X-SAR-Crossed Lovers

Abstract

The Empty Quarter, or Rub’ al Khali, in southern Oman, is a barren and desolate place. Rich in scorpions and rodent life, it is the largest sand desert in the world, covering much of the southernmost third of the Arabian Peninsula, with a total extent of a quarter-million square miles (650,000 square kilometres), measuring 700 miles (1,100 kilometres) from its southwestern to northwestern extremities and 380 miles (500 kilometres) from north to south. An endless sea of ‘hyper-arid’ dunes, burnished a fiery reddish-orange by the ubiquitous presence of feldspar, together with plains of gravel and gypsum and brackish salt-flats, render this blasted landscape one of the most inhospitable on Earth. Thousands of years ago, several shallow lakes existed here, particularly in the Empty Quarter’s southwestern corner, supporting a multitude of plant, animal and even human life.