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Landscapes and Landforms of the Central Sahara

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Editors:
  1. Jasper Knight

    1. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

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  2. Stefania Merlo

    1. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  3. Andrea Zerboni

    1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

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  • Presents a detailed overview of landforms of the Sahara region
  • This text can be used as a fieldwork guide
  • Examines unique desert landscapes and landforms

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes (WGLC)

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
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  2. Introduction to the Sahara: The Romance and Mystery of the Desert

    • Jasper Knight, Stefania Merlo, Andrea Zerboni
    Pages 1-8

  3. Geology and Long-Term Landscape Evolution of the Central Sahara

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 9-22

  4. Evidence for Past Glaciations

    • Jean-François Ghienne, Daniel P. Le Heron
    Pages 23-31

  5. Sandstone Massifs

    • Barbara Sponholz
    Pages 33-40

  6. Landforms and Landscapes of the Ennedi Plateau

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 41-48

  7. Caves and Rock Shelters of the Central Sahara and Their Records

    • Andrea Luca Balbo
    Pages 49-55

  8. Landslides and Alluvial Fans

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 57-63

  9. Hamadas and Desert Pavements

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 65-72

  10. The Development and Characteristics of Sand Seas in the Central Sahara

    • Jasper Knight, Stefania Merlo
    Pages 73-85

  11. Sand Dune Dynamics: An Example from the Ubārī Sand Sea, SW Libya

    • Anja Els, Jasper Knight
    Pages 87-98

  12. The Hydrology and Palaeohydrology of the Central Sahara

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 99-109

  13. Evolution and Geomorphology of Lake Chad

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 111-119

  14. Geomorphology of the Bodélé Depression: The Dustiest Place on Earth

    • Charlie S. Bristow
    Pages 121-129

  15. Dust from the Central Sahara: Environmental and Cultural Impacts

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 131-141

  16. The African Humid Period and the ‘Green Sahara’

    • Jasper Knight
    Pages 143-151

  17. Human Activity and Occupation in the Sahara

    • Stefano Biagetti
    Pages 153-160

  18. The Evolution of Foraging and the Transition to Pastoralism in the Sahara

    • Roger Blench
    Pages 161-171

  19. Oases Occupation

    • Stefania Merlo
    Pages 173-184

  20. Desert City Landscapes: At the Crossroads of Urbanization, Agricultural Intensification, and Trans-Saharan Connections

    • Oliver Pliez
    Pages 185-191
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Keywords

About this book

This book describes the Central Sahara region, bringing together an unprecedented combination of diverse and often historic research published in different languages in order to describe its varied landscapes and landforms. 

The Central Sahara region consists of Libya, Algeria, Mali, Niger and Chad, countries that share similar landscape histories and common landscape traits, including massifs, sand seas, paleowater features and large depressions. Furthermore, human settlement of this region goes hand-in-hand with climate and environmental changes and landscape evolution during the Holocene and earlier; hence, Central Saharan landscapes and landforms provide valuable insights into landscape–human relationships over long timescales. 

The book offers a comprehensive yet accessible reference source, drawing on both past and present interdisciplinary research and gathering the insights of authors from many different countries to explore a region that has largely been overlooked in available literature.

Editors and Affiliations

  • School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Jasper Knight

  • McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Stefania Merlo

  • Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Andrea Zerboni

About the editors

Jasper Knight is Professor of Physical Geography at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies of the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

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