Crystal Mountain – Stands on the Edge of White Desert

With the name of Crystal Mountain, one can imagine seeing a massive mountain rising up out of the desert. However, the Crystal Mountain is a ridge located between Bahariya Oasis and Farafra Oasis northern of the White Desert, Egypt.

The unique structure of the ridge is made entirely of calcite crystal that combines altogether to create a striking ridge standing up out of the desert. The hill is a subvolcanic vault, which was emerged during the Oligocene age. The crystals themselves are quartz.

The actual name is Crystal Formation, although that is not the common name the ridge is known by. The sun rays make the big rock with its arch spark even more. The crystal mountain stands on the very edge of the White Desert. And soon the black iron and basalt pebbles give way to the sand-blown chalk formations which loom on either side of the road. The Crystals are perhaps Barite and Calcite with columnar-shaped stalagmites.

The coal seam and hydrothermal impregnated reddish to brownish ferruginous layers, strata are broken or brecciated and intensely with each other folded. The ascertained intense heat of the coal seam was transformed to anthracite. Actually, Crystal Mountain Egypt is an ancient Paleo that has been pushed to the earth’s surface and is now in the process of being eroded away by the elements.

Crystal Mountain has almost an oblong or square-like shape. The natural crystal arch has formed in the ridge, that spring up in the desert all around the mountain. According to the geologists, this structure is a cave made from limestone and completed with stalactites and stalagmites.

This cave was shaken by the earth’s movements and the roof was destroyed by erosion while time passed by. The arch is natural and small and is situated in the center of the structure.

The crystals have increased out of climbed hydro volcanic solutions. The visible layers are the White Desert limestone of the Khoman Fm. Moreover, the Barite veins are extensively distributed to the south of Gebel El Hafhuf which is composed of a rock sequence with sandstone, shale, limestone, phosphatic limestone, and phosphatic calcareous sandstone.

You should never try to break off the crystals on the mountain, as these have been taken thousands of years to form, and breaking them would be ruining a piece of history. Yes, one can collect pieces of crystal that scatter around the landscape and ridge.

Crystal Mountain is one of the favorite places of tourists who want to take pictures here. The Crystal Mountain is an important touristic objective, many of the tourists who come to visit the Farafra Oasis or/and the Baharyia Oasis come to see the Crystal Mountain too. 

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Source: Geologyin ! Egypt-Cairo