Black Desert

It is a region of widely spaced, volcano-shaped mounds distributed over about 30 km in western Egypt between the Farafra depression in the south and the Bahariya oasis in the north. Most of its mounds are crowned by basalt sills, which gives them the characteristic black color.

The mounds of the Black Desert, up to 100 m high, vary in size, composition, height and shape, as some are dark and consist of iron quartzite, while others are more reddish since the rocks on their surface consist of iron sandstone. On the outskirts of the Black Desert there are volcanic hills that demonstrate the eruption of dark volcanic dolerite, dating back to the Jurassic period.

Following the discovery of a large dinosaur skeleton on its borders, the Black Desert was declared a Natural Reserve in 2010.