Jebel Uweinat As Seen From Orbit
Jebel Uweinat (1,934 meters, mountain of sourcelets) is a mountain range in the area of the Egyptian-Sudanese-Libyan border.
In general, the west slope constitutes an oasis, with wells, bushes and grass. The area is notable for its prehistoric petroglyphs. Engraved in sandstone, petroglyphs of Bushmen style are visible, representing giraffes, lions, ostriches, gazelles, and human figures. The western part of the massive consists of intrusive granite, arranged in a ring shape of some 25 km diameter.
Its eastern part consists of sandstone; four plateaus emerge from the level of the surrounding desert. One of the driest places on earth, it reportedly hasn’t rained since 1998 (Wikipedia). The image was acquired March 17, 2012, covers an area of 40 x 43 km, and is located at 22 degrees north latitude, 24.9 degrees east longitude.
The U.S. science team is located at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.
More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ Larger image
Jebel Uweinat (1,934 m; جبل العوينات gabal al-ʿuwaināt “mountain of sourcelets”; also spelled Jabal, Djebel Al Awaynat, Auenat, Ouenat, Ouinat, Owainat, Oweinat, Uwaynat, Uweinat, Uwenat, Uweynat etc.) is a mountain range in the area of the Egyptian-Libyan-Sudanese border. The mountain lies about 40 km S-SE of Jabal Arkanu. The main spring called Ain Dua lies at the foot of the mountain, on the Libyan side. The W foot (located at 21°52′29″N 24°54′16″E according to Hassanein) is 618 m high, and overcast with giant boulders fallen because of erosion. In general, the W slope constitutes an oasis, with wells, bushes and grass. The area is notable for its prehistoric petroglyphs first reported by the Egyptian explorer Ahmed Pasha Hassanein–the discoverer of Uweinat, who in 1923 traversed the first 40 km of the mountain towards E, without reaching the end. Engraved in sandstone, petroglyphs of Bushmen style are visible, representing lions, giraffes, ostrichs, gazelles, cows and little human figures.
The western part of the massif consists of intrusive granite, arranged in a ring shape of some 25 km diameter, ending in three valleys (wadis) towards the west, named Karkur Hamid, Karkur Idriss and Karkur Ibrahim. Its eastern part consists of sandstone, ending in Karkur Talh. In Karkur Murr there is a permanent oasis (Guelta), Ain al-Brins (Bir Murr). In the sandstone part four plateaus emerge from the level of the surrounding desert: the Hassanein plateau, connected to an unnamed plateau through a narrow neck, the Italia plateau and another unnamed plateau. The highest point of Uweinat is on top of the Italia plateau. There are two cairns on the top, the first was erected by R.A.Bagnold and the second by captain Marchesi, both in the 1930s.
