Editing Negev (section)

==Geography==
[[File:NachalParan1.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Nahal Paran]]]]

The Negev contains the oldest discovered surface on Earth, with an approximate age of 1.8 million years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Frank|first=Adam|date=2018-04-13|title=Was There a Civilization on Earth Before Humans?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/are-we-earths-only-civilization/557180/|access-date=2021-05-12|website=The Atlantic|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Britt |first1=Robert Roy |title=Oldest Surface on Earth Discovered |url=https://www.livescience.com/3542-oldest-surface-earth-discovered.html |work=livescience.com |date=5 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704083919/https://www.livescience.com/3542-oldest-surface-earth-discovered.html |archive-date=2012-07-04 }}</ref> During the [[Pleistocene]], the Negev fluctuated between intervals of relative humidity and intervals of aridity similar to or even more severe than the present day; from around 80,000 to 13,000 years [[Before Present|BP]], during a time interval roughly corresponding to the [[Last Glacial Period]], the Negev was significantly more humid than today.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roskin |first1=Joel |last2=Katra |first2=Itzhak |last3=Porat |first3=Naomi |last4=Zilberman |first4=Ezra |date=October 2013 |title=Evolution of Middle to Late Pleistocene sandy calcareous paleosols underlying the northwestern Negev Desert Dunefield (Israel) |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=387 |pages=134–152 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.07.018 |bibcode=2013PPP...387..134R }}</ref> It covers more than half of Israel, over some {{Convert|13,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}, or at least 55% of the country's land area. It forms an inverted triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the [[Sinai Peninsula]], and whose eastern border is the [[Arabah]] valley. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features. Among the latter are three enormous, craterlike [[makhtesh]]im (box canyons), which are unique to the region: [[Makhtesh Ramon]], [[HaMakhtesh HaGadol]], and [[HaMakhtesh HaKatan]].

The Negev is a rocky desert. It is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interspersed by [[wadi]]s (dry riverbeds with plants that flower briefly after rain) and deep craters. It can be split into five different ecological regions: northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau and the [[Arabah]] Valley. The northern Negev, or [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] zone, receives {{Convert|300|mm|in|abbr=on}} of rain annually and has fairly fertile soil. The western Negev receives {{Convert|250|mm|in|abbr=on}} of rain per year, with light and partially sandy soil. Sand [[dunes]] can reach heights of up to {{Convert|30|m|ft}} here. Home to the city of [[Beersheba]], the central Negev has an annual precipitation of {{Convert|200|mm|in|abbr=on}} and is characterised by impervious soil, known as [[loess]], allowing minimum penetration of water with greater soil erosion and water runoff. 

The high plateau area of [[Negev Mountains]]/Ramat HaNegev ({{langx|he|רמת הנגב}}, ''The Negev Heights'') stands between {{Convert|370|m|ft}} and {{Convert|520|m|ft}} above sea level with extreme temperatures in summer and winter. The area receives {{Convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on}} of rain per year, with inferior and partially salty soil. The [[Arabah]] Valley along the Jordanian border stretches {{Convert|180|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Eilat in the south to the tip of the [[Dead Sea]] in the north. The [[Arabah]] Valley is very arid with barely {{Convert|50|mm|in|abbr=on}} of rain annually. It has inferior soil, in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives.