Calansho Desert (Sarīr Kalanshiyū, Calansho Serir) is a desert in eastern Libya in
Al Wahat District
Al Wahat or The Oases ( ', ), occasionally spelt ''Al Wahad'' or ''Al Wahah'' () is one of the districts of Libya.''Statesman's Yearbook 2006'' Its capital and largest city is Ajdabiya. The district is home to much of Libya's petroleum extraction ...
. It is part of the
Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
and has a
hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(BWh). It is primarily rocky in the north and center, but forms part of the "Great Sand Sea" to the east and contains the
Calanshio Sand Sea
The Calanshio Sand Sea (Sarīr Kalanshiyū ar Ramlī al Kabīr) is a sand desert region located in the Libyan Desert, in Cyrenaica region's Kufra District, eastern Libya. It has a surface of approximately 62,000 km².As Sarīr is the only settlement in the Sarīr Kalanshiyū. The
Sarir oil field
The Sarir Field was discovered in southern Cyrenaica during 1961 and is considered to be the largest oil field in Libya, with estimated oil reserves of . Sarir is operated by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO), a subsidiary of the state-owned N ...
is located in the western Sarīr Kalanshiyū.
It is currently thought that the ancestral
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
flowed through what is now the Calansho Desert during the
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 mea ...
.
Climate
Like most inland deserts it is hot during the day and cold at night, with the average annual temperature being around . The warmest month is August, when the average temperature is and the coldest is January, with . The average annual rainfall is less than . The wettest month is May, with an average rainfall of , and the driest is July, with .