The Sahara cycle

I am usually fascinated by the history of the earth. Sometimes I think I missed my calling because I like geology so much. The Sahara Desert's interesting history is a good example of why I like geology. The great Sahara Desert hasn't always been a desert.

The Sahara has a varied history, but it also has a rhythm to it. At one time, about 300,000 years ago, it was a sea bottom. There was more water in the Mediterranean Sea area than there is now so that about the top third of Africa was a part of the ocean that is now the Atlantic. Old dinosaur crocodile bones have been found in the desert to verify this along with other shells.

But after the disappearance of the ocean, the Sahara has been through several 20,000 year cylces of going from swamp and jungle to being a desert. I would love to have seen it when it was green. But the most recent change to the cycle, about 13,000 years ago, insures that I won't. The Sahara is desert now, and for the next 7,000 years.

I think, as I look back on my life, that it reflects the cycles of the Sahara Desert. It has certainly been through cycles that have reflected both the lush green times and the times of brown desert dunes. I have just been through the desert dunes phase. I see the lush green ahead. I welcome it. I hate intense heat! The Sahara only took about 200 years to change when it passed from one cycle to the next. That is fairly quick in light of its 20,000 year scheme of cycles. The last year in my life reflects that period of cycle change. I am ready.

It's J ust L ike S ahara...