Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Kharga-Dakhla Depression

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Landscapes and Landforms of Egypt

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

The Kharga and Dakhla Depressions are one Depression, since they are encircled by steep escarpments from the east and north without imperceptible breaks and changes. This mega-depression extends for about 350 km east–west, but has a varying north–south extension of 200 km along its eastern boundary in Kharga and about 50 km in Dakhla. Surrounding plateaus rise 300 m a.s.l east of Kharga, 500 m on Abu Tartur, and 300–350 m asl on the northern plateau of Dakhla. Nearly, all the escarpment alignments are controlled by tectonics. Slope form along escarpments is also controlled by lithological differences and marked by several forms such as small wadi systems. The slopes of the escarpments are covered with various types of superficial deposits of different origins. Undermining of the upper segment of the slopes and the presence of several generations of collapsed limestone and chalk blocks indicate that slope retreat played a major role in the development of the Kharga-Dakhla Depression. However, the Depression Floor is an undulating plain since there are numerous landforms, both positive and negative that spread over its surface.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ashour M (1974) Abu Tartur Plateau, the Western Desert of Egypt. Dissertation, Ain Shams University

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashour MM, Embabi NS, Donner J, AbuZeid KA (2005) Geomorphology and Quaternary geology of Abu El Egl Playa, Western Desert of Egypt. Bul Egypt Geogr Soc 78:1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagnold RA (1939) An expedition to the Gilf Kebir and Uwienat. Geogr J 93:281–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball J (1900) Kharga Oasis: its topography and geology. Geological Survey Department, Cairo, Egypt

    Google Scholar 

  • Beadnell H (1909) An Egyptian Oasis (Kharga). John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Brook G, Embabi N, Ashour M, Edwards R, Cheng H, Cowart J, Dabous A (2003) Quaternary environmental change in the Western Desert of Egypt: evidence from cave speleothems, spring tufa and playa sediments. Z Geomorph NF, Supl. 131:59–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Brookes IA (1989) Early Holocene basinal sediments, Dakhleh Oasis region, south central Egypt. Quat Res 12:139–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookes IA (1993) Geomorphology and Quaternary geology of the Dakhla Oasis Region, Egypt. Quat Sci Rev 12:529–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busche D (2001) Early Quaternary landslides of the Sahara and their significance for geomorphic and climatic history. J Arid Environ 49:429–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caton-Thompson G (1952) Kharga Oasis in prehistory. Athelon Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Caton-Thompson G, Gardner E (1932) The Prehistoric geography of Kharga Oasis. Geogr J LXXX: 369–409

    Google Scholar 

  • Churcher C, Kleindienst M, Schwarcz H (1999) Fuanal remains from a Middle Pleistocene lacustrine marl in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt: Palaeoenvironmnetal reconstructions. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 154:301–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke R, Warren A, Goudie A (1993) Wind erosion. In: Cooke R, Warren A, Goudie A (eds) Desert geomorphology. UCL Press, London, pp 290–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Donner J, Ashour MM, Brook GA, Embabi NS (2015) The Quaternary history of the Western Desert of Egypt as recorded in the Abu El-Egl playa. Bull Soc Geog d’Egypte 88:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Embabi NS (1967) A geomorphologic study of Kharga Oases Depression, the Western Desert, Egypt. Dissertation, Bristol University

    Google Scholar 

  • Embabi NS (1968–1969) The semi-playa deposits in the Kharga Oases Depression. Bull Soc Géog d’Égypte 41–42:73–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Embabi NS (1999) Playas of the Western Desert, Egypt. Ann Acad Sci Fennicae, Geologica-Geographica 160:5–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Embabi NS (2004) Geomorphology of Egypt: landforms and evolution, vol I. The Egyptian Geographical Society, Cairo, The Nile Valley and the Western Desert

    Google Scholar 

  • Goudie A, Stockes S, Cook J, Samieh S, El-Rashidi O (1999) Yardang landforms from Kharga Oasis, south-western Egypt. Z Geomorph N F Suppl-Bd 116: 97–112, Aeolian Geomorphology: Papers from 14th international Conference on Aeolian Research, Oxford, 1998

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamdan G (1960) The personality of Egypt, part I: The physical personality, (in Arabic) Alam El-Kotob, Cairo

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamdan M (1987) Geomorphology and Quaternary geology of Umm El-Dabadib Area, Kharga Oasis. Dissertation, Cairo University

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamdan M, Mahmoud, A, Hassan F (1999) Geology of the tufa deposits in the north-eastern corner of Kharga Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt. In: Hafez, A (ed) in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Geology of the Arab World (GAW4), Cairo University, Cairo, 1998

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes C (1980) Geological evidence of pluvial climates in the Nabta area of the Western Desert, Egypt. In: Wendorf F, Schild R (eds) Prehistory of the Eastern Sahara. Academic Press, New York, pp 353–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermina M (1990) The surroundings of Kharga, Dakhla and Farafra Oases. In: Said R (ed) The geology of Egypt. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 259–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Issawi B (1971) Geology of Darb El-Arbain, Western Desert. Ann Geol Surv Egypt 1:53–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Issawi B, El-Hinnawi M (1984) Contributions to the study of the playas in Southeastern part of the Western Desert of Egypt. In: Angela E Close (ed) Cattle Keepers in the Eastern Sahara: the Neolithic of Bir Kiseiba. Southern Methodist University Dallas, pp 41–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleindienst M, Schwarcz H, Nicoll K, Churcher C, Frizano J, Giegengack R, Wiseman M (1996) Pleistocene geochronology and paleoclimates at Dakhla Oasis and Kharga Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt based upon uranium-thorium determinations from water-laid tufa. Nyame Akuma, Bul. Soc. Africanist Archaeologists 46: 96

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleindienst M, Churcher C, McDonald M, Schwarcz H (1999) Geography, geology, geochronology and geoarchaeology of the Dakhleh Oasis region: An interim report 1. In: Churcher C, Mills A (eds) Dakhlah Oasis Project: Monograph 2, Reports from the Survey of the Dakhlah Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. 1977–1987, Oxbow

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahmoud AA, El-Gohary AM, Abou El Anwar EA (2002) Geology of Quatewrnary Tufa deposits in North-East of the Dakhla Oasis, Wester Desert, Egypt. Sedimentol Egypt 10:89–101

    Google Scholar 

  • McCauley JF, Grolier MJ, Breed CS (1977) Yardangs of Peru and other desert regions. US Geol Survey, Interagency Report: Astrogeology 81

    Google Scholar 

  • McCauley JF, Breed C, Schaber CV, Haynes CV, Issawi B, Grolier MJ, El-Kilani A (1986) Palaeodrainages of the Eastern Sahara. The radar rivers revisited (SIR-A/B Implications for a Mid-Tertiary Trans-African Drainage System) IEEE Trans. Geosci Remote Sens GE 24:624–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie J (1993) Chemical stratigraphy of lacustrine sequences deposited during the latest Pleistocene Periods in the Eastern Sahara. In: Wendorf F, Schild R, Close A, Associates (eds) Egypt during the Last Interglacial: The Middle Paleolithic of BirTarfawi and Bir Sahara East. Plenium Press, New York, pp 106–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Said R (1980) The Quaternary sediments of the south Western Desert of Egypt: an overview. appendix I. In: Wendorf F, Schild R (eds) Prehistory of the Eastern Sahara. Academic Press, New York, pp 281–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Said R (1990) Quaternary. In: Said R (ed) The geology of Egypt. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 487–507

    Google Scholar 

  • Shata A (1953) New light on the structural development of the Western Desert of Egypt. Bull Institut du Desert d’Égypte 3:101–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Shata A (1959) Geological problems related to the ground water supply of some desert areas of Egypt. Bull Soc Géogr d’Égypte 32:248–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Schild R, Wendorf F (1984) Lithostratigraphy of Holocene Lakes along the Kiseiba Scarp. In Angela E Close (ed) Cattle Keepers of the Eastern Sahara: The Neolithic of Bir Kiseiba. Southern Methodist University, Dallas, pp 9–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Sultan M, Struchio N, Hassan F, Hamdan M, Mahmoud A, El-Alfy Z, Stien T (1997) Precipitation source inferred from stable isotopic composition of Pleistocene groundwater & carbonate deposits in the Western Desert of Egypt. Quatern Res 48:29–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward AW, Greeley R (1984) Evolution of the yardangs at Rogers Lake, California. Bull Geol Soc Am 95:829–837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wendorf F, Schild R, Close A, Associates (1993) Egypt during the last interglacial: the middle Palaeolithic of Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East. Plenium Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    Nabil Sayed Embabi

Authors
  1. Nabil Sayed Embabi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nabil Sayed Embabi .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Embabi, N.S. (2018). The Kharga-Dakhla Depression . In: Landscapes and Landforms of Egypt. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65661-8_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation