Oasis
A fertile area in a desert or semi-desert environment, sustained by water and human care.
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment that sustains plant life and provides habitat for animals. Surface water may be present, or water may only be accessible from wells or underground channels created by humans. In geography, an oasis may be a current or past rest stop on a transportation route, or less-than-verdant location that nonetheless provides access to underground water through deep wells created and maintained by humans. Although they depend on a natural condition, such as the presence of water that may be stored in reservoirs and used for irrigation, most oases, as we know them, are artificial.
Quick Facts
- Artists
- Bad Bunny & J Balvin
- Release year
- 2019
- Genre
- Reggaeton
- Trap
- Pop
- Format
- EP
- Label
- Rimas/Universal Latin
Lore & Background
The word oasis came into English from , from , , which in turn is a direct borrowing from Demotic Egyptian. The word for oasis in the latter-attested Coptic language (the descendant of Demotic Egyptian) is wahe or ouahe which means a 'dwelling place'. Oasis in Arabic is wāḥa ().
Reader's Guide
Oases develop in 'hydrologically favored' locations that have attributes such as a high water table, seasonal lakes, or blockaded wadis. Oases are made when sources of freshwater, such as springs, underground rivers, or aquifers irrigate the surface naturally or via man-made wells. 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.
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. 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'.
Did You Know?
- Rain showers provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases, such as the Tuat.
- There are 90 'major oases' within the Sahara Desert.
- The most important plant in an oasis is the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), which forms the upper layer.
- Morocco has lost two-thirds of its oasis habitat over the last 100 years due to heat, drought, and water scarcity.
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