The evaporation-rainfall ratios for the Tell, High Plateau, and
the desert are of great interest. The seasonal evaporation-rainfall
ratio for the littoral is 2.5 to 1; that of the Tell is 3.5 to 1;
that of the High Plateau is 9.4 to 1; and that of the desert is
46.5 to 1. If we represent the evaporation-rainfall ratio as unity,
the ratio for the Tell becomes 1.4 and the ratio of the High Plateau
becomes 9 to 3.7, while the desert ratio is 18.6.
The annual and daily variations of temperatures in the desert are
naturally relatively great. At Algiers the annual variation is
approximately 40.7° C., while at Ghardaia it is 47.9° C. As great
an annual variation as 57° C. has been observed at Ghardaia. The
daily variation of temperature is especially marked on the High
Plateau and the desert, ranging 17° C. more or less on the High
Plateau, and 20° C. more or less on the desert. These figures are
occasionally overstepped: for example, at Batna in July, 1904, when
the maximum daily range was 21.8° C.; and an observation made by the
writer in the open desert between Ouargla and Touggourt, in November,
1910, showed a variation of temperature of 24.7° C. between 3
o’clock in the afternoon and 6 o’clock the following morning.
The absolute maximum temperatures in southern Algeria are fairly
high. At El Golea, for example, they are 47°, 46.5°, 48°,
and 49.2° C., while at In Salah, about 700 miles from Algiers,
the maximum temperatures for four years have been found to be
50°, 49.2°, 50°, and 48° C. It is interesting to note that at
Ouargla, which is much nearer the coast than In Salah, even higher
temperatures have been recorded. The maxima for as many years are
as follows: 50.2°, 51.0°, 52°, 49°, and 48.4° C. Usually in
winter freezing temperatures are experienced at all stations in
southern Algeria.
Very little has been done on the soil temperatures in the desert
region, but at Ghardaia, in July, 1911, the temperature of the
soil 15 cm. beneath the surface of the soil ranged, maximum from
36° to 37° C., minimum from 31° to 33° C., giving an absolute
range of 6° C.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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