Issaouane Erg confined to basins. Sand in the Issaouane Erg, below the level of the sand dunes, has accumulated to a depth of 20 to 30 meters. It has barchan dunes as well as star dunes of 300 to 430 meters high. The presence of both barchan dunes (which form due to unidirectional winds) and star dunes (which form when winds from various directions deposit sand) "suggests that wind regimes have changed over time". NASA's "Earth Observatory" notes all three types of erg dunes are present in the photos of the Issaouane Erg taken from the International Space Station: stationary mega dunes,
Erg Erg The erg is a unit of energy and work equal to 10 joules. It originated in the centimetre–gram–second (CGS) system of units. It has the symbol "erg". The erg is not an SI unit. Its name is derived from "ergon" (ἔργον), a Greek word meaning "work" or "task". An erg is the amount of work done by a force of one dyne exerted for a distance of one centimeter. In the CGS base units, it is equal to one gram centimeter-squared per second-squared (g·cm/s). It is thus equal to 10 joules or 100 nanojoules (nJ) in SI units. An