Aoukar or Erg Aoukar () is a

geological depression In geology, a depression is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions form by various mechanisms. Types Erosion-related: * Blowout: a depression created by wind erosion typically in either a partially vegetated san ...

area of south eastern Mauritania. It is located between

Kiffa Kiffa () is a large town in the far south region of Mauritania, and the name of an administrative area within the local Assaba Region. Kiffa is located at , some from the coast and at the western end of the Aoukar sand sea of southern Mauritani ...

and

Néma Néma is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around at the eastern end of the Aoukar. It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma Department. While the urban population of Nema ...

, south of the

Tagant Plateau The Tagant Plateau is located in eastern Mauritania, forming a stony part of the Sahara Desert. The Tagant Region, a national administrative division, is named after the plateau. Geography Some towns are located at the foot of the Tagant Plateau ...

. The Aoukar basin is a dry

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

of sand dunes and salt pans fringed by

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

s on its northern and eastern sides.

History

There was once vast

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

-covered

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes left in the l ...

in the area, but it no longer exists. The former lake of Aoukar extended towards the area of Tichit, bordering the southern edge of the

. Below the cliffs ''(dhars)'' facing the extinct lake remains of about 400 villages have been found. From east to west, Dhar Néma, Dhar Walata, Dhar Tichitt, and Dhar Tagant form a semicircular shape around the Hodh/Aoukar Depression, which, prior to 4000 BCE, was an area with lakes of considerable size, and, after 1000 BCE, was an area that had become increasingly dried. During the emergence of the Tichitt Tradition, it was an oasis area. The

Tichitt Tradition The Tichitt Culture, or Tichitt Tradition, was created by Mande peoples. In 4000 BCE, the start of sophisticated social structure (e.g., trade of cattle as valued assets) developed among herders amid the Pastoral Period of the Sahara. Saharan pa ...

of eastern Mauritania dates from 2200 BCE to 200 BCE.

Ecology

The Aoukar is one of the few natural refuges for the

addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...

, a critically endangered kind of antelope which lives in the region.Richard Trillo, ''The Rough Guide to West Africa''
/ref>

References

External links

Mauritania - crossing the Aoukar basin
Landforms of Mauritania Depressions (geology) Endorheic basins of Africa Geology of Mauritania Sedimentary basins of Africa Natural regions of Africa {{Mauritania-geo-stub

History

Ecology

See also

References

External links