The Erg Iguidi ( ar, عرق إقيدي), is a large
erg
The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100 nJ). It originated in the Centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). It has the symbol ''erg''. The erg is not an SI unit. Its name is derived from (), a Greek word meaning 'work' o ...
in the area of
Tindouf
Tindouf ( Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...
in southwestern
Algeria
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, religi ...
extending into northern
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
and
Mauritania.
Geography
The Erg Iguidi is a
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a soil texture, textur ...
y
desert with a clear pattern of narrow linear
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, fl ...
s stretching for a length of 400 km. Part of the greater
Sahara
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, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
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, it is located in its northwestern region and is characterized by
Harmattan
The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into th ...
withering winds. The highest point is 540 m.
Compared to the neighboring
Erg Chech
The Erg Chech ( ar, عرق شاش), is a large erg in southwestern Algeria and northern Mali.
Geography
It is an almost uninhabited part of the greater Sahara Desert, an inhospitable desert region with long, extremely hot summers and short, very ...
to the south, this erg is relatively humid. Groundwater is especially abundant towards the north-eastern edge of the Erg Iguidi. There are patches of seasonal vegetation with grasses and shrubs and in the summer the desert is used as a pasturage area. The Erg Iguidi supports a population of
slender-horned gazelle.
[David P. Mallon & Steven Charles Kingswoo eds. ''Antelopes: North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia'' p. 28]
See also
*
Geography of Algeria
Algeria comprises square kilometers of land, more than 80% of which is desert, in North Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia. It is the largest country in Africa. Its Arabic name, Al Jazair (the islands), is believed to derive from the rocky ...
*
List of ergs
In geomorphology, an erg is a large desert region of sand dunes with little or no vegetation,it is divided into 3 parts back erg ,central erg,fore erg, especially in the Sahara.
This is a list of ergs around the world.
Africa
;Algeria
* Grand E ...
References
{{coord, 26.255, N, 6.298, W, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title
Ergs of Africa
Landforms of Algeria
Landforms of Mali
Landforms of Mauritania
Natural regions of Africa
Geography of Tindouf Province