What would happen if you took all the sand from the Sahara Desert and dumped it into the Mediterranean Sea? Could you fill it up? 🤔

@Bubotomy

According to the wikipedia the Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and surface area, 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)

So 3,750,000 cubic km

Now the average depth of the sand in the Sahara is much less easy to pinpoint. I have found 16ft but also 110ft. I don't think anyone knows.

But the Wikipedia has the surface area at 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi)

So 147,200 to 1,012,000

I think the sea wins by virtue of depth.

@futurebird @Bubotomy imagining 110 feet of sand below my feet is surreal and a little unnerving. I wonder how that would feel to walk on. if you dug away all of the sand, I wonder what it would look like underneath. it would definitely be sandstone, but would it be wavy? flat? would there be massive sandstone hills? would it look like the ocean’s waves: ripples frozen in time?

are creatures living deep in the sand, or do they just burrow near the surface? imagine a snake that can burrow dozens of feet into the sand - moving through it like water - to escape the desert heat and hide itself from predators

@futurebird @Bubotomy an item to consider: Due to the low latitude of the Sahara, prevailing winds blow across it from east to west. These winds regularly pick up dust and even sand, and transport it across the Atlantic, where it falls on the Carribean islands and northern S. America. I would think this regular removal of material would tend to reduce the depth of sand in the sahara.

@kasdeya @Bubotomy @futurebird

Underneath the Sahara desert is the biggest lake of Africa.

@bebatjof @kasdeya @Bubotomy

https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/113262397924385589

@bebatjof @Bubotomy @futurebird wait really? a massive underground lake beneath all the dry sand? that sounds so interesting