TheNamib (/ˈnɑːmɪb/NAH-mib;[1]Portuguese:Namibe) is a coastaldesert inSouthern Africa. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) along the Atlantic coasts ofAngola,Namibia, and northwestSouth Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba River in Angola, through Namibia and to theOlifants River in Western Cape, South Africa.[2][3][4] The Namib's northernmost portion, which extends 450 kilometres (280 mi) from the Angola-Namibia border, is known asMoçâmedes Desert, while its southern portion approaches the neighboringKalahari Desert. From the Atlantic coast eastward, the Namib gradually ascends in elevation, reaching up to 200 kilometres (120 mi) inland to the foot of theGreat Escarpment.[2] Annual precipitation ranges from 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in the aridest regions to 200 millimetres (7.9 in) at the escarpment, making the Namib the only true desert in southern Africa.[2][4][5] Having enduredarid orsemi-arid conditions for roughly 55–80 million years, the Namib may be the oldest desert in the world[2][5] and contains some of the world's driest regions, with only western South America'sAtacama Desert to challenge it for age and aridity benchmarks.[A] Most of Namibia's share of the Namib Desert is protected under the environmental protection included in the constitution of the country.
The desert geology consists ofsand seas near the coast, while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland. The sand dunes, some of which are 300 metres (980 ft) high and span 32 kilometres (20 mi) long, are the second-largest in the world after theBadain Jaran Desert dunes in China.[2] Temperatures along the coast are stable and generally range between 9–20 °C (48–68 °F) annually, while temperatures further inland are variable—summer daytime temperatures can exceed 45 °C (113 °F) while nights can be freezing.[7]Fogs that originate offshore from the collision of the coldBenguela Current and warm air from theHadley cell create a fog belt that frequently envelops parts of the desert. Coastal regions can experience more than 180 days of thick fog a year.[2][5] While this has proved a major hazard to ships—more than a thousand wrecks litter theSkeleton Coast—it is a vital source of moisture for desert life.
The Namib is almost completely uninhabited by humans except for several small settlements and indigenous pastoral groups, including theOvahimba andObatjimba Herero in the north, and theTopnaar Nama in the central region.[4] Owing to its antiquity, the Namib may be home to moreendemic species than any other desert in the world.[7] Most of the desert wildlife isarthropods and other small animals that live on little water, although larger animals inhabit the northern regions. Near the coast, the cold ocean water is rich in fishery resources and supports populations ofbrown fur seals and shorebirds, which serve as prey for the Skeleton Coast'slions.[7] Further inland, theNamib-Naukluft National Park supports population ofmountain zebras, and other large mammals. Further north near the Skeleton Coast,lions,elephants andrhinos can be found. Although the outer Namib is largely barren of vegetation,lichens andsucculents are found in coastal areas, while grasses, shrubs, andephemeral plants thrive near theescarpment. Several types of trees are also able to survive the extremely arid climate.[7]
The nameNamib is ofKhoekhoegowab (or Nama language) origin, and has been variously reported to mean "vast place"[2] and "an area where there is nothing".[8]
Namib desert and oceanSossusvlei, one of Namib's major tourist attractions, is asalt andclay pan surrounded by large dunes. The flats pictured here were caused by theTsauchab stream after summer rainsThick morning fog rolls in from the ocean, nearSossusvlei; moisture from the fog allows the native flora to survive the aridity
The Namib Desert is one of the 500 distinctphysiographic provinces of the South AfricanPlatform physiographic division. It occupies an area of around 80,950 square kilometres (31,250 sq mi),[9] stretching from theUniab River (north) to the town ofLüderitz (south) and from theAtlantic Ocean (west) to the Namib Escarpment (east). It is about 1,600 km (1,000 mi) long from north to south and its east–west width varies from 50 to 160 kilometres (30 to 100 miles). To the north, the desert leads into theKaokoveld; the dividing line between these two regions is roughly at thelatitude of the city ofWalvis Bay, and it consists in a narrow strip of land (about 50 km wide) that is the driest place in Southern Africa. To the south, the Namib borders theSouth AfricanKaroo semi-desert.
Southern Namib (between Lüderitz and theKuiseb River) comprises a vast dune sea with some of the tallest and most spectacular dunes in the world, ranging in color from pink to vivid orange. In the Sossusvlei area, several dunes exceed 300 meters (1,000 feet) in height. The complexity and regularity of dune patterns in itsdune sea have attracted the attention ofgeologists for decades, but it remains poorly understood.
The source of the unconsolidated sand (the most recent sand sea) is dominantly from the Orange River, which drains into the Atlantic south of the Namib Sand Sea, with minor contributions in the east from the (now ephemeral) rivers that drain into the sand sea.[10] For this reason, the Namib Sand Sea has been referred to as the "wind displaced delta of the Orange River."[10]
Moving north from Sossusvlei, the sand gradually gives way to a rocky desert that extends from Sossusvlei to theSwakop river. This area is traversed by theTropic of Capricorn and is mostly flat, although some scenic canyons and elevations are found in some areas, for example in the Moon Valley system. While most of the soil is rocky, sand dunes are still occasionally found in this region; for example, sand dunes occupy much of the coastline between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.
The Namib desert is an important location for the mining oftungsten,salt, anddiamonds.
Several rivers and streams run through the Namib, although all of the rivers south of theCunene River and north of theOrange River areephemeral and rarely or never reach the ocean.[2][11] These rivers arise in the interior mountains of Namibia and flow after summer rain storms.[2]
The Namib's aridity is caused by the descent of dry air of theHadley cell, cooled by the coldBenguela Current along the coast. It has less than 10 mm (0.39 in) of rain annually and is almost completely barren. Besides rain being scarce, it is also unpredictable. Western Namib gets less rain (5 mm) than eastern Namib (85 mm). This is due to several factors. Winds coming from the Indian Ocean lose part of their humidity when passing theDrakensberg mountains, and are essentially dry when they reach the Namib Escarpment at the eastern end of the desert. On the other hand, winds coming from the Atlantic Ocean are pressed down by hot air from the east; their humidity thus forms clouds and fog. Morning fogs coming from the ocean and pushing inwards into the desert are a regular phenomenon along the coast, and much of the life cycle of animals and plants in the Namib relies on these fogs as the main source of water.
Yellow desert
The dry climate of Namib reflects the almost complete lack of bodies of water on the surface. Most rivers flow underground and/or are dry for most of the year. Even when they are not, they usually drain intoendorheic basins, without reaching the sea. The Swakop and theOmaruru are the only rivers that occasionally drain into the ocean.
Namib sand sea
All along the coast, but mostly in the northernmost part of it, the interaction between the water-laden air coming from the sea via southerlywinds, some of the strongest of any coastal desert, and the dry air of the desert causes immensefogs and strong currents. It causes sailors to lose their way; this is testified by the remnants of severalshipwrecks that can be found along theSkeleton Coast, in northern Namib. Some of these wrecked ships (such as that of theEduard Bolen, can be found as much as 400m inland, as the desert slowly moves westwards into the sea, reclaiming land over many years.Benguela's El Niño (similar to the Pacific event in its environmental change in the seas) spreads from the Kunene estuary southward to, on occasion, south of Luderitz. Warm waters with depth and associated water flow from the northwest were first fully catalogued by Sea Fisheries researchers, in Cape Town (L V Shannonet al.). The research noted the positive effect of Benguela's El Niño on the rainfall of the interior. Rainfall records also show positive values variously across the Namib, Desert Research Station, and Gobabeb for instance. This event recurs approximately mid-decade (recent examples are 1974, 1986, 1994, 1995, and 2006).
Several unusualspecies of plants and animals are found in this desert, many of which areendemic and highly adapted to the specific climate of the area.
One of the most well-known endemic plants of the Namib is the welwitchia plant, a shrub-like plant, it grows two long strap-shaped leaves continuously throughout its lifetime. These leaves may be several meters long, gnarled, and twisted from the desert winds. Thetaproot of the plant develops into a flat, concave disc in age.Welwitschia is notable for its survival in the extremely arid Namib conditions, made possible by its ability to capture moisture from coastal sea fogs. Areas whereWelwitschias are a common sight include the eponymous Welwitschia Plains, which are adjacent to theHusab uranium mine, one of the largest of its kind in the world.[12]
"Fairy circles", which are circular patches of land barren of plants, varying between 2 and 12 metres (7 and 39 ft) in diameter and often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass, are found in the Namib,[13] such as those near the Wolwedans desert camp.[14]
The Namib fauna mostly comprisesarthropods and other small animals that can live on little water, but a few species of bigger animals are also found, includingantelopes (such asgemsboks andspringboks),common ostriches, and in some areas evendesert elephants orlions. All these species have developed techniques to survive in the Namib environment. Several endemicdarkling beetlesspecies have different methods of collecting water droplets from morning fog; they are collectively known as "fog beetles". For example, one beetle,Onymacris unguicularis, has smoothelytrons that cause humidity from the morning fogs to condense into droplets, which roll down the beetle's back to its mouth. Another beetle, theLepidochora discoidalis, builds "water-capturing" webs.[15]Black-backed jackals lick humidity from stones. Gemsboks (also known as the South African oryx) can raise the temperature of their bodies to 40 °C in the hottest hours of the day. The desert is also home tomeerkats and several species of lizards.
Before the 20th century, someSan roamed the Namib, gathering edible plants on the shore, hunting in the interior, and drinking the juice of thetsamma melon for water. Today, someHerero still herd their livestock in theKaokoveld in the Namib and take them from waterhole to waterhole. A fewNamaKhoikhoi still graze their livestock on the banks of theKuiseb River in the desert. Most of the native people have left, leaving the vast majority of the desert uninhabited.[16]
The steppes in the southern half of the desert are mostly made up of ranches run by Europeans, who raiseKarakul sheep with local help and send the pelts of the lambs to Europe for use in fur coats. Most of the rest of the desert is set aside for conservation. A vast portion of the desert, called theSperrgebiet, was access-restricted due to the presence of diamonds, which are mined in the area at the mouth of theOrange River. Although the desert is largely unpopulated and inaccessible, there are year-round settlements atSesriem, close to theSossusvlei area, and other small outposts in other locations.Moçâmedes in Angola, andLüderitz,Walvis Bay, andSwakopmund in Namibia, bordering on the desert, are the main settlements in the area.
In 2019 the Namibian-German artistMax Siedentopf created an installation in the Namib consisting of a ring of large white blocks atop of which sit six speakers attached to a solar-poweredMP3 player configured to continuously play the 1982 song "Africa" by the American bandToto. The exact location of the installation has not been disclosed.[18][19]
Since 2021, a livestream has operated from the an artificial watering hole on the inland edge of the desert.[20]
TheSentinel-2 satellite captures a large portion of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. TheNaukluft Mountains are to the east with the Sossusvlei in the centre.
The Namib-Naukluft National Park, which extends over a large part of the Namib Desert, is the largest game reserve inAfrica and one of the largest in the world at 49,768 sq km (19,215 sq mi). While most of the park is hardly accessible, several well-knownvisitor attractions are found in the desert. The prominent attraction is theSossusvlei area, where high orange sand dunes surround vivid white salt pans, creating a fascinating landscape.[21]
Access to the park is either bygravel roads or dust roads (except for 60 km ofconcrete road from theSesriem gate to Sossusvlei) or by light aircraft fromWindhoek (the capital of Namibia, about 480 km or 300 mi northeast of the centre of the desert), orSwakopmund andWalvis Bay at the north end of the desert.[22]
^It is hypothetized that Atacama Desert had climatic conditions that were akin to the Namib Desert prior to the rise of theAndes inthe last 25 millions years when Atacama turned hyper-arid.[6]
^World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001)."Namib desert".WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived fromthe original on 2010-03-08.
^abGarzanti, Eduardo; Andò, Sergio; Vezzoli, Giovanni; Lustrino, Michele; Boni, Maria; Vermeesch, Pieter (2012). "Petrology of the Namib Sand Sea: Long-distance transport and compositional variability in the wind-displaced Orange Delta".Earth-Science Reviews.112 (3–4):173–189.Bibcode:2012ESRv..112..173G.doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.02.008.
^Stone, A. E. C.; Thomas, D. S. G. (2013-06-01). "Casting new light on late Quaternary environmental and palaeohydrological change in the Namib Desert: A review of the application of optically stimulated luminescence in the region".Journal of Arid Environments. Deserts of the World: Namib Desert: 50 years of research in a hyperarid desert.93:40–58.Bibcode:2013JArEn..93...40S.doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.01.009.ISSN0140-1963.
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