The Secret of the Oasis
What causes the oasis in the deserts of Africa? These green spots serve not only as relief to the eye, wearied with gazing for long hours on nothing but vast stretches of hot and arid sands, but also, as resting places for man and beast, and places of refreshment for their worn out limbs and parched bodies. A typical oasis is that of Khargeh. The opening of railway communication from a point near Luxor in the Libyan desert, has rendered easy the approach to that oasis and made it possible for a body of scientists to make it their temporary abiding place While residing there they have paid considerable attention to the phenomena of springs, moving sands, wells and so forth. It appears from their investigations that the Libyan oases are deep depressions in a lofty plateau that has a maximum elevation of nearly two thousand feet, but that the bottom of the oases are only from one hundred to three hundred feet above sea level. They are underlaid by beds of sandstone, which are the sources of the water supply. The moisture from that supply reaches the surface and causes these green spots.
What causes the oasis in the deserts of Africa? These green spots serve not only as relief to the eye, wearied with gazing for long hours on nothing but vast stretches of hot and arid sands, but also, as resting places for man and beast, and places of refreshment for their worn out limbs and parched bodies. A typical oasis is that of Khargeh. The opening of railway communication from a point near Luxor in the Libyan desert, has rendered easy the approach to that oasis and made it possible for a body of scientists to make it their temporary abiding place While residing there they have paid considerable attention to the phenomena of springs, moving sands, wells and so forth. It appears from their investigations that the Libyan oases are deep depressions in a lofty plateau that has a maximum elevation of nearly two thousand feet, but that the bottom of the oases are only from one hundred to three hundred feet above sea level. They are underlaid by beds of sandstone, which are the sources of the water supply. The moisture from that supply reaches the surface and causes these green spots.
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