The Arak gorges are a series of

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 la ...

gorges located in

Tamanrasset Province Tamanrasset or Tamanghasset ( ''Wilāya Tamanrāssat'', ) is a province (''wilaya'') in southern Algeria. It is named after its province seat, Tamanrasset. The province is the home of two national parks: Ahaggar National Park and Tassili n'Ajj ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. The gorges are roughly 330 kilometres from the city of

Tamanrasset Tamanrasset (; ), also known as Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg. It is located at an altitude of . As of ...

. Carved by ancient river activity, the canyon walls vary in height from 250 to 500 m (800 to 1600 ft), and the canyon base is now a dry

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

. Despite the extremely dry climate (only 60 to 75 mm of rain per year), hardy desert plants and animals survive in the gorges. Examples include the red-headed rock agama,

wheatear The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus ''Oenanthe''. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but ...

birds, and small

vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

. There are no permanent human settlements in the gorges, though

stone tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

and burial mounds indicate the occasional human presence throughout history.

Gallery

File:Carte topographique des gorges d'Arak.png, Topographic map of the region surrounding Arak File:Arakzoom.png, Location of Arak and altimetric profile through the gorges

References

Landforms of Algeria Canyons and gorges of Africa {{Tamanrasset-geo-stub