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Al Harrah, Saudi Arabia
The ''Ḥarrat al-Shām'' (), also known as the ''Harrat al-Harra'' or ''Harrat al-Shaba'', and sometimes the Black Desert in English, is a region of rocky, basaltic desert straddling southern Syrian region and the northern Arabian Peninsula. It covers an area of some in the modern-day Syrian Arab Republic, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Vegetation is characteristically open acacia shrubland with patches of juniper at higher altitudes. The ''Harrat'' has been occupied by humans since at least the Late Epipalaeolithic (). One of the earliest known sites is Shubayqa 1 (occupied ), a Natufian site where archaeologists have discovered the remains of the oldest known bread. Geology The ''Harrat'' is part of a system of volcanic fields formed by tectonic activity from the Oligocene through to the Quaternary. This system, which geologists refer to as the 'Harrat Ash Shamah Volcanic Field', is the largest of several volcanic fields on the Arabian Plate, containing more tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or Semi-arid climate, semi-arid. This includes much of the Polar regions of Earth, polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night strain the Rock (geology), rocks, which consequently break in pieces. Although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter, and the resulting frag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Israeli-occupied territories, It occupies the Occupied Palestinian territories, Palestinian territories of the West Bank in the east and the Gaza Strip in the south-west. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Status of Jerusalem, Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, while Tel Aviv is the country's Gush Dan, largest urban area and Economy of Israel, economic center. Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel, synonymous with the Palestine (region), Palestine region, the Holy Land, and Canaan. In antiquity, it was home to the Canaanite civilisation followed by the History of ancient Israel and Judah, kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Situate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene followed the Oligocene and preceded the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by distinct global events but by regionally defined transitions from the warmer Oligocene to the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, and allowing the interchange of fauna between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans and Ape, hominoids into Eurasia. During the late Miocene, the conn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dike (geology)
In geology, a dike or dyke is a sheet of rock that is formed in a fracture of a pre-existing rock body. Dikes can be either magmatic or sedimentary in origin. Magmatic dikes form when magma flows into a crack then solidifies as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through a contiguous mass of rock. Clastic dikes are formed when sediment fills a pre-existing crack.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak Magmatic dikes A magmatic dike is a sheet of igneous rock that cuts across older rock beds. It is formed when magma fills a fracture in the older beds and then cools and solidifies. The dike rock is usually more resistant to weathering than the surrounding rock, so that erosion exposes the dike as a natural wall or ridge. It is from these natural walls that dikes get their name. Dikes preserve a record of the fissures through which most mafic magma (fluid magma low in silica) reaches the surface. They are studied by geologists for the clues they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanic Cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption. Types of volcanic cones include stratocones, spatter cones, tuff cones, and cinder cones. Stratocone Stratocones are large cone-shaped volcanoes made up of lava flows, explosively erupted pyroclastic rocks, and igneous intrusives that are typically centered around a cylindrical vent. Unlike shield volcanoes, they are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, often alternating, explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions. Some have collapsed craters called calderas. The central core of a stratocone is commonly dominated by a central core of intrusive rocks that range from around to over several kilometers in diameter. This central core is surrounded by multiple generations of lav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diets. It is one of the oldest human-made foods, having been of significance since the dawn of Agriculture#History, agriculture, and plays an essential role in both religious rituals and secular culture. Bread may be Leavening agent, leavened by naturally occurring microbes (e.g. sourdough), chemicals (e.g. baking soda), industrially produced Baker's yeast, yeast, or high-pressure aeration, which creates the gas bubbles that fluff up bread. Bread may also be Unleavened bread, unleavened. In many countries, mass-produced bread often contains Food additive, additives to improve flavor, texture, color, shelf life, nutrition, and ease of production. Etymology The Old English language, Old English word for bread was ( in Gothic langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natufian Culture
The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the Origins of agriculture in West Asia, introduction of agriculture. Natufian communities may be the ancestors of the builders of the region's first List of Neolithic settlements, Neolithic settlements, which may have been the earliest in the world. Some evidence suggests deliberate cultivation of cereals, specifically rye, by the Natufian culture at Tell Abu Hureyra, the site of the earliest evidence of agriculture in the world. The world's oldest known evidence of the production of bread-like foodstuff has been found at Shubayqa 1, a 14,400-year-old site in Jordan, Jordan's northeastern desert, 4,000 years before the Origins of agriculture in West Asia, emergence of agriculture in Southwest Asia. In addition, the oldest known evidence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Epipalaeolithic
The Epipalaeolithic Near East designates the Epipalaeolithic ("Final Old Stone Age") in the prehistory of the Near East. It is the period after the Upper Palaeolithic and before the Neolithic, between approximately 25,000 and 11,500 years Before Present. The people of the Epipalaeolithic were nomadic hunter-gatherers who generally lived in small, seasonal camps rather than permanent villages. They made sophisticated stone tools using microliths—small, finely-produced blades that were hafted in wooden implements. These are the primary artifacts by which archaeologists recognise and classify Epipalaeolithic sites. Although the appearance of microliths is an arbitrary boundary, the Epipalaeolithic does differ significantly from the preceding Upper Palaeolithic. Epipalaeolithic sites are more numerous, better preserved, and can be accurately radiocarbon dated. The period coincides with the gradual retreat of glacial climatic conditions between the Last Glacial Maximum and the sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south as tropical Africa, including the Arctic, parts of Asia, and Central America. The highest-known juniper forest occurs at an altitude of in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree lines on earth. Description Junipers vary in size and shape from tall trees, tall, to columnar or low-spreading shrubs with long, trailing branches. They are evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ... with needle-like and/or scale-like leaves. They can be either monoecious or dioecious. The female Conif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
