Sebkha el Melah
| Sebkha el Melah | ||
|---|---|---|
| Geographical location | Algeria, Sahara | |
| Tributaries | Oued Saoura | |
| Drain | drainless | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 29 ° 8 ′ N , 1 ° 11 ′ W | |
|
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| Altitude above sea level | 294 m | |
| surface | 125 km² | |
| length | 25 km | |
| width | 5 km | |
The Sebkha el Melah is an inland lake with no outflow in the Algerian Sahara . It lies at the southwest end of the sandy desert of the Western Great Erg and is separated from it by the southeastern foothills of the Ougarta Mountains . These also force the Oued Saoura , whose valley lies between the mountains and the sandy desert, to make a detour around the southern end of the mountains before it joins the Sebkha el Melah from the southeast.
The outflow-free lake naturally has a fluctuating water level and accordingly a fluctuating length and width. Satellite photos of the lake, which is elongated in a north-west-south-east direction, show an average length and width of 25 km and 5 km, respectively. The distance between the most distant bays is almost 36 km and the greatest width is more than 7 km.
According to the orohydrographic conditions of the basin in which the Sebkha el Melah is located, the highest conceivable water level would have been reached at around 320 m. Then the water would rise in the southeast to the bend of the Oued Saoura and at Foum el Kheneg overflow into the sandy dry valley of the Oued Messaoud , which branches off from the Oued Saoura here. The lake would then have a length of up to 75 km with a width of about 13 km.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Area calculation from mean length and width
- ↑ Measure mean length with google maps
- ↑ Measure mean width with google maps
- ^ Foum el Kheneg at Geonames