50
A. M. A. Mohamed
were tied together by the caravan route named “El Ghabari” which is occupied now
by the modern asphaltic road.
Secondly, the geological integration of southeastern part of Western Desert is so
obvious that the region extends about 300 km east-west from the Eocene plateau
in Kharga till the Great Sand Sea. This extension is a broad structural unit named
“Kharga-Dakhla” basin.
Interpretation of radar images has changed some old concepts about aridity of
the North African Sahara. Recent studies shed more lights upon the buried fluvial
channels dominating the Sahara landscape over the Late Paleogene and the Neogene.
Issawi and Youssef (2016) found that Eastern Sahara had undergone wet phases
followed Early Eocene transgression of the Mediterranean Sea, which resulted in
shaping the now extremely flat, featureless landscape.
The above mentioned study had concluded that the fall in base level associated
with the Messinian desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea promoted down-cutting
and extension of river systems throughout much of North Africa and South Europe.
On the same time, corridors of fresh water across the North African Sahara are now
distinguished through Radar images. Two important rivers dominated eastern Libya,
the Sahabi in the west and the Kufra in the east, though in the Early Pliocene the latter
captured the former and control the paleohyderological system in eastern Libya. The
third one is an important fresh water corridor; the Gilf River, which connected the
Uwainat—Gilf high in southwest Egypt with the Mediterranean Sea in the north.
Figures 7 and 8 show the location and morphology of the supposed Gilf River.
It is expected that the forthcoming years of research will shed more lights on the
relationship between Dakhla Depression and the supposed Gilf River. It might be
clear that most of the depressions in the Western Desert of Egypt, especially KhargaDakhla—Farafara were hydrologically connected with this paleo Gilf River.
Thirdly, the detailed topographic analysis clarifies that Abu Tartur plateau represents, in fact, a linkage node, rather than a separation wall, between the two depressions of Kharga and Dakhla. Few native old people in the region still know the
ancient caravan routes across the backward wing of Abu Tartur plateau, where it is
connected, till the first quarter of the twentieth century, the whole area with the third
depression of Farafra.
In this context, Ain Amur (see Fig. 9), Darb El-Tawil, Kharafesh, and El Dakar
dunes were well-known “short-cuts” passes (Naqbs) across the tabular land of the
plateau, bypassing the lower depression and wetlands, moving faster from Kharga
via Dakhla to Farafra.
Finally, with the analysis of recent remotely sensed data it becomes clear that it is
not advisable to trace the extension of El Gilf El-Kebir plateau in the southwestern
corner of Egypt in isolation from the other surrounding regions of Eastern Sahara.
Actually, the northeastern flank of El Gilf El-Kebir plateau is buried underneath
the sand dunes and reaches the southern part of Dakhla basin, where the “six hills”
famous locality represents the most eastern tip.
In their preliminary reconnaissance field trip to Uwainat area, Said M. and his
colleagues (see Said et al. 1994) had found that the area is covered by Precambrian
rocks, Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments intruded by Phanerozoic igneous rocks and
A. M. A. Mohamed
were tied together by the caravan route named “El Ghabari” which is occupied now
by the modern asphaltic road.
Secondly, the geological integration of southeastern part of Western Desert is so
obvious that the region extends about 300 km east-west from the Eocene plateau
in Kharga till the Great Sand Sea. This extension is a broad structural unit named
“Kharga-Dakhla” basin.
Interpretation of radar images has changed some old concepts about aridity of
the North African Sahara. Recent studies shed more lights upon the buried fluvial
channels dominating the Sahara landscape over the Late Paleogene and the Neogene.
Issawi and Youssef (2016) found that Eastern Sahara had undergone wet phases
followed Early Eocene transgression of the Mediterranean Sea, which resulted in
shaping the now extremely flat, featureless landscape.
The above mentioned study had concluded that the fall in base level associated
with the Messinian desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea promoted down-cutting
and extension of river systems throughout much of North Africa and South Europe.
On the same time, corridors of fresh water across the North African Sahara are now
distinguished through Radar images. Two important rivers dominated eastern Libya,
the Sahabi in the west and the Kufra in the east, though in the Early Pliocene the latter
captured the former and control the paleohyderological system in eastern Libya. The
third one is an important fresh water corridor; the Gilf River, which connected the
Uwainat—Gilf high in southwest Egypt with the Mediterranean Sea in the north.
Figures 7 and 8 show the location and morphology of the supposed Gilf River.
It is expected that the forthcoming years of research will shed more lights on the
relationship between Dakhla Depression and the supposed Gilf River. It might be
clear that most of the depressions in the Western Desert of Egypt, especially KhargaDakhla—Farafara were hydrologically connected with this paleo Gilf River.
Thirdly, the detailed topographic analysis clarifies that Abu Tartur plateau represents, in fact, a linkage node, rather than a separation wall, between the two depressions of Kharga and Dakhla. Few native old people in the region still know the
ancient caravan routes across the backward wing of Abu Tartur plateau, where it is
connected, till the first quarter of the twentieth century, the whole area with the third
depression of Farafra.
In this context, Ain Amur (see Fig. 9), Darb El-Tawil, Kharafesh, and El Dakar
dunes were well-known “short-cuts” passes (Naqbs) across the tabular land of the
plateau, bypassing the lower depression and wetlands, moving faster from Kharga
via Dakhla to Farafra.
Finally, with the analysis of recent remotely sensed data it becomes clear that it is
not advisable to trace the extension of El Gilf El-Kebir plateau in the southwestern
corner of Egypt in isolation from the other surrounding regions of Eastern Sahara.
Actually, the northeastern flank of El Gilf El-Kebir plateau is buried underneath
the sand dunes and reaches the southern part of Dakhla basin, where the “six hills”
famous locality represents the most eastern tip.
In their preliminary reconnaissance field trip to Uwainat area, Said M. and his
colleagues (see Said et al. 1994) had found that the area is covered by Precambrian
rocks, Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments intruded by Phanerozoic igneous rocks and