Between Bahariya Oasis and Farafra Oasis is the White Desert of Egypt. One of the most beautiful and enchanting places on the planet. The Egyptian government has designated over 3000 square kilometers as a protected natural area. And with good reason. It is one of the most amazing landscapes in the world and is all the more precious and wonderful because very few people visit it.
The formation shown here on the left (Chuck for scale) shows the erosive power of the wind on the soft cretaceous chalk. Chalk is a variety of soft limestone. This chalk is very white and composed of nearly pure calcium carbonate - compacted micron-sized shells of plankton and algae (foraminifera). Scattered in the chalk were fossil shells of bivalves and sea biscuits (light colored) and other bivalves, corals or unidentified fossils of a shiny black mineral.
The desert sand, is a beautiful caramel color and very fine and soft to the touch. It is scattered with the footprints of foxes, beetles, small gazell and a mouse thing - maybe a gerbil or jerboa. There were amazingly few plants. A very tough looking succulent plant; but not much else.
Comments