Why in news
An extratropical cyclone brought heavy rain to parts of the Sahara, including the Erg Chebbi, in early September.
The runoff from the deluge created ephemeral lakes in the desert, including around the Erg Chebbi.
What is erg in desert
An erg (also known as sand sea / dune sea / sand sheet if it lacks dunes) is a broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover.
It is defined as a desert area that contains more than 125 square kilometres of aeolian or wind-blown sand and where sand covers more than 20% of the surface.
Smaller areas are known as “dune fields”.
The largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara, contains several ergs.
Erg Chebbi
Erg Chebb is one of Morocco's several ergs – large seas of dunes formed by wind-blown sand.
It is located on the far western edge of the Sahara Desert.
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