People are only just discovering there's a 'desert' with 'more water than sand'

People have been left stunned after finding out that there's a location which looks like a desert with more water than sand.

If you were asked to describe a desert environment the first two adjectives likely to come to mind would be 'hot' and 'dry', or at least words to that effect.

The images would likely be dry rolling sand dunes basked in a sepia glow, optionally with Timothée Chalamet riding a gigantic worm.

But one landscape has left people baffled as it has the appearance of being a desert which has more water than sand.

This 'desert' is full of water (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

The landscape is unique. (Ricardo Siqueira/Brazil Photos/LightRocket via Getty Images)

This is Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (pronounced 'len-sowes maran-yenses'), which is located in the northeast Brazilian state of Maranhão.

Now we do have a caveat here, as while the landscape fits the description of desert characterised by rolling sand dunes, it's not technically a desert.

Deserts are landscapes which have annual rainfall of 250 millimetres or less, whereas the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park gets some 1200 millimetres a year.

The majority of the rainfall, around 70 percent of it, happens between January and May.

So, technically not actually a desert.

Tourists at the at the Peixe lago in the Lencois Marenhenses park (philippe giraud/Corbis via Getty Images)

Nonetheless, there's no denying that the rolling dunes are evocative of what many of us might consider to be a 'desert'.

But the most extraordinary difference is that unlike other deserts if you go between the sand dune you will find pools of fresh water.

These can be as deep as three metres and are formed during the rainy season.

While normally a porous surface such as sand would see this water quickly drained away, this is not the case here.

The park has been used as a movie location. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

That's because beneath the sandy surface is a layer of impermeable rock which prevents the water from draining away.

So we're left with a layer of groundwater which rises above the dips and troughs of the sandy landscape.

And you might also be familiar with the extraordinary landscape as it has been used as a location for a number of films, though not Dune if you were wondering.

Shots of the national park were used by the teams behind Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame to create the CGI landscape of the planet Vormir.

Executive producer for Brazil Production Services Thiago da Costa said on his website: "The park was selected by the team from Marvel and Disney for its visuals unique in the world that captured the setting for specific scenes in the story perfectly."