Traffic tie-up near Des Plaines oasis
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Chicago Daily Herald - Found 33 minutes ago Crews first responded to a car fire by the tollway oasis on eastbound I-90, according to the Illinois State Police. |
What's Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas really like? Our reporter ...
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USA Today - Found Mar. 19, 2010 Few vessels in the history of the cruise business have grabbed as much attention at their debut as Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas -- the ... |
A blue mystery: Pale blue on New Kingdom pottery may have come from ...
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PhysOrg.com - Found Mar. 17, 2010 ... ancient oasis dwellers. But Smith is also the 'generic geologist' as she puts it, for the Dakhleh Oasis Project, a long-term study of the oasis... A Blue Mystery - Red Orbit Explore All |
Red Orbit |
Miraval: An Oasis in the Desert and in Life
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Luxist - Found Mar. 16, 2010 More from Miraval Continue reading Miraval: An Oasis in the Desert and in Life Filed under: Spas Miraval: An Oasis in the Desert... |
Exhale Spa: An Urban Oasis
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Luxist - Found Mar. 16, 2010 More from Exhale Continue reading Exhale Spa: An Urban Oasis Filed under: Spas Exhale Spa: An Urban Oasis originally appeared on... |
Oasis Petroleum takes shale plays to Wall Street
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Biz Journals - Found Mar. 15, 2010 Oasis Petroleum Inc. bet the future on Big Sky country, investing millions into acquiring shale oil acreage in northern Montana and North Dakota. ... |
Las Vegas, launched two decades ago, now more ghost town than oasis
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Belleville News Democrat - Found Mar. 13, 2010 "It's like living in an oasis - it's special." But others fear the closures signal the end of southern Nevada's upscale aspirations. Miles from the Strip, visions of an upscale village dim - Los Angeles Times Nev. officials can limit brothel ads, 9th Circuit finds - First Amendment Center Las Vegas, launched two decades ago, now more ghost town than oasis - Belleville News Democrat Las Vegas, launched two decades ago, now more ghost town than oasis - Raleigh News & Observer Explore All |
Los Angeles Times |
Spa Montage Beverly Hills: A Modern Day Oasis
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Luxist - Found Mar. 12, 2010 Spa Montage Beverly Hills: A Modern Day Oasis Filed under: Spas Spa Montage Beverly Hills: A Modern Day Oasis originally appeared on... |
Skybar at Shore Club in Miami Beach to present Oasis with DJ Oren ...
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Miami Herald - Found Mar. 10, 2010 Oasis begins at 9 p.m. and goes through 2 a.m . There isn?t a list or cover ? all are welcome. |
Green Oasis Environmental Inc. Announces That Custom Carbon ...
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Earthtimes.org - Found Mar. 10, 2010 ... as I am able to do so," stated Peter Margiotta President/CEO of Green Oasis. About Green Oasis Environmental Inc. Green Oasis Environmental ... Green Oasis Environmental Inc. Announces That Custom Carbon - Market Wire via MSN Money Green Oasis Environmental Inc. Announces That Custom Carbon ... - Sys-Con Media Explore All |
Oasis Biography
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Oasis
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This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (December 2009) |
In geography, an oasis (plural: oases) or cienega (southwestern United States) is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough.
The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas. Caravans must travel via oases so that supplies of water and food can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on a particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila, Ghadames and Kufra, situated in modern-day Libya, have at various times been vital to both North-South and East-West trade in the Sahara. The word oasis came into English via Greek ὄασις oasis, borrowed directly from Egyptian wḥ3t or Demotic wḥỉ. It was not borrowed from Coptic ouaḥe (*/waħe/), as is sometimes suggested; the Greek word is attested several centuries before Coptic existed as a written language.citation needed
Oases are formed from underground rivers or aquifers such as an artesian aquifer, where water can reach the surface naturally by pressure or by man made wells. Occasional brief thunderstorms provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases, such as the Tuat. Substrata of impermeable rock and stone can trap water and retain it in pockets; or on long faulting subsurface ridges or volcanic dikes water can collect and percolate to the surface. Any incidence of water is then used by migrating birds who also pass seeds with their droppings which will grow at the water's edge forming an oasis.
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Growing plants
People who live in an oasis must manage land and water use carefully; fields must be irrigated to grow plants like dates, figs, olives, and apricots. The most important plant in an oasis is the date palm which forms the upper layer. These palm trees provide shade for smaller trees like peach trees, which form the middle layer. By growing plants in different layers, the farmers make best use of the soil and water. Many vegetables are also grown and some cereals, such as wheat, barley and millet are grown where there is more moisture. 1
Notable oases
Africa
- Nile River valley and delta, Egypt, is claimed as the world's biggest oasis by the 2007 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records with a stated area of 22,000 square kilometres.citation needed
- Bahariya Oasis, Egypt
- Farafra Oasis, Egypt
- Gaberoun, Libya
- Kufra Oasis, Libya
- M'Zab Valley, Algeria
- Ouargla, Algeria
- Siwa Oasis, Egypt
- Tafilalt, Morocco
- Timimoun, Algeria
- Tozeur, Tunisia
- Tuat, Algeria
- Zerzura, a mythical oasis in Egypt or Libya
Americas
- Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, United States
- Huacachina, Peru
- La Cienega, New Mexico, a paraje on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
- Las Vegas Valley, United States, what was once an oasis in the vast Mojave desert has over the years grown into a vibrant metropolitan area of over 1.8 million people, location of the famed Las Vegas Strip. 2
- Mulege, Baja California Sur, Mexico
- San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico
- San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
- Twentynine Palms, California, United States
- Warm Springs Area, Nevada, United States
Asia
- Al Ahsa,The largest in Asia,citation needed Saudi Arabia.
- Al-Qatif, Saudi Arabia, large oasis on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
- Azraq, Jordan
- Ein Gedi, Israel
- Loulan, China
- Marin, China
- Niya, China
- Tabas, Iran
- Turpan, China
- Yarkand, China
Australasia
- Palm Valley, Central Australia
Europe
- Herðubreiðarlindir, a so-called oasis-like area in the frozen Highlands of Icelandcitation needed
See also
Bibliography
- (French) référence: Jardins au désert (Vincent Battesti)|Battesti (Vincent), Jardins au désert, Evolution des pratiques et savoirs oasiens, Jérid tunisien, Paris, Éditions IRD, coll. À travers champs, 2005, 440 p. ISBN 2-7099-1564-2 Open Archives: book in free access / in French
References
External links
Media related to Oasis at Wikimedia Commons
The Wiktionary definition of oasis






















