Water in the Sahara - 04/11/07 11:10 PM
"Scientists using radar techniques have peeled away the sandy cloak blanketing Darfur's parched landscape to reveal an ancient basin that once housed a mega-lake larger than Lake Erie.
"El-Baz and his colleague Eman Ghoneim, also of the Center for Remote Sensing, discovered the lake by analyzing images from the satellite Radarsat, which used radar waves to penetrate the fine-grained sand in western Sudan, revealing the hidden contours of the lake basin and surrounding rivers.
"Though the lake has since dried up, its water likely percolated into the surrounding sand and is now part of the groundwater. Maps of the ancient lake could help with groundwater exploration efforts in the Darfur region, where access to fresh water is both scarce and essential for refugee survival."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070411/sc_livescience/ancientmegalakediscoveredindarfur;_ylt=AqSg0f5RHFfTQLJDyjpUlhOs0NUE
Picture (linked through article) at:
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=070411_darfur_lake_02.jpg&cap=Dubbed+Northern+Darfur+Mega-Lake%2C+an+ancient+basin+was+discovered+in+Darfur.+Credit%3A+Boston+University+Center+for+Remote+Sensing
"El-Baz and his colleague Eman Ghoneim, also of the Center for Remote Sensing, discovered the lake by analyzing images from the satellite Radarsat, which used radar waves to penetrate the fine-grained sand in western Sudan, revealing the hidden contours of the lake basin and surrounding rivers.
"Though the lake has since dried up, its water likely percolated into the surrounding sand and is now part of the groundwater. Maps of the ancient lake could help with groundwater exploration efforts in the Darfur region, where access to fresh water is both scarce and essential for refugee survival."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070411/sc_livescience/ancientmegalakediscoveredindarfur;_ylt=AqSg0f5RHFfTQLJDyjpUlhOs0NUE
Picture (linked through article) at:
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=070411_darfur_lake_02.jpg&cap=Dubbed+Northern+Darfur+Mega-Lake%2C+an+ancient+basin+was+discovered+in+Darfur.+Credit%3A+Boston+University+Center+for+Remote+Sensing