Jalo oasis - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jalo Oasis is an oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

in Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...

, Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

, located west of the Great Sand Sea and about 250 km south-east of the Gulf of Sirte

Gulf of Sidra

Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...

. Quite large, 19 kilometres (12 mi) long and up to 11 kilometres (7 mi) wide, it supports a number of settlements, the largest of which is the town of Jalu

Jalu

Jalu, Jaloo, or Gialo is a town in the Al Wahat District in northeastern Libya in the Jalo oasis. From 2001 to 2007 it was part of Ajdabiya District. Formerly it was the administrative seat of Jalu District ....

. Jalu, was the administrative capital of the Jalu Baladiyah from 1983 to 1988, at which time the area became part of Ajdabiya District and as of 2007 is now part of Al Wahat District.

Because of its location and as a source of water, it had strategic importance during the North Africa Campaign

North African campaign

During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...

in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

and changed hands several times between Allied and Axis forces.

The water at the Jalo oasis is quite saline

Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

(3,880 parts per million). The water is alkaline

Alkalinity

Alkalinity or AT measures the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the equivalence point of carbonate or bicarbonate. The alkalinity is equal to the stoichiometric sum of the bases in solution...

with a pH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

of 7.4 and is very hard with numerous dissolved salts in addition to sodium chloride

Sodium chloride

Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

Communities

In addition to Jalu, the oasis supports the following communities:

Al Hiri
Al Hiri
Al Hiri is a town in the Al Wahat District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya. From 2001 to 2007 it was part of Ajdabiya District. Formerly it was part of the Jalu District .-External links:***...
Labba
Shurraf
Masliwa
Rashida

Communities

Further reading