View source for Earth:Ad-Dahna Desert

{{Short description|Desert in Saudi Arabia}}
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[[Image:Al-Dahna.jpg|right|thumb|Satellite view of Al-Dahna desert]]
[[File:A journey.jpg|thumb|A caravan in Ad-Dahnā']]

'''Ad-Dahna Desert''' is the central division of the Arabian Desert.<ref>{{Cite Nuttall|title=Dahna Desert}}</ref> It is a corridor of sandy terrain forming a bow-like shape that connects an-Nafud desert in the north to Rub' al-Khali desert in the south. Its length is more than {{convert|1,000|km|mile|abbr=on}} siding Twaik Mountains from the east and does not exceed  {{convert|80|km|mile|abbr=on}} in width. It is also considered the geographical margin separating Al-Ahsa Province from [[Place:Najd|Najd]]. Al-Dahna Desert is therefore the string that connects the great deserts of Saudi Arabia.

The desert is a series of seven successive deserts, separated from one another by plains.<ref name="Al-Dahnā">{{cite web |title=Al-Dahnā |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/149769/Al-Dahna|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=5 February 2013}}</ref> Roads pass through Al-Dahnā, linking Kuwait with Al-Zilfī and [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]] and connecting Riyadh with Hasa.<ref name="Al-Dahnā"/>

Al-Dahna desert is formed of high sand dunes spreading horizontally which are called veins ({{lang-ar|عُرُوْق|ʿUrūq}}), mostly red in color since it contains Iron Oxides.

== Caves ==
Beneath the harsh deserts of Saudi Arabia lie dark chambers and complex mazes filled with [[Chemistry:Crystalline|crystalline]] structures, stalactites and stalagmites. The limestone floor of the Summan plateau, a [[Earth:Karst|karst]] area to the east of the ad-Dahna desert, is riddled with such caves, known locally as ''Dahls''. Some have tiny entrances which open into caves, others lead into a maze of passages which can be several kilometers long.  Local Bedouin have always known these caves and some were used as water supplies. {{citation needed|date=October 2012}} They were first systematically studied in the 1981, and later explored and reported by the Saudi Geological Survey.

== See also ==

* [[Earth:Rub' al Khali|Rub' al Khali]]
* Arabian Desert
* Ancient towns in Saudi Arabia

== References ==
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== External links ==


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[[Category:Ergs]]


{{Sourceattribution|Ad-Dahna Desert}}