Guelta
A guelta is a special form of a natural water point in the Sahara . The Tuareg call them aguelmam or aguelmin .
Emergence
A guelta can be a natural cistern filled with water in a rock formation or a relatively fast evaporating large puddle in an otherwise dry wadi that has formed after one of the extremely rare rains. The permanently filled Gueltas are created by tiny rivulets between the rocks or by groundwater that is pushed to the surface from the surrounding lowlands.
History and use
In the vicinity of some gueltas there are rock carvings , which suggests the temporary presence of prehistoric hunters and gatherers ; later they were used by nomads as cattle troughs. Other gueltas have drains, the water of which usually seeps away quickly, but in some cases also ends in one or even several man-made irrigation channels (e.g. Iche , Amtoudi ).
fauna
Gueltas are used as watering places by birds and other small animals. Larger wild animals have become extinct in the Sahara, but in the Guelta d'Archei in the Ennedi massif , seven crocodiles have survived and produced offspring to this day .
See also
- Guelta d'Archei , Chad
- Guelta Zemmur , Western Sahara
- Amtoudi , Morocco
- I , Morocco
Web links
- Peter v. Sengbusch: Hoggar - Guelta. Photos of a guelta in the Algerian Hoggar Mountains
- Peter v. Sengbusch: Hoggar - Massif Central - Guelta. More photos
- Michael Martin: The animals of the deserts.
- Guelta photo