Re-geomorphic Mapping of Unroofed Cave of Crystal Mountain Area, Bahariya – Farafra Depressions, Western Desert of Egypt

The Bahariya and Farafra depressions lie in the heart of Egypt's Western Desert, between the Dakhla and Qattara depressions. The depressions called Bahariya and Farafra, which separate the plateau, are mostly made up of carbonate rocks from the Late Cretaceous and Late Tertiary periods. Layers of shallow and deep marine sediments, fluctuating sea levels, and varying rates of sedimentation, particularly in the Paleocene and Eocene periods east of the Great Sand Sea, comprise the Farafra depression. In the late Quaternary, the study area, located in the heart of the Western desert, experienced limited surface runoff activities during humid periods and wind-induced deposition activities during dry periods. We recognized an eroded, unroofed cave system between the Bahariya and Farafra depressions. The northern and southern cavern parts are located in a hilly area on the plateau, about 17 km south of the Naqb El-Sellem area and 4 km southeast of Qaret Sheihk Abdalla Muhammed. Fluvial erosion of a Wadi, filled with windblown sand due to climate change, separates these two parts of the cavern system. A recent buildup of Aeolian sand and a sand prominence above the surface with calcite and quartz crystals entangled in it are geomorphological signs of activity in the past few thousand years. This study primarily focuses on the geomorphological evidence of the paleo-cavern system. It does this by using a total station to perform detailed field surveys and field topographic profiling, as well as interpret satellite images, analyze DEMs, and create geomorphic maps.