Tademaït is a
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 ...
in the
Sahara Desert
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 ...
right in the centre of
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 ...
. It is located north of
In Salah and south of the
Grand Erg Occidental in the
Adrar District of
Adrar Province
Adrar (, ) is a province ('' wilaya'') in southwestern Algeria, named after its capital Adrar. It is the second-largest province, with an area of 254 000 km2, roughly the size of the US state of Wyoming. It had 401.297 inhabitants at the ...
,
El Ménia District of
Ghardaïa Province
Ghardaïa () is an Algerian province located in the north of the Algerian desert. Its administrative center is the city of Ghardaia, located south of the capital Algiers. Its total area is estimated at , from north to south, and from east to ...
and the northern end of
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 ...
. It is one of the places of the
Sahara Desert
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 ...
where the summer heat is most extreme.
Geography
The Tademaït is a rocky plateau made up of
cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
terrain with a general slope towards the northeast. It is an extremely dry and hyper-arid area with 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 ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''BWh'') as the region is virtually rainless throughout the year and it has long, extremely hot summers and short, very warm winters.
A
meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
was found in Tademaït in November 2002.
See also
*
Geography of Algeria
Algeria comprises 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 islands along the ...
*
Tuat
Tuat, or Touat (), is a natural region of desert in central Algeria that contains a string of small oasis, oases. In the past, the oases were important for Camel caravan, caravans crossing the Sahara.
Geography
Tuat lies to the south of the Gr ...
References
External links
Tademait Plateau A regional
groundwater recharge
Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in ...
area in the centre of the Algerian Sahara
Deserts of Algeria
Natural regions of Africa
Plateaus of Africa
Landforms of Algeria
Geography of Adrar Province
Geography of Ghardaïa Province
Geography of Tamanrasset Province{{Adrar-geo-stub