Oases develop in “hydrologically favored” locations that have attributes such as a high water

table, seasonal lakes, or blockaded wadis.[3] Oases are made when sources of freshwater, such
as underground rivers or aquifers, irrigate the surface naturally or via man-made wells.[4] The
presence of water on the surface or underground is necessary and the local or regional
management of this essential resource is strategic, but not sufficient to create such areas:
continuous human work and know-how (a technical and social culture) are essential to maintain
such ecosystems.[5][6] Some of the possible human contributions to maintaining an oasis include
digging and maintaining wells, digging and maintaining canals, and continuously removing
opportunistic plants that threaten to gorge themselves on water and fertility needed to maintain
human and animal food supplies.[7] Stereotypically, an oasis has a “central pool of open water
surrounded by a ring of water-dependent shrubs and trees…which are in turn encircled by an
outlying transition zone to desert plants.”[8]
Rain showers 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, which also pass seeds with their droppings which will
grow at the water's edge forming an oasis. It can also be used to plant crops.
Oases in the Middle East and North Africa cover about 1,000,000 hectares (10,000 km2),
however, they support the livelihood of about 10 million inhabitants.[9] The stark ratio of oasis to
desert land in the world means that the oasis ecosystem is “relatively minute, rare and
precious.”[8]
There are 90 “major oases” within the Sahara Desert.[4] Some of their fertility may derive from
irrigation systems called foggaras, khettaras, lkhttarts, or a variety of other regional names.[10][11]
In some oases systems, there is “a geometrical system of raised channels that release controlled
amounts of the water into individual plots, soaking the soil.”[11]

Irrigation canal within the Figuig Oasis in eastern Morocco

Oases often have human histories that are measured in millennia. Archeological digs at Ein
Gedi in the Dead Sea Valley have found evidence of settlement dating to 6,000 BC.[12] Al-Ahsa on
the Arabian Peninsula shows evidence of human residence dating to the Neolithic.[13]
Anthropologically, the oasis is “an area of sedentary life, which associates the city [medina] or
village [ksar] with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and
circulatory nomadic system.”[14]
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 Desert. The location of oases also informed the Darb El Arba'īn trade route from Sudan
to Egypt, as well as the caravan route from the Niger River to Tangier, Morocco.[8] The Silk
Road “traced its course from water hole to water hole, relying on oasis communities such
as Turpan in China and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.”[8]
According to the United Nations, “Oases are at the very heart of the overall development of peri-
Saharan countries due to their geographical location and the fact they are preferred migration
routes in times of famine or insecurity in the region.”[10]
Oases in Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula near the Persian Gulf, vary somewhat from the
Saharan form. While still located in an arid or semi-arid zone with a date palm overstory, these
oases are usually located below plateaus and “watered either by springs or by aflaj, tunnel
systems dug into the ground or carved into the rock to tap underground aquifers.” This rainwater
harvesting system “never developed a serious salinity problem.”[9]
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living
conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected
surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth
is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and
which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the
amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes
of desertification or by their geographical location.[1]
Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and
night put strains on the rocks, which consequently break in pieces. Although rain seldom occurs
in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot
rocks can cause them to shatter, and the resulting fragments and rubble strewn over the desert
floor are further eroded by the wind. This picks up particles of sand and dust, which can remain
airborne for extended periods – sometimes causing the formation of sand storms or dust storms.
Wind-blown sand grains striking any solid object in their path can abrade the surface. Rocks are
smoothed down, and the wind sorts sand into uniform deposits. The grains end up as level
sheets of sand or are piled high in billowing sand dunes. Other deserts are flat,
stony plains where all the fine material has been blown away and the surface consists of
a mosaic of smooth stones, often forming desert pavements, and little further erosion takes
place. Other desert features include rock outcrops, exposed bedrock and clays once deposited
by flowing water. Temporary lakes may form and salt pans may be left when waters evaporate.
There may be underground sources of water, in the form of springs and seepages from aquifers.
Where these are found, oases can occur.
Plants and animals living in the desert need special adaptations to survive in the harsh
environment. Plants tend to be tough and wiry with small or no leaves, water-resistant cuticles,
and often spines to deter herbivory. Some annual plants germinate, bloom and die in the course
of a few weeks after rainfall, while other long-lived plants survive for years and have deep root
systems able to tap underground moisture. Animals need to keep cool and find enough food and
water to survive. Many are nocturnal, and stay in the shade or underground during the heat of
the day. They tend to be efficient at conserving water, extracting most of their needs from their
food and concentrating their urine. Some animals remain in a state of dormancy for long periods,
ready to become active again during the rare rainfall. They then reproduce rapidly while
conditions are favorable before returning to dormancy.
People have struggled to live in deserts and the surrounding semi-arid lands for
millennia. Nomads have moved their flocks and herds to wherever grazing is available, and
oases have provided opportunities for a more settled way of life. The cultivation of semi-arid
regions encourages erosion of soil and is one of the causes of increased desertification. Desert
farming is possible with the aid of irrigation, and the Imperial Valley in California provides an
example of how previously barren land can be made productive by the import of water from an
outside source. Many trade routes have been forged across deserts, especially across
the Sahara, and traditionally were used by caravans of camels carrying salt, gold, ivory and other
goods. Large numbers of slaves were also taken northwards across the Sahara. Some mineral
extraction also takes place in deserts, and the uninterrupted sunlight gives potential for the
capture of large quantities of solar energy.