Day 11: Environment
| WIND EROSION
Today at wadi Al-Hitan you can find sand dunes because of its desert environment as well as pillars of rock, including a limestone plateau, shale hills and sandstone deposits. These were deposited during the Eocene, when the Tethys Sea reached farther south than the Mediterranean does today.
The site is very barren with very little flora and fauna. Although, there are fossil remains of sea grasses and mangroves that were once there, suggesting that the climate of the area was once humid and warm. There are three Eocene formations visible, the oldest of which is the Gehannam formation, which is about 40-41 million years old. This formation consists of white, marly limestone and gypseous shale. It contains many skeletons of archaic whales, sea cows, sharks teeth, turtles, and crocodilians. Remarkably, two of the whale species still had small hind limbs, feet and toes. The quality, concentration and state of preservation of these fossils are unequalled. The middle formation is called the Burket Qarun and it consists of sandstone, clays, and hard limestone and also yields whale skeletons. The youngest formation is the Qasr El-Sagha and it is about 39 million years old. This formation represents a shallow marine environment and contains invertebrate fauna.