Great Sand Sea
A vast Saharan dune field where pale yellow-green glass, formed about 29 million years ago, lies scattered among the dunes.
- Location
- Western Desert of Egypt and eastern Libya
- Type
- Dune field, about 72,000 sq km
- Known for
- Libyan desert glass, nearly pure silica
- Glass age
- About 29 million years
- Probable origin
- Meteorite impact or airburst (debated)
- Famous object
- Glass scarab in a pectoral of Tutankhamun
What is Great Sand Sea known for?
The Great Sand Sea is a huge field of dunes in the Western Desert of Egypt, extending into Libya, with long dunes running north to south for hundreds of kilometers. It is one of the driest and least visited places on Earth.
In corridors between the dunes near the Libyan border lie pieces of pale yellow-green glass, some as large as several kilograms. This Libyan desert glass is nearly pure silica and formed about 29 million years ago at very high temperatures. Most researchers think it was produced by a meteorite impact or an airburst; a 2019 study by Christian Koeberl and colleagues reported shocked quartz in local bedrock, pointing to a possible deeply eroded impact structure in the region.
Ancient Egyptians used the glass. The central scarab in a pectoral from Tutankhamun's tomb is carved from it, identified in 1998.
Source of the desert glass carved into Tutankhamun's scarab.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeLibyan desert glass (Tutankhamun's scarab)
- PersonVincenzo de Michele
Sources
- Koeberl, C., and Ferrière, L., 'Libyan Desert Glass area in western Egypt' (2019), Meteoritics & Planetary SciencePrimary text
- Wikipedia, 'Great Sand Sea'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'Libyan desert glass'Reference
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