 Crystal Mountain, White Desert | ||
| Crystal mountain · Crystal Mountain الحجر المخروم | ||
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The Crystal mountain (English: Crystal Mountain, Arabic: Gebel el-Izaz, locally tooالحجر المخروم, al-Haǧar al-Machrūm, el-Hagar el-Makhrum, „the perforated stone“) Is about 110 km from el-Bawiti (Bahriya oasis) on the way to Farafra oasis located. Here is a rock breakthrough framed by crystals.
background
The Kristallberg is almost at the northern end of the National Park White Desert. It was exposed during road construction and the material was partially built into the road.
getting there
It is located directly on the eastern edge of the trunk road from el-Farāfra to el-Baḥrīya.
mobility
It is only a few steps to the Kristallberg.
Tourist Attractions
The Kristallberg is one of the major attractions in the Western desert and often serves as a stop for tourists.
The local formation is a perforated volcanic rock on which Calcite- (Calcite -) crystals, chemically Ca [CO3], are located. They are mostly milky white here. The crystals are by no means quartz (SiO2), which would be significantly harder (Mohs' hardness 7 instead of 3). Calcite can be scratched with a copper coin, while quartz glass can be scratched.
The volcanic rock also consists of several different layers, which are folded, and are interspersed with brownish layers of ferrous anthracite coal.
The formation has surely turned out to be Oligocene Formed 20 to 30 million years ago. The crystals developed from a concentrated solution leached from the local limestone. Other typical calcite representatives are stalactites, as they are also in the el-Gara- Let stalactite cave be found.
trips
A visit to the Kristallberg can be combined with the des National Park White Desert connect.
