In the Sahara desert, is it strictly sand all the way to the bedrock or is there some type of soil between the sand and bedrock?
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hurricane
ANSWERS: 1
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Perhaps surprisingly, most major deserts (including the Sahara) are less than 30% covered by sand. Other common desert floor types include stony ("reg") and bedrock ("hamada") as well as playa lakes and their deposits. I have not seen a map of the Sahara showing the distribution of desert floor types, but a version of Mabbutt's map of Australia is posted at http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80506e/80506E01.GIF. Because sand dunes can migrate they often move over very different materials, including bare bedrock. This is especially true of the isolated "barchan" dunes - see http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/hudson/grg301c/hudson_grg_301c/schedule/4_water_geomorph_images/18_aeolian/7.htm On the other hand, they can also migrate across preexisting soil surfaces. So - no single answer here.
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