The Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter is the largest sand desert in the world, encompassing
most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert covers some 650,000
square kilometres including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and
Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.
Description
Terrain The desert is 1,000 kilometres long, and 500
kilometres wide. Its surface elevation varies from 800 metres in the southwest to around
sea level in the northeast. The terrain is covered with sand dunes with heights up to
250 metres, interspersed with gravel and gypsum plains. The sand is a reddish-orange color
due to the presence of feldspar. There are also brackish salt flats in some
areas, such as the Umm al Samim area on the desert's eastern edge.
Lake beds Along the middle length of the desert there
are a number of raised, hardened areas of calcium carbonate, gypsum, marl, or clay that
were once the site of shallow lakes. These lakes existed during periods from 6,000 to
5,000 years ago and 3,000 to 2,000 years ago. The lakes are thought to have formed as a
result of "cataclysmic rainfall" similar to present-day monsoon rains and most probably
lasted for only a few years. However, lakes in the Mundafen area in the southwest of the
Rub' al Khali show evidence of lasting longer, up to 800 years, due to increased runoff from
the Tuwaiq Escarpment. Evidence suggests that the lakes were home
to a variety of flora and fauna. Fossil remains indicate the presence of several animal species,
such as hippopotamus, water buffalo, and long-horned cattle. The lakes also contained small snails,
ostracods, and when conditions were suitable, freshwater clams. Deposits of calcium carbonate
and opal phytoliths indicate the presence of plants and algae. There is also evidence
of human activity dating from 3,000 to 2,000 years ago, including chipped flint tools,
but no actual human remains have been found. Climate
The region has a hot desert climate typical of the larger Arabian Desert. The region is
classified as "hyper-arid", with typical annual rainfall of less than 30 millimetres. Daily
maximum temperatures average at 47 °C and can reach as high as 51 °C.
Biodiversity Fauna includes arachnids and rodents, while
plants live throughout the Empty Quarter. As an ecoregion, the Rub' al Khali falls within
the Arabian Desert and East Saharo-Arabian xeric shrublands.
Oil Geologically, the Empty Quarter is the most
oil-rich site in the world. Vast oil reserves have been discovered underneath the sand dunes.
Sheyba, at the northeastern edge of the Rub' al Khali, is a major light crude oil-producing
site in Saudi Arabia. Ghawar, the largest oil field in the world, extends southward
into the northernmost parts of the Empty Quarter. History
Desertification has increased through the millennia. Before desertification made the
caravan trails leading across the Rub' al Khali so difficult, the caravans of the frankincense
trade crossed now virtually impassable stretches of wasteland, until about AD 300. It has been
suggested that Ubar or Iram, a lost city, depended on such trade. The traces of camel
tracks, unidentifable on the ground, appear in satellite images. More recently, tribal
populations were also present in certain parts of the Empty Quarter, with the largest in
the Najran region. A few road links were connected with these tribal settlements to the water
resource and oil production centers. Expeditions
The first documented journeys by non-resident explorers were made by British explorers Bertram
Thomas in 1931 and St. John Philby in 1932. Between 1946 and 1950 Wilfred Thesiger crossed
the area several times and mapped large parts of the Empty Quarter including the mountains
of Oman. In June 1950, a US Air Force expedition crossed
the Rub' al Khali from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to central Yemen and back in trucks to collect
specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and to test desert survival procedures.
In 1999 Jamie Clarke became the first Westerner to cross the Empty Quarter of Arabia in fifty
years. His team of six, including three Bedouin, spent 40 days crossing the desert with a caravan
of 13 camels. On 25 February 2006, a scientific excursion
organized by the Saudi Geological Survey began to explore the Empty Quarter. The expedition
consisted of 89 environmentalists, geologists and scientists from Saudi Arabia and abroad.
Various types of fossilized creatures as well as meteorites were discovered in the desert.
The expedition discovered 31 new plant species and plant varieties, as well as 24 species
of birds that inhabit the region, which fascinated scientists as to how they have survived under
the harsh conditions of the Empty Quarter. In 2012, Alastair Humphreys and Leon McCarron
pulled a specially designed cart from Salalah to Dubai. They produced a documentary film
about their journey and how it compared to those of Wilfred Thesiger
On 4 February 2013, a South African team including Alex Harris, Marco Broccardo and David Joyce
claimed that they became the first people to cross the Empty Quarter unsupported and
on foot, in a journey which started in Salalah and lasted 40 days, eventually ending in Dubai.
But about their route, there is possibility of controversy. The team only made use of
three water stops along the journey, and pulled a specially designed cart which housed all
the supplies necessary for the entire expedition. In 2013 from 18 February to 28 March, South
Korean adventurer Young-Ho Nam led a team on a crossing through the Empty Quarter on
foot from Salalah, Oman, to Liwa Oasis, United Arab Emirates. The crossing was performed
with permission from the governments of Oman and UAE. Dewan Ruler's Representative for
Western Region, Emirate of Abu Dhabi recognized it as the world's first on-foot crossing of
the Empty Quarter. In fiction
In Nelson DeMille's 2012 best-seller, The Panther, U.S. agents hunt down a terrorist
to Rub' al Khali, and main character John Corey jokes that "The Empty Quarter" isn't
a great name if promoting tourism. The desert features in H.P. Lovecraft's Call
of Cthulhu: "Of the [Cthulhu] cult, he said that he thought the centre lay amid the pathless
desert of Arabia, where Irem, the City of Pillars, dreams hidden and untouched."
Rub' al Khali is one of the settings for the PlayStation 3 video game Uncharted 3: Drake's
Deception, in which protagonist Nathan Drake searches for the Iram of the Pillars.
The Empty Quarter plays an important role in Clive Barker's Jericho, and in his novel
Weaveworld, and in Tim Powers' Declare. It also serves as the site of Machine City,
Zero-One, in the Matrix series. Gerald Seymour's novel Unknown Soldier is
almost entirely set in the Rub' al Khali. Jack Higgins sets much of the action in his
novels Edge of Danger and Midnight Runner in the Empty Quarter.
The Empty Quarter is also mentioned several times in The Black Stallion series of books
from Walter Farley. Much of the SIGMA Force book Sandstorm by
James Rollins takes place in the Empty Quarter. The Empty Quarter serves as the setting of
the fictional "Ocean of Fire" horse race in the 2004 film Hidalgo. Filming of the movie
actually occurred at various locations in the U.S.A. and Morocco.
In the Japanese light novel series Zero No Tsukaima, Rub' al Khali is thought to be the
place of origin of the main character, Hiraga Saito.
In Daniel Easterman's second novel, The Seventh Sanctuary it is the location of the lost city
of Iram, where the eponymous seventh sanctuary is situated.
The Fremen people of Frank Herbert's novels on Dune are said to stem from tribes of the
Rub' al Khali. Josephine Tey's novel The Singing Sands investigates
the murder of a young man who believes he's discovered the fabled city of Wabar while
flying over the Rub' al Khali. In Daniel Silva's novel Portrait of a Spy.
It is the site of Hammond Innes's novel, The Doomed Oasis. Innes travelled to Saudi Arabia
to research for this book. In season two of the Japanese animated series
Mobile Suit Gundam 00, one cell of the anti-government force "Kataron" operates from a hidden base
in Rub' al Khali. Additional images
See also Ramlat Khaliya
Notes
References
External links Lost city under the Rub' Al-Khali, Saudi Life.
Sights & Sounds: The Empty Quarter: A National Geographic virtual tour in the Empty Quarter.
Rub' al-Khali Encyclopædia Britannica Clear picture of some of the dunes in the
Empty Quarter.