
{{Libya-geo-stub