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Aerial view of Wau al Namus, (Wau means hole, so Wau al Namus is hole of mosquitos). This massive (and apparently dormant) volcano can be easily be seen in satellite views of Southern Libya, as a large black smear in the wind-scoured sands of the Sahara. The inner crater is bordered by a chain of small salt lakes which are sumps for the springs of seemingly potable spring waters that feed the craters vegetation. Outside the outer rim of the crater are small black dunes of winblown volcanic ejecta. The winds here were very strong, at sunrise they were averaging over 60 kph at 300m above the rim of the outer crater, and about 20 kph at ground level.

Filename
STNMTZ_20081116_1006.tif
Copyright
©2009 George Steinmetz
Image Size
5616x3744 / 60.2MB
Contained in galleries
Libya's Sahara
Aerial view of Wau al Namus, (Wau means hole, so Wau al Namus is hole of mosquitos). This massive (and apparently dormant) volcano can be easily be seen in satellite views of Southern Libya, as a large black smear in the wind-scoured sands of the Sahara. The inner crater is bordered by a chain of small salt lakes which are sumps for the springs of seemingly potable spring waters that feed the craters vegetation. Outside the outer rim of the crater are small black dunes of winblown volcanic ejecta. The winds here were very strong, at sunrise they were averaging over 60 kph at 300m above the rim of the outer crater, and about 20 kph at ground level.

All images ©George Steinmetz. Please contact us for usage.