- Błędów Desert
Błędów Desert ( _pl. Pustynia Błędowska) is an area of sands between
Błędów (part ofDąbrowa Górnicza inUpper Silesian Metropolitan Union ) and the village ofKlucze inPoland ,European Union . The area lies mainly on theSilesian Highlands in theSilesian Voivodeship . Area 32 km².The Bledowska Sands are the largest (in Central Europe) accumulation of loose sand away from any sea, deposited thousands of years ago by a melting glacier. The appearance of a desert landscape has been created since the Middle Ages, as an accidental effect of mining (zinc, silver, coal), but the specific geological structure has been of big importance - the average thickness of the sand layer is about 40 meters (maximum 70 meters), which made the fast and deep drainage very easy. In the recent years the sands have started to shrink. The phenomenon of mirages has been known to exist there.Fact|date=February 2007
During the
Second World War the area was used by the GermanAfrika Korps for training and testing equipment before deployment inAfrica .External links
* [http://travel.poland.com/texts/en/t-ap-4-1.php Poland's travel site (scroll down the page!)]
* [http://www.foto.brat.pl/royalty_free/rezerwaty_parki/pustynia_bledowska/ Błędów Desert (to view the photo gallery, scroll down the page!)]
* [http://www.polskasahara.pl/ Polish Sahara Association]
* [http://wikimapia.org/#lat=50.3437076&lon=19.5010757&z=13&l=5&m=a&v=2 Wikimapia-Entry]
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