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World Geomorphological Landscapes

Nabil Sayed Embabi

Landscapes and
Landforms of
Egypt
Landforms and Evolution
World Geomorphological Landscapes

Series editor
Piotr Migoń, Wroclaw, Poland
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10852
Nabil Sayed Embabi

Landscapes and Landforms

of Egypt
Landforms and Evolution

123
Nabil Sayed Embabi
Department of Geography,
Faculty of Arts
Ain Shams University
Cairo
Egypt

ISSN 2213-2090 ISSN 2213-2104 (electronic)

World Geomorphological Landscapes
ISBN 978-3-319-65659-5 ISBN 978-3-319-65661-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65661-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949508

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic
adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not
imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and
regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed
to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty,
express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
This book is dedicated to all Earth Sciences Students and Researchers
Series Editor Preface

Landforms and landscapes vary enormously across the Earth, from high mountains to endless
plains. At a smaller scale, Nature often surprises us creating shapes which look improbable.
Many physical landscapes are so immensely beautiful that they received the highest possible
recognition—they hold the status of World Heritage properties. Apart from often being
immensely scenic, landscapes tell stories which not uncommonly can be traced back in time
for tens of million years and include unique events. In addition, many landscapes owe their
appearance and harmony not solely to the natural forces. Since centuries, or even millennia,
they have been shaped by humans who modified hillslopes, river courses, coastlines, and
erected structures which often blend with the natural landforms to form inseparable entities.
These landscapes are studied by geomorphology—“the Science of Scenery”—a part of
Earth Sciences that focuses on landforms, their assemblages, surface and subsurface processes
that molded them in the past and that change them today. Shapes of landforms and regularities
of their spatial distribution, their origin, evolution, and ages are the subject of research.
Geomorphology is also a science of considerable practical importance since many geomorphic
processes occur so suddenly and unexpectedly, and with such a force, that they pose signif-
icant hazards to human populations and not uncommonly result in considerable damage or
even casualties.
To show the importance of geomorphology in understanding the landscape, and to present
the beauty and diversity of the geomorphological sceneries across the world, we have laun-
ched a new book series World Geomorphological Landscapes. It aims to be a scientific library
of monographs that present and explain physical landscapes, focusing on both representative
and uniquely spectacular examples. Each book will contain details on geomorphology of a
particular country or a geographically coherent region. This volume presents geomorphology
of Egypt—a country widely known for their archaeological heritage but much less for its
outstanding geomorphology. The physical environment of Egypt is usually seen from the
perspective of the Nile, its floodplain and its delta, whereas the rest is “just desert.” This
volume, while inevitably considering the Nile and the Delta in detail, also demonstrates the
huge diversity of desert landscapes on both sides of the Nile and in the Sinai Peninsula. It also
shows the variety of coastal features along both long coastlines that Egypt has—along the
Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. More importantly, however, the reader will have the
chance to virtually visit remote desert landscapes which are hardly accessible and few geo-
morphologists enjoyed being there in person.
The World Geomorphological Landscapes series is produced under the scientific patronage
of the International Association of Geomorphologists—a society that brings together geo-
morphologists from all around the world. The IAG was established in 1989 and is an inde-
pendent scientific association affiliated with the International Geographical Union and the
International Union of Geological Sciences. Among its main aims are to promote geomor-
phology and to foster dissemination of geomorphological knowledge. I believe that this lav-
ishly illustrated series, which sticks to the scientific rigor, is the most appropriate means to
fulfill these aims and to serve the geoscientific community. To this end, my great thanks go to
Professor Nabil Sayed Embabi for undertaking this enormous task, to produce the

vii
viii Series Editor Preface

geomorphological synthesis of his country as a single-author volume. His many years of

experience in researching Egyptian landscapes, from the coast to the heart of the Sahara,
culminated in this comprehensive account of the fascinating morphology of Egypt that is now
presented to the international geomorphological community.

Wroclaw, Poland Piotr Migoń

Acknowledgements

I owe special thanks to many people who helped me in different ways to bring this book into
being. Special thanks go to Prof. Poitr Migon, the Series Editor for his careful editing of the
manuscript of this book and for his valuable suggestions, which added to the scientific value of
this book. I thank him also for writing such a magnificent preface to this book. Thanks also is
due to Dr. Robert Doe, Senior Publisher, Earth Sciences and Geography, Springer, whom I
met in Paris, during the IAG Conference, August 2013, for helping me approach Springer to
contribute this book about Egypt in the series of World Geomorphology. I would like also to
express my gratitude to Dr. Moawad Badawy Moawad, Department of Geography, Faculty of
Arts, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, who assisted me in so many ways, provided me
with papers which were not available in Egypt, reviewed the chapters of this book, and
suggested valuable comments on various issues. Thanks also goes to Dr. Ashraf Abul-Fetooh
of Suez University, Suez, Egypt, for providing me with some references on Karst in Egypt and
reviewing some chapters of this book as well as lists of references. I thank Dr. Ahmed Said of
The Library and Information Department, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, Cairo,
Egypt, and Dr. Samira Adam of the Geological Survey of Egypt for providing me with some
papers from Egypt or abroad. I thank also my daughter Dr. Doaa Embabi, for revising the
language of the manuscript. Acknowledgment is due to all publishers and institutions for
permissions to reprint some of the figures appearing in this book. I acknowledge also Google
Earth for providing high-resolution space images on the Internet free of charge, without which
so many forms could not have been studied. Thanks also is due to my Ph.D student Miss
Wafaa Khalaf for providing me with somefield photographs for karst forms of El-Galalah
El-Qibliyah. Finally, my deep and sincere gratitude is due to my late wife, Dr. Faiza Salem,
whose support and kindness was the key to my success.

ix
Fig. 1 Location of areas covered by each chapter (numbers of chapters are indicated in each box)
Contents

Part I General
1 Geographic Regions of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The Nile Valley and the Nile Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 The Western Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 The Eastern Desert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 The Sinai Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6 The Mediterranean Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.7 The Red Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 The Geologic Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.1 Rock Formations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.1 The Basement Complex (Precambrian). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.2 The Sedimentary Cover (Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic) . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Tectonic Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.1 The Arabo-Nubian Shield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.2 The Stable Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.3 The Unstable Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.4 The Gulf of Suez—Red Sea Graben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.5 Volcanicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3 Climatic Conditions: Present and Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.1 Present-Day Climatic Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.1.1 Degree of Aridity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.1.2 Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.1.3 Rainfall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.1.4 Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2 Past Climatic Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.1 Climate During the Paleogene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.2 Climate During the Neogene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.3 Climate During the Quaternary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

xi
xii Contents

Part II The Nile

4 Remarkable Events in the Life of the River Nile . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2 Geologic and Geomorphologic Development of the Nile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.3 Remarkable Event I: The Messinian Crisis . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.4 Remarkable Event II: The Pliocene Gulf. . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.5 Remarkable Event III: The African Prenile . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.6 Other Events in the Life of the River Nile . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5 Lake Nasser Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

5.1 General Features of the Lake Region . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.2 Morphometry of Lake Nasser . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.3 Local Forms of Lake Nasser . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.3.1 The Nubian Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.3.2 Embayments (Khors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.3.3 Headlands and Peninsulas. . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.3.4 Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.4 Geomorphological Impacts of Lake Nasser . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.5 Hazards Threatening Lake Nasser . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.5.1 The Nile Silt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.5.2 Aeolian Sand Drift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.5.3 Present-Day Climatic Change . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.5.4 Construction of New Dams on the Nile Reaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

6 The Nile Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

6.1 General Morphologic Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.2 Geology and Evolution of the Nile Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6.3 The Nile Delta Branches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6.3.1 Ancient Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6.3.2 Present-Day Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.4 Turtle-Back Mounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6.5 Coastal Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6.5.1 The Coastal Plain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.5.2 Coastal Dunes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.5.3 Coastal Lagoons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.5.4 The Barari (Wasteland) Salt Marshes Flats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.5.5 Interaction Between the Coastal Fringe
and the Mediterranean Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . ................. 66
6.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................. 67
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................. 67

Part III The Plateaus

7 The Sandstone Plateaus, SW Western Desert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

7.1 Location and Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
7.2 Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7.3 The Gilf Kebir Plateau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
7.3.1 General Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Contents xiii

7.3.2 Drainage Networks and Basins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

7.3.3 Local Landforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7.3.4 The Playas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7.3.5 The Outlier Remnants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
7.3.6 The Basaltic Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7.4 The Abu Ras Plateau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7.4.1 General Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7.4.2 The Escarpments of the Plateau and the Outlier Hills. . . . . . . . . . . 81
7.4.3 The Wadi Morphology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
7.4.4 Characteristics of the Wadis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
7.5 The Gap Between Abu Ras and Gilf Kebir Plateaus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
7.6 Evolution of Gilf Kebir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
7.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

8 The Karstified Carbonate Platforms in the Western Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
8.2 General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8.3 Karst Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8.3.1 Solution Depressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.3.2 Residual Karst Forms and Residues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
8.4 Structural Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.5 Eolian Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
8.5.1 Kharafish Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
8.5.2 Sand Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
8.6 Fluvial Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
8.6.1 Drainage Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
8.6.2 Wadis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
8.6.3 Giant Flutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
8.6.4 Playas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
8.6.5 Consolidated Fluvial Gravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
8.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

9 The Region of El-Galalah Plateaus NE The Eastern Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9.2 Geological Background . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9.2.1 Stratigraphy . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9.2.2 Structure and Tectonics .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9.3 Cuesta Topography . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
9.4 The Fluvial Forms System . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
9.5 Wadi Araba . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
9.6 Karst Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
9.7 Other Minor Forms . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
9.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Part IV The Mega Depressions

10 The Qattara Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
10.2 General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
10.3 The Qattara Escarpments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
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10.4 The Depression Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

10.4.1 Sabkhas and Associated Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10.4.2 Sand Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
10.4.3 Closed Basins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
10.4.4 The Wadi-Fan System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
10.5 Origin of the Depression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
10.6 Utilization of the Depression for Power Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
10.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

11 The Kharga-Dakhla Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
11.2 General Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
11.3 The Surrounding Plateaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
11.4 The Escarpments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
11.4.1 Alignment and Slope Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
11.4.2 Superficial Sediments and Associated Landforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
11.5 The Depression Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
11.5.1 Playas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
11.5.2 Sand Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
11.5.3 Spring Mounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
11.5.4 Hills and Mesas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
11.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

12 The Fayum Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
12.2 Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
12.3 The Hawara Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
12.4 Bounding Escarpments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
12.5 Inverted Wadis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
12.6 Lake Beaches and Ancient Lakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
12.7 Lake (Birket) Qarun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
12.8 The Fayum Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
12.9 Canyon-like Wadis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
12.10 Development of the Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
12.10.1 The First Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
12.10.2 The Second Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
12.11 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Part V Sand Seas and Dune Fields

13 The Great Sand Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
13.2 General Characteristics of the Great Sand Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
13.3 Dune Forms and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
13.3.1 Dune Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
13.3.2 Dune Pattern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
13.4 Sand Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
13.4.1 Grain Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
13.4.2 Surface Texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
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13.4.3 Reddened Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

13.4.4 Minerals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13.5 Source of Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13.6 Age and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
13.6.1 Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
13.6.2 Development of the Great Sand Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
13.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

14 Ghard Abu Moharik Sand Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

14.1 Location and Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
14.2 Geology and Topography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
14.3 Climatic Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
14.4 Previous Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
14.5 Dune Forms of GAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
14.5.1 The Northern Section (Fore-Erg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
14.5.2 The Central Section ‘Erg Body’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
14.5.3 The Southern Section ‘Back-Erg’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
14.6 Barchan Dune Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
14.7 Sand Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
14.7.1 Grain Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
14.7.2 Surface Texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
14.7.3 Mineralogical Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
14.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
14.8.1 Forms and Pattern of Sand Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
14.8.2 Source of Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
14.8.3 Mode of Development of GAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
14.8.4 Age of GAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

15 North Sinai Sand Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

15.1 Location and Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
15.2 Previous Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
15.3 Dune Types, Forms, and Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
15.3.1 Types of Dunes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
15.3.2 Dune Forms and Morphometric Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
15.3.3 Dune Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
15.4 Dune Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
15.4.1 Sand Removal and Deposition on Linear Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
15.4.2 Dynamics of Crescent Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
15.5 Physical and Mineralogical Aspects of Dune Sands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
15.5.1 Physical Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
15.5.2 Mineralogical Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
15.6 Factors Affecting the Development of the North Sinai Sand Sea . . . . . . . . 207
15.6.1 Wind System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
15.6.2 Coastal Offshore Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
15.6.3 Climatic Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
15.6.4 Sea Level Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
15.6.5 Sand Availability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
15.7 Source of Sand and the Geologic Age of Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
15.7.1 Source of Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
15.7.2 Age of Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
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15.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

16 Dune Fields of SE Eastern Desert of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
16.2 El-Hebal Dune Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
16.2.1 General Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
16.2.2 Dune Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
16.3 West El-Hebal Dune Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
16.4 Delta Wadi Kraf Dune Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
16.5 El-Allaqi Dune Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
16.6 Sand Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
16.6.1 Grain Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
16.6.2 Mineral Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
16.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Part VI Mountains and Drainage Systems

17 The Red Sea and Sinai Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
17.2 Dyke Swarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
17.3 Intermountain Basins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
17.4 Ring Complexes Circular Mounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
17.4.1 Geological Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
17.4.2 Morphological Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
17.5 Old Erosion Surfaces/Planation Surfaces/Etchplains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
17.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
17.5.2 Planation Surfaces in the Red Sea and Sinai Mountains . . . . . . . . . 232
17.6 The Terraces of the Lacustrine Sediments in Wadi Feiran
in Sinai Mountains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
17.6.1 Sediment Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
17.6.2 Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
17.6.3 Origin and Mode of Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
17.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

18 The Drainage System of the Eastern Desert (With a Special Reference

to Wadi Qena Basin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
18.2 Regional Drainage System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
18.3 Drainage Basins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
18.4 Drainage Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
18.5 Some Characteristics of Geomorphic Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
18.6 Wadi Qena Basin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
18.6.1 Geomorphologic Characteristics of Wadi Qena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
18.6.2 Features and Forms of Wadi Qena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
18.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

19 The Drainage System in Sinai (With a Special Reference

to Wadi El Arish) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Contents xvii

19.2 Regional Drainage Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

19.3 Drainage Basins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
19.4 Drainage Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
19.5 Wadi El Arish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
19.5.1 General Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
19.5.2 Geomorphologic Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
19.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Part VII Coastal Forms

20 Ridge-Depression Landscape Along the Mediterranean NW Coast

of the Western Desert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
20.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
20.2 Distribution of the Ridges in the System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
20.2.1 The Continental Ridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
20.2.2 The Submarine Ridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
20.3 Sedimentological Composition of the Ridges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
20.3.1 The Coastal (First) Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
20.3.2 The El-Max-Abu Sir (Second) Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
20.3.3 The Gabal Maryut (Third) Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
20.3.4 The Fourth (Khashm El-Aish) Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
20.3.5 The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Ridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
20.4 Inter-ridges Depressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
20.4.1 The Geomorphologic Characteristics of the Depressions . . . . . . . . . 271
20.4.2 Sabkhas and Salt Marshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
20.4.3 Lagoons and Salt Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
20.5 Origin and Mode of Development of the Ridge-Depression System . . . . . . 274
20.6 Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
20.7 Climatic Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
20.8 Environmental Conditions of Ridge-Depression Development . . . . . . . . . . 276
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

21 Red Sea Coastal Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

21.1 Regional Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
21.2 Fluvial Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
21.2.1 Deltas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
21.2.2 Bahadas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
21.3 Aeolian Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
21.4 Marine Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
21.4.1 Coral Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
21.4.2 Coastal Cliffs and Marine Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
21.4.3 Sand and Gravel Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
21.4.4 Sand Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
21.5 Forms Resulting from Sea Level Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
21.5.1 Submerged Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
21.5.2 Reef Terraces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
21.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

22 Bardawil Lake and the Surrounding Sabkhas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

22.1 General Characteristics of Bardawil Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
22.2 Tectonic Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
xviii Contents

22.3 Local Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

22.4 Coastal Processes and Hydrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
22.5 Geomorphology of the Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
22.5.1 Basins of the Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
22.5.2 The Coastal Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
22.5.3 Tidal Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
22.5.4 Submerged Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
22.6 Sabkhas Surrounding Bardawil Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
22.6.1 General Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
22.6.2 Surface Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
22.6.3 Sediments and Stratigraphy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
22.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Part VIII Applied Geomorphology

23 Geo-Parks and Features of Geomorphic and Geologic Significance . . . . . . . . 307

23.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
23.2 The Igneous and Metamorphic Peneplained Plateau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
23.2.1 Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
23.2.2 Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
23.3 Buried Wadis and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
23.3.1 Wide Wadis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
23.3.2 Anastomosing Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
23.3.3 Regional Reconstruction of Palaeo-Drainage System . . . . . . . . . . . 310
23.4 The White Desert of Farafra Geo-Park: Product of Karst, Fluvial,
and Aeolian Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
23.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
23.4.2 Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
23.5 Domes of Northern Sinai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
23.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
23.5.2 Structural Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
23.5.3 Fluvial Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
23.6 Inverted Wadis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
23.7 Djara and Sannur Caves Geo-Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

24 Geomorphologic Hazards in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

24.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
24.2 Fluvial Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
24.2.1 Nile Discharge Fluctuations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
24.2.2 Flash Floods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
24.3 Sand Drift and Dune Encroachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
24.3.1 Sand Drift Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
24.3.2 Hazards of Moving Dunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
24.4 Erosion Along the Coasts of the Nile Delta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
24.5 Earthquakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
24.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
About the Author

Nabil Sayed Embabi has been a Professor of Desert Geomorphology in the Department of
Geography, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt since 1979. He obtained his
Ph.D. from Bristol University, UK in 1967. Dr. Embabi has taught at several Arab Univer-
sities: King Abdel-Aziz University at Jeddah (1972), Libyan University at Tripoli (1973),
Qatar University at Doha (1979-1983), and the United Arab Emirates University at Al-Ain
(1988–1992). During his research spanning over 50 years, he participated in or led a number
of expeditions or research projects in Egypt/Arabian Deserts. He has also been involved in
scientific collaboration with professors at universities in the United States of America, Finland,
and the United Kingdom. He has authored and coauthored more than 50 papers and four books
in English/Arabic, and attended and presented papers at several international conferences such
as those of the International Geographical Congress and the International Association of
Geomorphologists. His research papers were cited 87 times in previously published scientific
work according to Academia.edu.

xix
Introduction

This book is an attempt to introduce the landscapes and landforms of Egypt to the Earth
Scientists. This country has a huge wealth of landforms and landscapes which were inherited
from the past geological periods. Some of these inherited forms developed more than 500 Ma
ago, influenced by the past (arid and wet) climates. This huge legacy deserves to be presented
to scholars of Earth Sciences. For limitations of space and scope, this book does not claim to
cover every landform. However, it deals with all types of landscapes and landforms, selecting
representative examples or, which have never been studied. Landscapes and forms in this book
depend on three sources of data. First, field observations and studies conducted over a span of
more than fifty years; some of the field photographs included in this book are taken in the late
fifties and early sixties of the twentieth century. Second, previous geologic and geomorpho-
logic studies published in scientific journals/books, as well as unpublished scientific
dissertations (both on the masters and on the doctoral level). The third source of data is the
space images of Google Earth and Landsat-TM images, aerial photographs, and topographic
and geologic maps. The availability of high-resolution images on the Internet through Google
Earth made it possible to discover and study some forms—which would have otherwise been
an impossible task without such images.
This book is divided into 24 chapters, grouped into eight parts. Part I presents the general
characteristics of Egypt: Chap. 1 covers the geographical regions of Egypt, Chap. 2 presents
the geologic setting of Egypt, and Chap. 3 addresses the past and present climatic conditions.
Part II deals with the Nile in Egypt and is divided into three chapters: Chap. 4 presents major
and remarkable events which occurred during the life of the Nile, Chap. 5 deals with Lake
Nasser, and Chap. 6 analyzes the geomorphic aspects of the Nile Delta. Part III deals with
some selected representative plateaus that are either typical or unique in their geologic and
geomorphic aspects. Here, the sandstone plateaus in the SW of the Western Desert of Abu Ras
and the Gif Kebir (Chap. 7), the vast karstified plateau between the Nile Valley and the
mega-depressions (Chap. 8), and the two Galalah plateaus in the Eastern Desert (Chap. 9) are
selected. Part IV tackles the depressions in the Western Desert, of which three are selected.
These three depressions are the Qattara, which is the largest and deepest one (Chap. 10), the
Kharga-Dakhla representing such depressions developed in the leeward side of cuesta
escarpments (Chap. 11), and the Fayum Depression due to its unique connection to the Nile
Valley (Chap. 12).
In Part V, four sand seas and three dune fields are selected out of 16 seas and fields in
Egypt. The Great Sand Sea is the largest (>100,000 km2) in Egypt (Chap. 13). Contrary to it,
dune fields in SE of Eastern Desert are the smallest fields in Egypt (a few hundred square
kilometers) which are presented in Chap. 16, and have been examined for the first time in
detail with the aid of Google Earth images. In fact, study of dune fields in SE of the Eastern
Desert would not have been possible without the high-resolution images of Google Earth. The
Ghard Abu Moharik Sand Sea, however (Chap. 14), is an exceptional sand sea—not only in
Egypt, but also in other deserts—because of its linearity. The North Sinai Sand Sea (Chap. 15)
covers the north Sinai plains between the coastal strip and the Syrian Arcs. It is one of the most
complex sand seas in Egypt. Part VI (Mountains and drainage systems) is divided into three
chapters. Chapter 17 deals with the Red Sea and Sinai Mountains; Chap. 18 addresses the
drainage system of the Red Sea Mountains, whereas Chap. 19 analyzes the Sinai drainage
system. Part VII covers the coastal forms: It is divided into three chapters. Although they are

xxi
xxii Introduction

small forms, the carbonate ridges of the northwest coast of the Mediterranean Sea make a
characteristic rolling landscape in this coastal region and are tackled in Chap. 20. The Red Sea
and Sinai coasts have a wealth of forms, because they are the location where several conti-
nental and marine processes meet together along the coastal fringes (Chap. 21). The Bardawil
is one of the unique lagoons on the Mediterranean coasts since it has a tectonic origin and it
has no connection to the Nile water unlike other large lagoons, and it is dealt with in Chap. 22.
Part VIII examines Geo-Parks and geomorphologic hazards. Selected Geo-Parks and some
specific forms are presented in Chap. 23, because of their characteristic forms/landscapes.
Finally, it was seen appropriate to conclude this book with a presentation of the most recurring
geomorphologic hazards in Egypt (Chap. 24).
 Part I
General
 Geographic Regions of Egypt
1

Abstract
This chapter presents the main characteristics of the four geographic regions of Egypt.
Since it runs in a north–south direction, the Nile Valley divides the Egyptian landmass into
two vast regions: one in the west, and the other one in the east. The one in the west is called
the Western Desert, and the one in the east (except for the Sinai Peninsula) is called the
Eastern Desert. Although some landforms are repeated in more than one region, every
region has its own landscape that makes it different from others. This means that Egypt is
divided into four geographic regions: the Nile Valley, the Western Desert, the Eastern
Desert, and Sinai Peninsula. Characteristic forms of each region are presented to draw a
clear and accurate picture for each one of them, but also of the whole of Egypt.
Furthermore, this analysis will serve as an introduction to the detailed geomorphic studies
that will follow in this book.

Keywords

The Nile Valley The Nile Delta The Western Desert The Eastern Desert Sinai
Peninsula The Mediterranean Sea The Red Sea

1.1 Introduction
Egypt, or Misr, occupies the north–eastern corner of Africa
and extends beyond the Isthmus and Gulf of Suez into Asia
to the Sinai Peninsula. It lies approximately between lati-
tudes 22° and 32° N, and longitudes 25° and 37° E. Its
maximum width from east to west is about 1230 km, and its
maximum length from north to south is about 1100 km.
Egypt covers an area of approximately 1 million km2 and
takes, to a large extent, the neat form of a square. Egypt is
bound by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Republic
of the Sudan to the south, the Republic of Libya to the west,
and the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, and Palestine/Israel to
the east. Since the Tropic of Cancer crosses the southern part
of the country, Egypt lies in the tropical and subtropical arid
climate. It forms the eastern part of the Sahara and forms a
part of the great desert belt, which extends from the African
Atlantic coast in the west, to Arabia and Iran in Asia in the
east.
Egypt is divided into four geographic regions. These
regions are the Nile Valley and the Delta, the Western
Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Sinai Peninsula
(Fig. 1.1). The Nile Valley and the Delta represent a unique
feature, not only in Egypt but also in the north of Africa. The
Western Desert is dominated by plateaus, sand dunes, and
depressions, whereas the Eastern Desert is the region of
mountains, which dominate the landscape from north to
south. Sinai is a characteristic triangular-shaped region and

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 3

N.S. Embabi, Landscapes and Landforms of Egypt, World Geomorphological Landscapes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65661-8_1
4 1 Geographic Regions of Egypt

Fig. 1.1 Map of Egypt showing the geographical names mentioned in the text

is bound by water bodies along long stretches in all direc-
tions. Furthermore, in order to understand the geomorphol-
ogy of Egypt, it is useful to note that the Mediterranean and
the Red Seas are as important as those four regions. This
chapter summarizes the main geomorphologic aspects of
each region.
1.2 The Nile Valley and the Nile Delta
The Nile Valley and the Nile Delta constitute the smallest
region in Egypt. They cover about 3.5% (35,000 km2) of the
total area of the country. As a perennial stream running in a
desert region, the River Nile is a salient feature in the
1.2 The Nile Valley and the Nile Delta
geomorphology of Egypt. Not only does it divide the
country into two distinct physical regions (the Western and
Eastern Deserts), but it has also shaped Egypt’s history and
human occupations. The Nile in Egypt represents the ter-
minal 1530 km of the River Nile, which extends for about
6825 km. Its level decreases from 114 m above sea level
(asl) at the Egyptian-Sudanese borders, to 84 m asl at
Aswan, to 18 m asl at Cairo. Along this distance, it receives
no water from any of its tributaries. During its geological
history, the Nile developed a valley and formed a delta.
The Nile Valley widens gradually northwards from sev-
eral hundreds of meters in the south to 23 km at the latitude
of Beni Suef city *122 km to the south of Cairo. To the
south of the First Cataract, about 60 km south of Aswan, the
Nubian Nile used to pass through a very narrow valley,
which was surrounded by cliffs from both sides. At present,
this reach is drowned by the waters of Lake Nasser, which
came into being after the construction of the High Dam in
the late 1960s of the twentieth century. The total length of
Lake Nasser at 180 m is about 500 km from Aswan to Dal
Cataract in the Sudan. Due to previous topography, the
width of the lake varies greatly from place to place with a
general mean of 12.5 km. The mean gradient of the Nubian
Fig. 1.2 Nile floodplain and the eastern side of the Nile Valley in the vicinity of Asyut city
5
sector is 1/11,000. In the north of Aswan, the flood plain
broadens gradually except for certain sections where the
plain disappears such as the case with the Silsila gorge
(60 km north of Aswan). At about 300 km north of Aswan,
the Nile makes a large and abrupt bend known as the Qena
Bend, which is bound by high and steep limestone sides
rising up to 300 m asl. The eastern side of the Nile Valley
from Aswan to Cairo is generally higher and steeper than the
western side (Fig. 1.2). Most of the important wadis, which
were former tributaries to the Nile, come from the eastern
side of the Valley. However, the sides of the Nile Valley rise
up to the level of the surrounding plateaus, which are 200–
400 m a.s.l. Along this distance (1100 km), the Nile occu-
pies the eastern side of its floodplain. In some instances, the
Nile abuts on the base of the eastern side. The width of the
Nile channel varies between 300 m in El-Silsila Gorge and
4–5 km in various parts from the Qena Bend to the apex of
the Delta to the north of Cairo.
Parallel to the River Nile, at the western margins of the
floodplain, a meandering channel called Bahr Youssef,
branching at Dyrut (a town 300 km to the south of Cairo)
from the Ibrahimiya irrigation canal, flows northward. At the
latitude of Beni Suef city, this channel changes its
6 1
Fig. 1.3 Nile Delta with its triangle shape. (Source Google Earth 2012)
destination to the west and cuts through the divide separating
the Fayum Depression from the Nile Valley. When entering
the Depression, Bahr Youssef branches into various canals
to irrigate the fertile lands at its floor. Excess irrigation water
drains into two internal basins. The first is the Qarun Lake,
which occupies the lowest part of the Fayum Depression
(45 m below sea level), whereas the second is the Wadi
El-Rayan Depression, lying to the west of Fayum. After the
artificial connection with the Fayum drainage network in
1973 (Hamdan 1980), two small lakes were formed in Wadi
El-Rayan.
In the north of Cairo, the Nile Valley opens up to the Nile
Delta (Fig. 1.3). Due to its shape, the Nile Delta was the first
of its kind to be named as such by Herodotus in 450 BC,
when he visited Egypt and realized the great similarity
between the shape of the Greek letter D and the shape of the
Nile Delta. Before splitting into two branches, the Nile flows
for about 20 km in the direction of north–west. The eastern
branch of the delta is called Damietta Branch, whereas the
western one is called Rosetta Branch. Those two branches
are the last of several others, which have recently disap-
peared. The channels of these two branches, like that of the
Geographic Regions of Egypt
main Nile, are all characterized by meandering and the
presence of silt islands, which total more than 400 islands in
both the main Nile and its two branches (Taha 1997). The
Delta is a vast depositional plain formed by the Nile a long
time ago. The gradient of this deltaic plain is about 1/10,000.
Along the Mediterranean coast, several shallow lagoons
(Maryut, Idku, El-Brollos, and Manzala) were developed.
These lagoons are connected to the sea by small openings
(locally known as Bogaz) in the sand barriers, which sepa-
rate them from the sea. They are kept open by artificial
dredging since they represent good fisheries.
1.3 The Western Desert
The Western Desert is the largest geographic region in
Egypt covering more than two-thirds of the total area of
Egypt (681,000 km2). The Western Desert is the region of
plateaus, depressions, sand dunes, and plains. It is also a
region of desert oases, which depends on the underground
water of the Nubian aquifers. Except for the south–western
part of the Gilf Kebir and Uwienat, which rises in some
1.3 The Western Desert
places to more than 1000 m a.s.l, most of the Western Desert
does not rise more than 300–400 m a.s.l (Fig. 1.1). Mean-
while, there are several localities in this desert lying below
sea level (Fig. 1.1). The deepest point is −134 m (Ball 1927)
to −145 m (IGN/SFS 1977) in Qattara Depression. Other
areas are Siwa (−18.5 m), Fayum (−45 m), Wadi
El-Natrun (−24 m), and Wadi El-Rayan (−64 m).
The southern part of the Western Desert is a vast plain
bound to the north by the Kharga-Dakhla Depression, in the
west by the Gilf Kebir Plateau, in the east by the Eocene
plateau and the Nile Valley, and extends southwards into
northern Sudan. This plain is called the Arbain Desert (or
the Forty’s Desert by Haynes 1982) after the well-known
caravan route Darb El-Arbain, which crosses the middle area
of this plain. Fig. ( 1.4) shows a camel caravan on this Darb
El-Arbain dating to September 1978, photographed by the
author while participating in a joint expedition of Ain Shams
University, the Geological Survey of Egypt and the Smith-
sonian Institution of Washington DC. Most of this plain rises
150–200 m asl, but generally gets higher westward until it
reaches 600 m asl on average at the foot slopes of the Gilf
Kebir Plateau. Vast areas of this plain extend northward and
merge into the floors of Abu Minqar, Kharga-Dakhla
Depression. Toward these depressions, the level of the
ground decreases gradually, where in some localities in
Kharga, it reaches just a few meters above sea level. Hills in
the depression, such as Gabal Edminston in Dakhla, and
Gabal Taref, Gabal El-Ter, Gabal Um El-Ghanaiem, and
Gabal El-Qarn in Kharga, may rise up to 100–300 m asl.
Dunes spreading in these depressions are organized as dune
Fig. 1.4 Camel caravan on Darb El-Arbain in the southern part of the Western Desert. (Photo taken in Sept. 1978)
7
belts (Fig. 1.5). Barchans moving southward under the effect
of northern winds represent a permanent hazard for high-
ways, farms, wells, and villages (Embabi 1982, 1990).
Recently, buried wadis and channels were discovered by
Radar Imaging by Columbia Shuttle in 1981. This
paleo-drainage is known in previous studies as Radar
Rivers, Subsurface Valleys, and Paleochannels (McCauley
et al. 1982). The detailed picture of these wadis is still
incomplete, since imaging has not covered the whole buried
drainage net(s).
The escarpments of the depressions of Kharga-Dakhla
and Abu Minqar represent the southern edges of the vast
limestone and chalk plateaus, known as the karstified Eocene
plateaus dominating the central part of the Western Desert.
These plateaus extend eastward to the Nile Valley, westward
to the Great Sand Sea, and northward to Siwa, Qattara, and
Fayum depressions. Only the small plateaus of Abu Tartur
and El-Quss Abu Said carry names. The maximum height
attained by these plateaus is about 500 m asl in Abu Tartur
Plateau, whereas the dominant height is 300–400 m asl.
However, height decreases westward toward the Great Sand
Sea, indicating the presence of a great basin occupied by the
Great Sand Sea, since the same happens in north of the Gilf
Kebir Plateau. A similar basin occupied by a small sand sea
is present in the eastern part of Farafra Depression. The
dominant features on the surfaces of these plateaus are sand
seas and dune belts, small closed depressions, and relict karst
forms. Ghard Abu Moharik Sand Sea, which extends for
about 300 km from the northeast of Bahariya Depression to
the northern escarpment of Kharga, represents a
8 1
Fig. 1.5 Dunes descending the Dakhla escarpment, forming a barchan belt in the Dakhla lowland
characteristic feature on this plateau. Bahariya and Farafra
Depressions also characterize this central part of the Western
Desert.
The Great Sand Sea is a salient feature in the Western
Desert, extending for about 600 km from the northern
escarpments of the Gilf Kebir and Abu Ras plateaus in the
south to the southern margins of Siwa Depression in the
north (Fig. 1.1). In addition to the evidence mentioned in the
previous paragraph, which shows that this sand sea occupies
a huge basin, other evidence indicates that the floor of its
northern part approaches sea level or lies below it (Embabi
1998). Although the linear dune form is predominant in the
Great Sand Sea (Fig. 1.6), its pattern changes from network
to parallel and Y-junction from north to south. This sand sea
represents the main source of sand, which forms the small
dune field that extends from the south of the Gilf Kebir
Plateau to Uwienat and north–west Sudan. Several kilome-
ters to the south of Gilf Kebir, there is a small and unique
plateau (47 km N–S, 25 km E–W maximum width). Its
uniqueness comes from it being a peneplained plateau and is
Geographic Regions of Egypt
composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Heights range
between 850 and 950 m a.s.l, with a single peak reaching
1114 m a.s.l.
The northern part of the Western Desert is dominated by
the five major depressions of Siwa, Qattara, Wadi El-Natrun,
Wadi El-Rayan and Fayum, and by the Miocene (Marmar-
ica) plateau. As mentioned in Sect. 1.2, Bahr Youssef con-
nects the Fayum Depression with the Nile Valley. This is
why it is the only depression that has soils similar to those of
the Nile Valley and is irrigated and cultivated by the Nile
water. The floors of these five northern depressions are
below sea level. The Qattara Depression is the largest
(45,000 km2) and the deepest (−145 m) erosional depression
not only in Egypt but in Africa as well. The north–eastern
escarpment of Qattara is only 60 km away from the
Mediterranean coast, and this is why it was suggested by
Ball (1927) to utilize this depression in the production of
hydroelectric power by connecting it to the Mediterranean
Sea through an open canal and a tunnel.
1.3 The Western Desert
Fig. 1.6 Parallel linear dunes of the central section of the Great Sand Sea. (Source Google Earth 2012)
To the north of Qattara and Siwa, a vast Miocene lime-
stone plateau extends to the coastal plain along the
Mediterranean coastline, locally known as Marmarica or
El-Diffa Plateau. This plateau rises 200–250 m a.s.l and is
dotted by numerous small closed basins. A narrow coastal
plain with a sequence of low carbonate ridges (bars) which
are roughly parallel to the present coastline separates this
plateau from the Mediterranean coast. This coastal plain
opens up at a point to the south of Alamain and widens
gradually eastward until it merges with the sandy plains of
the western margins of the Nile Delta.
1.4 The Eastern Desert
This region occupies about one-fourth (225,000 km2) of the
total area of Egypt. It is bound by the Nile Valley and the
Delta from the west, the Red Sea, the Gulf and Isthmus of
Suez from the east, and the Egyptian-Sudanese border from
the south. This is the region of mountains, plateaus, and
large wadis. In this region, the Red Sea Mountains and the
9
fringing plateaus are all dissected by drainage nets, which
drain either toward the Red Sea in the east or toward the
River Nile in the west. The heights of some mountainous
peaks in this region may reach more than 2000 m a.s.l,
whereas those of the plateaus vary greatly between more
than 1000 and several hundreds of meters above sea level.
Very few localities at the southern end of the Gulf of Suez
are a few meters below sea level.
The Red Sea Mountains range extends southward from
Gabal Um Tenasib (latitude 28° 30′ N) parallel to the
coastline of the Red Sea up to and beyond the Egyptian
borders within the Sudan. The mountains do not in fact form
a continuous range, but are rather disconnected blocks sep-
arated by basins and deep wadis. Along this range, about 30
peaks rise more than 1000 m a.s.l, such as Gabal Qattar
(1963 m), Gabal Abu Abid (1900 m), Gabal Hamata
(1977 m), Gabal Shendib (1911 m), and Gabal Shayeb
Al-Banat (2187 m). These mountains are formed of igneous
and metamorphic rocks, with a thin sedimentary cover along
the eastern flanks. Due to the effect of tectonics, the eastern
slopes of the mountains are steeper than the western flanks,
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fashion, now and then raising itself or lifting the prothorax in a
stealthy quiet manner, perhaps to judge accurately of its distance;
when near enough, with one swift dart the victim is secured. The
prey is held firmly in the formidable trap formed by the anterior leg,
and is thus brought near the mouth. The Mantis usually commences
its feast by taking off some portions of the head of its wretched
victim, and displays an absolute indifference to its struggling or
kicking; the mandibles having seized a portion of the food, the legs
holding it move away, thus leaving a fragment in the mouth. Portions
only of a captured Insect are consumed, much being cast away; and
Mr. Potts states that he has seen one of these voracious creatures
kill and devour parts of fourteen small flies within a very brief space
of time. This voracity and waste of animal food is very remarkable
when we recollect that many Insects have such perfect powers of
assimilation that during their whole period of growth they only
consume a mass of food—and that vegetable—but little larger in size
than the bulk they themselves attain. This fact is well known in the
case of Bruchus, Caryoborus, and other seed-feeding Insects.
Burmeister has stated good grounds for believing that some of the
larger Mantidae do not confine themselves to Insect diet, but attack
and devour small Vertebrates.[177] He has given a circumstantial
account of a case at Buenos Ayres, where a small bird was secured
by the wingless female of a large Mantis, which had commenced
devouring its head when the observer took possession of the
creature and its booty. Dubois states[178] that when a decapitated,
but living, Mantis was suspending itself to a roll of drapery by its four
posterior legs, a person could detach with the fingers the left anterior
leg (of the four) and the right posterior, or conversely the left
posterior and right anterior, without the interference producing any
action on the part of the creature; but if one of the other legs was
also interfered with, which would necessarily have changed the
position of the body, then immediately one of the two unoccupied
legs was placed by the creature in a proper position to assure its
stability. This reflex action altogether resembled in appearance a
conscious action, and was as effectually performed.
The combination in Mantidae of voracious and destructive instincts
with helpless and inert attitudes gives rise to the idea that these
latter are adopted for the purpose of deceiving the living prey and of
thus more easily obtaining the means of subsistence. It appears,
however, more probable that the helpless attitudes have no such
origin, but are due to the structure and form of the creature. The front
legs being wonderfully well formed for raptorial purposes, have no
capacity for locomotion or for supporting the Insect in the usual
manner, so that the body has to be borne by the hinder two pairs of
legs; at the same time the raptorial pair of limbs—which, it will be
recollected, are of great size and attached to the anterior part of an
unusually long prothorax—have to be held in such a position as will
not derange the equilibrium maintained by the posterior part of the
body; moreover, these large raptorial legs are entirely exserted, and
have no trace of any articulatory cavity that might act as a
mechanical aid to their support. Thus they could not be held
extended without great muscular exhaustion; hence we can well
believe that the sedentary and helpless attitudes of the creature are
not the results of any guile.

A Mantis has been recorded as bearing a close resemblance to a

Phasmid of the genus Bacillus and having only small front legs; it
was suggested by Bates[179] that the Mantis would probably be
found to feed on the Bacillus. Though the case is of considerable
interest, no further information about it has been obtained.

Fig. 141.—Mantoida luteola Westw., male. Santarem.

The simplest forms of the family are found in the groups

Amorphoscelides and Orthoderides. From our figure of one of these
(Fig. 141, Mantoida luteola ♂), it will be seen that the peculiarities of
the family can scarcely be detected, the raptorial legs being very little
developed and the prothorax short. The sexes, too, differ but little in
these simple forms. Most of them are very rare in collections, but
Wood-Mason states[180] that Amorphoscelis annulicornis is
frequently found about Calcutta on the trunks of trees, to the bark of
which it is so similar that it is only discovered with difficulty. In its
rapid movements it resembles the cockroaches or Machilis, more
than it does the more differentiated forms of its own group.

In the genus Pyrgomantis (Fig. 142, P. singularis, female) the male

has the tegmina and wings of normal size, while in the female they
are rudimentary.

Fig. 142.—Pyrgomantis singularis, female. S. Africa. (After Westwood.)

Fig. 143.—Outline of Chaeradodis cancellata ♀, nymph. (After Wood-

Mason.)

The variety of shape and external appearance in this family is very

great; de Saussure considers it to be a mimetic group. In certain
species some parts of the body—more especially the tegmina—have
very much the appearance of foliage, and usually in such cases this
appearance is confined to the female, the males in this family
having, as we have said, the organs of flight more transparent and
colourless; in the former sex the alar organs, when present, are
frequently but little adapted for flying. In some species the prothorax
is expanded at the sides (Fig. 135, Deroplatys sarawaca; and Fig.
143, Choeradodis cancellata), and in such cases the outline of the
natural thorax—if we may use such an expression—may be detected
occupying the middle of the unusual expansion. The European
Mantis religiosa varies much in colour; in some examples the
tegmina are leaf-green, while in others they are brown or gray. There
is some evidence extant making it probable that in some species the
colour of an individual changes at different times—Colonel Bowker
saying of Harpax ocellata that it "beats the Chameleon hollow in
changing colour."

Some of the species of the old genus Eremiaphila (Fig. 144) are of
very unusual form. De Saussure considers that some species of this
genus are more highly modified than any other animals for
maintaining their existence in desert regions. They are said to be
found in places where no vegetation exists, and to assimilate in
appearance with the sandy soil, the species varying in colour, so that
the individuals agree in tint with the soil on which they dwell. These
Insects are referred to the group Orthoderides, and have a short
prothorax, the alar organs being unsuited for flight. What they live on
is not actually known; although other Insects are the natural food of
Mantids, it is said that these desert-frequenting species occur in
spots where no other Insect life is known to exist. Lefebvre[181] met
with these Eremiaphilas in the desert between the Nile and the
Northern Oasis, El Bahryeh, but was quite unable to discover their
mode of subsistence. These Insects are very rare in collections, and
the information we possess about them is very meagre.

Fig. 144.—Eremiaphila turcica. (After Westwood.)

Mr. Graham Kerr found on the Pilcomayo river a species of Mantidae
living on branches of trees amongst lichens, which it so exactly
resembled that it was only detected by the movement of a limb; it
was accompanied by a Phaneropterid grasshopper, which bore a
similar resemblance to the lichens. One of the rarest and most
remarkable forms of Mantidae is the genus Toxodera, in which the
eyes project outwards as pointed cones (Fig. 145). These Insects
offer an interesting problem for study, since we are entirely ignorant
about them. Brunner places the Toxoderae in his tribe Harpagides,
but with the remark that "these Insects of antediluvian shapes differ
essentially from all other Mantidae."

Wood-Mason informs us[182] that the young of Hymenopus bicornis

beautifully simulate blossoms of different colours. And it has been
stated by Dr. Wallace, on the authority of a communication made to
him by Sir Charles Dilke, that a small Mantis found in Java exactly
resembles a pink Orchis-flower, and this species "was not only said
to attract Insects, but even the kind of Insects (butterflies) which it
allures and devours was mentioned." We do not know of what
species or genus this Insect may be, but Hymenopus bicornis is a
peculiar form of the tribe Harpagides, and has, together with its
younger state, been figured long ago by Caspar Stoll in his quaint
and interesting old book.[183] Though it has very peculiar foliaceous
expansions on the two hinder pairs of legs, these dilatations are very
different from those seen in the curious Gongylus gongylodes, the
female of which we figure (Fig. 146). This latter, according to the
information we shall quote, is also a "floral simulator." Specimens of
G. gongylodes were shown to the members of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal in 1877 by Dr. J. Anderson,[184] who at the same gave some
information about them which we shall reproduce in full, because,
incomplete as it is, it is apparently almost the sole piece of definite
information we possess as to this curious Insect, or any of its
congeners:—
 Fig. 145.—Toxodera denticulata, male. Java. (After Serville.)

"These Insects all came from the same locality, having been
forwarded to Mr. Buckland by Mr. Larymore of the Central Jail at
Midnapur. Mr. Larymore had procured them from the neighbouring
country district, where Santál women and children had hunted them
out and brought them in, hanging on branches or twigs of a bush,
somewhat like a wild plum-tree. They are also said to be found upon
rose-bushes, and in connexion with this it was observed that, in
Midnapur, they were known as rose-leaf Insects, from the
circumstance that when the Insect is more developed and furnished
with wings, the foliaceous appendages are said greatly to increase in
size, and exactly to resemble rose-leaves. Dr. Anderson, however,
was disposed to think that more than one species might probably
occur in the Midnapur district, and that these Insects with the larger
foliaceous expansions might be distinct from the species now before
the Society.
 Fig. 146.—Gongylus gongylodes, female. East India.

"Mr. Buckland had made over these Insects to Dr. Anderson, and
since that time they have been regularly fed upon house-flies and
grasshoppers; the latter, however, appear to be rather too strong for
them, and they therefore prefer the flies. They have been tried with
small fragments of plaintain and custard-apple, which they not only
eat, but the juice of which they seem to suck with considerable
avidity, Dr. Anderson, however, thought that it was the moisture of
these fruits that was the chief attraction to these Insects, for the
entire character of their organisation indicated a raptorial habit.

"Dr. Anderson went on to say that he had succeeded in identifying

the three larger Insects by means of a single dried specimen in the
Indian Museum, which, however, was fully mature and provided with
wings. These remarkable Insects proved to be the pupae of a
peculiar species of Mantis which was known to Aldrovandus, who
figured it more than a century and a half before the first appearance
of the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus, to whom it was known as
Gryllus gongylodes, and also as Mantis gongylodes; and since the
time of Aldrovandus it had been figured in a variety of works on
Natural History, but apparently in every instance from mature, and
seemingly dried specimens, so that the colours of the Insect during
life had never been correctly described.
"So much by way of introduction to these remarkable pupal
Mantises, the recognised scientific name of which is Gongylus
gongylodes L.

"The reason which induced Dr. Anderson to bring them to the notice
of the Society had now to be pointed out. On looking at the Insects
from above, they did not exhibit any very striking features beyond the
leaf-like expansion of the prothorax and the foliaceous appendages
to the limbs, both of which, like the upper surface of the Insect, are
coloured green, but on turning to the under surface the aspect is
entirely different. The leaf-like expansion of the prothorax; instead of
being green, is a clear, pale lavender-violet, with a faint pink bloom
along the edges of the leaf, so that this portion of the Insect has the
exact appearance of the corolla of a plant, a floral simulation which is
perfected by the presence of a dark, blackish brown spot in the
centre, over the prothorax, and which mimics the opening to the tube
of a corolla. A favourite position of this Insect is to hang head
downwards among a mass of green foliage, and, when it does so, it
generally remains almost motionless, but, at intervals, evinces a
swaying movement as of a flower touched by a gentle breeze; and
while in this attitude, with its fore-limbs banded violet and black, and
drawn up in front of the centre of the corolla, the simulation of a
papilionaceous flower is complete. The object of the bright colouring
of the under surface of the prothoracic expansion is evident, its
purpose being to act as a decoy to Insects, which, mistaking it for a
corolla, fly directly into the expectant, serrated, sabre-like, raptorial
arms of the simulator. It is no new fact that many Insects resemble
the leaves of plants and trees, and that they manifest forms and
colours which serve to protect them in the struggle for existence, but
so far as Dr. Anderson had ascertained, this was the first recorded
instance of an Insect simulating the corolla of a flower for the evident
purpose of attracting Insects towards it for its sustenance. It is even
more remarkable than this, for it is a localised adaptation for such a
purpose, a portion of the Insect being so modified in form and colour
that the appearance of the corolla of a plant is produced, in
conjunction with the remainder of the long attenuated prothorax,
which at a distance resembles the flower stem; the anterior limbs
when in repose even adding to and heightening the deception."

That we should have no more precise information as to a large

Insect of such remarkable habits and appearance, and one that has
been known to naturalists for upwards of three centuries, is a matter
for regret. Careful observation as to the habits, food, and variation of
these floral simulators, and as to whether they seek for spots
specially suitable to their coloration, would be of great interest. A
European congener of this Insect, Empusa pauperata, has small
foliaceous expansions on the legs, but its habits have not been
noticed in detail.

The very curious Insect represented in Fig. 147, Stenophylla

cornigera, is a member of the tribe Vatides; the form of the cerci at
the end of the body is very peculiar. This extremely rare, if not
absolutely unique, Insect is a native of the interior of Brazil.

Dufour has recorded that Mantis religiosa possesses the power of

producing a mournful sound by rubbing the extremity of the body
against the wings; it is stated that a hissing sound is produced by
other species, and Wood-Mason has suggested[185] that a special
structure exists on the tegmina for the purpose.

There are probably about 600 species of Mantidae known; they are
distributed over all the warmer parts of the earth, but there are none
in the cooler regions. Europe possesses some twelve or fourteen
species, most of them confined to the Mediterranean sub-region; a
single species, Mantis religiosa, is frequently found in Central
France, and has been recorded as occurring as far north as Havre.
Although no species is a native of Britain, it is not difficult to keep
them alive here. Denny records[186] that an egg-case of a Mantis
was sent from Australia to England, and that the hatching of the
eggs was completed after its arrival. The young fed readily on flies,
and we are informed that in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, where
this Mantis is plentiful, specimens are placed by the citizens on the
window-blinds of their houses, so that the rooms may be cleared
from flies by means of the indefatigable voracity of the Mantis.

Fig. 147.—Stenophylla cornigera. Brazil. (After Westwood.)

The geological record as to Mantidae is very meagre and

unsatisfactory. The genus Mantis is said to occur in amber, and Heer
has referred to the same genus an ill-preserved fossil from the upper
Miocene beds of Central Europe; a fragment of a hind wing found in
the Jurassic strata of Siberia has been assigned to the family; and
until recently Lithomantis from the Carboniferous beds of Scotland
was considered to belong to Mantidae. Scudder, however, has
rejected it therefrom, placing it in the Neuropteroid division of
Palaeodictyoptera, and Brongniart, adding another species to the
genus from the Carboniferous strata in France, proposed to treat the
two as a distinct family, which he called Palaeomantidae.[187] This
naturalist has, however, since renewed his study[188] of these
Insects, has become convinced that they have no relations with
existing Mantidae, and has consequently removed them to the family
Platypterides in the Order Neuroptera.

Six tribes of Mantidae are recognised by Brunner and de Saussure.

Table of the tribes of Mantidae:—

1. Anterior tibiae with the outer edge unarmed beneath or only furnished with
very minute tubercles. (Pronotum not longer than the anterior coxae.)
 Tribe 1. Amorphoscelides. (Fig. 141, Mantoidea luteola.)
1′. Anterior tibiae with the outer edge spinose beneath.
2. Anterior femora having the inner edge armed beneath with equal
spines, or with spines in which only the alternate are smaller.
Antennae of the male simple, rarely unipectinate.
3. Tibiae and also the intermediate and hind femora even above.
4. Legs and body with no lobe-like processes. (Antennae simple in
each sex.)
5. Pronotum not forming any dilatation above the insertion of the
coxae, its lateral margins straight or (in the genus Choeradodis)
strongly dilated with the anterior margin not rounded. Tribe 2.
Orthoderides. (Fig. 142, Pyrgomantis; Fig. 143, Choeradodis;
Fig. 144, Eremiaphila turcica.)
5′. Pronotum dilated above the insertion of the coxae, there with the
lateral margins broadened in a round manner, the anterior
margin rounded. Tribe 3. Mantides. (Fig. 140, Iris oratoria.)
4′. Legs or body furnished with lobes. (Posterior femora or segments
of the body with lobes, or vertex of the head conically prolonged.)
Tribe 4. Harpagides. (Fig. 136, Harpax variegatus; Fig. 135,
Deroplatys sarawaca.)
3′. Tibiae as well as the intermediate and hind femora carinate above.
(Pronotum elongate, with the posterior part, behind the transverse
groove, three times as long as the anterior part.) Tribe 5. Vatides.
(Fig. 147, Stenophylla cornigera.)
2′. Anterior femora beneath, with the inner edge armed between the longer
teeth with shorter teeth, usually three in number. Antennae of the
male bipectinate. (Vertex conically prolonged.) Tribe 6. Empusides.
(Fig. 146, Gongylus gongylodes.)

CHAPTER XI

ORTHOPTERA CONTINUED—PHASMIDAE—WALKING-LEAVES—STICK-
INSECTS

Fam. V. Phasmidae—Stick and Leaf Insects.

 Head exserted; prothorax small, not elongate; mesothorax very
elongate; the six legs differing but little from one another, the
front pair not raptorial, the hind pair not saltatorial. The cerci of
the abdomen not jointed, consisting of only one piece; the tarsi
five-jointed. Tegmina usually small, or entirely absent, even
when the wings are present and ample. The sexes frequently
very dissimilar. Absence of alar organs frequent.

These Insects are amongst the most curious of natural objects. They
are frequently of large size, some attaining 9 inches in length (Fig.
162, Palophus centaurus, one-half natural length). Their variety of
form could scarcely be surpassed; their resemblance to products of
the vegetable kingdom is frequently very great: some of the more
linear species (Fig. 148, Lonchodes nematodes) look like sticks or
stems of grass; some have a moss-like appearance, while others
resemble pieces of lichen-covered bark. The members of the tribe
Phylliides are leaf-like. A certain number of other Phasmids are
covered with strong spines, like thorns (Fig. 149). The plant-like
appearance is greatest in the female sex. When there is a difference
between the two sexes as to the organs of flight, these are more fully
developed in the male.

Fig. 148.—Lonchodes nematodes. Malay Archipelago. (After

Westwood.)
The antennae are usually many-jointed, but the number of joints
varies from 8 to more than 100; the head is exserted; the eyes are
more or less prominent; ocelli are present in some cases. The
prothorax is always small, and it is a remarkable fact that it
undergoes but little elongation even in those species that are most
linear and elongate in form (see Fig. 148, Lonchodes nematodes),
and that have the meso- and metathoraces extremely long; it is very
simple in structure, consisting apparently merely of a dorsal and of a
sternal plate, nearly the whole of the side being occupied by the
large space in which the coxae are inserted; the edges of the
pronotum are not free. The mesothorax is frequently six times as
long as the prothorax, though in the leaf-like and a few other forms it
does not possess this great extension; still it is always of large size
relatively to the other two thoracic segments. This is peculiar
inasmuch as in other groups where the mesothorax is relatively large
there are powerful mesothoracic wings; whereas the Phasmidae are
remarkable for the obsolescence of the mesothoracic alar
appendages. The middle legs and the tegmina or elytra, when
present, are attached only to the posterior part of the mesothorax;
the notum and the sternum are separated by two narrow slips on
each side, the epimeron and episternum. The metathorax is formed
like the mesothorax, except that the posterior part of the dorsal
surface is considered to consist of the first ventral segment
consolidated with the posterior part of the metanotum, the two being
distinct enough in the winged forms. The hind body or abdomen is
elongated except in the Phylliides; it consists of ten dorsal plates; the
first frequently looks like a portion of the metanotum, and is treated
as really such by Westwood, who describes the abdomen as
consisting of nine segments. The flat apical appendages are
attached behind the tenth dorsal plate. The ventral plates are similar
to the dorsal in arrangement, except that in the female the eighth
plate forms a sort of spoon-like or gutter-like process to assist in
carrying or depositing the eggs, and that the two following segments
are concealed by it, and are sometimes of more delicate texture. The
legs vary greatly in the details of their shape: the coxae are short,
oval, or round, never large; the trochanter is small; the front femora
often have the basal part narrower than the apical, and they are
frequently so formed that they can be stretched out in front of the
head, concealing its sides and outline and entirely encasing the
antennae. There is an arolium or cushion between the claws of the
five-jointed tarsi. The front legs are frequently longer than the others.
Only a very slight study has been made of the alar organs of
Phasmidae; but according to Redtenbacher and Brauer, they differ
greatly from those of Blattidae and Mantidae, inasmuch as the costal
vein is placed not on the actual margin of the wing but in the field
thereof, and in this respect they more resemble the Orthoptera
saltatoria.

Very little information exists as to the internal anatomy of the

Phasmidae. Many years ago a memoir of a fragmentary and
discursive nature was published on the subject by J. Müller,[189] but
his conclusions require confirmation; the nervous system, according
to his account, which refers to Arumatia ferula, has the anterior
ganglia small, the supra-oesophageal ganglion being apparently not
larger than those forming the ventral chain.

Fig. 149.—Heteropteryx grayi, male. Borneo. One-half natural size.

Joly's more recent memoir on the anatomy of Phyllium

crurifolium[190] is also meagre; he states that the nervous system
resembles that of the locusts (Acridiidae), though there are at least
ten pairs of ganglia—one supra-, one infra-oesophageal, three
thoracic, and five abdominal. He found no salivary glands; the
Malpighian tubules are slender, elongate, and very numerous. The
tracheal system has no air-vesicles. He found no distinction of crop
and proventriculus, but the true stomach appears to consist of two
different parts, the anterior being remarkably uneven externally,
though destitute of coeca, while on the posterior part there are
peculiar vermiform processes. There are eighteen or twenty tubes in
each ovary.

Fig. 150.—Aschipasma catadromus, female. Sumatra. Natural size.

(After Westwood.)

When the young Insect is in the egg, ready for emergence, the
meso- and meta-thorax are not remarkably elongate, so that the
femora are not very far apart, but by the time the creature has fairly
emerged from the prison of its embryonic life the thoracic segments
have attained their usual proportions; much expansion of the body
takes place as the Insect leaves the egg, so that it appears a marvel
how it could have been contained therein; this expansion affects the
parts of the body unequally.

The records as to the post-embryonic development of Phasmidae

are very scanty, but indicate great differences in the length of time
occupied by it. Bacillus patellifer is said to moult several times,
Diapheromera femorata only twice. This latter species becomes full
grown in six weeks, while, according to Murray,[191] Phyllium scythe
required fifteen or sixteen months for growth, and did not moult until
ten months after hatching; the number of ecdyses in the case of the
Phyllium was three. At each change of skin an immediate increase in
size, similar to that we have noticed as occurring on leaving the egg,
takes place; each limb on being freed becoming about a fourth
longer and larger than the corresponding part of the envelope from
which it has just been withdrawn. After the second moult of Phyllium
the tegmina and wings made their appearance, but remained of very
small size until after the third moult, when they suddenly shot out to
their full size; they came out of little cases about a quarter of an inch
long, and in the course of a few minutes attained their full size of
about two and a half inches of length. In the apterous species the
difference between the young and adults in external characters is
very slight.

Fig. 151.—Ceroys saevissima. Brazil. (After Westwood.)

Phasmidae are very sensitive to cold; both in North America and

Australia their lives are terminated by the occurrence of frost. They
are all vegetable feeders, the cannibalism that has been attributed to
them by several writers being probably imaginary. They are,
however, excessively voracious, so that a pair will destroy a great
quantity of foliage; they are consequently in some parts of the world
classed amongst injurious Insects. In Fiji and the Friendly Islands,
Lopaphus cocophagus eats the cocoa-nut foliage and causes a
scarcity of food, so that it becomes a matter of necessity to destroy
these Insects. One writer has gone so far as to attribute the
occurrence of cannibal habits amongst the inhabitants of some of
these islands to the want of food caused by the ravages of this
Insect. Some, if not all, of the Phasmidae have the habit of ejecting a
stinking fluid, that is said to be very acrid, and occasionally, when it
strikes the eye, to cause blindness; this liquid comes from glands
placed in the thorax. Some Phasmidae are much relished as food by
birds; Diapheromera femorata is sucked by several bugs as well as
eaten by birds, and another species is recorded to have harboured
Ichneumon-flies in its body without suffering any apparent
inconvenience from their presence or from their emergence.
Notwithstanding the great amount of food they consume and their
want of activity, they produce comparatively few eggs. From twelve
to twenty or thirty is frequently mentioned as about the number, but
in the case of Diapheromera femorata Riley speaks of upwards of
one hundred. These eggs are not deposited in any careful way, but
are discharged at random, simply dropping from the female; the
noise caused by the dropping of the eggs of Diapheromera femorata
from the trees on which the Insects are feeding to the ground is said
to resemble the pattering of raindrops. The eggs of this species often
remain till the second year before they hatch. The eggs in the
Phasmidae generally are of a most remarkable nature, and nearly
every one who mentions them speaks of their extreme resemblance
to seeds. Göldi[192] has suggested that this is for the purpose of
deceiving Ichneumons; it is, however, on record that the eggs are
actually destroyed by Ichneumons. It is worthy of notice that the
eggs are shed like seeds, being dropped loosely and, as we have
said, remaining on the ground or elsewhere, sometimes for nearly
two years, without other protection than that they derive from their
coverings. Each egg is really a capsule containing an egg, reminding
us thus of the capsule of the Blattidae, which contains, however,
always a number of eggs. Not only do the eggs have a history like
that of seeds, and resemble them in appearance, but their capsule in
minute structure, as we shall subsequently show, greatly resembles
vegetable tissue. The egg-capsule in Phasmidae is provided with a
lid, which is pushed off when the Insect emerges (Fig. 157). This
capsule induced Murray to suppose that the egg contained within is
really a pupa, and he argued therefrom that in the Orthoptera the
larval stages are passed in the egg, and that the Insect after its
emergence should be looked on as an active pupa that takes food.
 Fig. 152.—Eggs of Phasmidae: A, Lonchodes duivenbodi; B,
Platycrania edulis; C, Haplopus grayi; D, Phyllium siccifolium.
(After Kaup.)

The individuals of this group of Insects possess the power of

reproducing a lost limb; and Scudder, who has made some
experiments as to this,[193] states that if a leg be cut off beyond the
trochantero-femoral articulation, the parts remaining outside of this
joint are dropped before the next moult, and are afterwards renewed
either as a straight short stump in which the articulations are already
observable, or as a miniature leg, the femur of which is straight and
the tibia and tarsus curved into a nearly complete circle; in the
former case, the leg assumes at the next moult the appearance that
it has in the second case; this latter form is always changed at the
succeeding moult into a leg resembling the normal limb in every
respect excepting size, and the absence of the fourth tarsal joint
(Fig. 153). If the leg be removed nearer to the body than the
trochantero-femoral articulation the limb is not replaced.

The sexes are frequently extremely different; the female is usually

very much larger than the male. This latter sex often possesses
wings when they are quite wanting in the other sex; the resemblance
to portions of plants is often very much greater in the female than it
is in the male.
 Fig. 153.—Cyphocrania aestuans; individual in which the right front leg
has been renewed. Senegal. (After Westwood.)

We have pointed out that the tegmina or upper wings are usually of
small size or absent (Fig. 150, Aschipasma catadromus), even in the
species where the lower wings are very largely developed; in such
cases the latter organs are folded in a complicated, fan-like manner,
and repose on the back, looking as if they were really the tegmina
(Fig. 159, Calvisia atrosignata); this appearance, moreover, is in
some species enhanced much by the fact that the part of the wing
which is outermost in the folded state is quite differently coloured
from the rest of the organ. The colour of the body in many
Phasmidae is said to be very variable, and if the tints be owing to
chlorophyll or other plant juices, finding their way amongst the
Insect-tissues, this is readily understood; in Diapheromera the young
Insect is brownish on hatching, becomes green after feeding, and
turns brown again when the leaves do so. The ocelli, too, are said to
be very variable, and M‘Coy goes so far as to state[194] that they
may be either present or absent in different individuals though of the
same species and sex,—a statement so remarkable as to require
minute examination, though it is to some extent confirmed by the
remarks of other entomologists.
 Fig. 154.—Phyllium scythe, female. Sylhet. (After Westwood.)

The resemblance presented by different kinds of Orthoptera to

leaves is so remarkable that it has attracted attention even in
countries where Natural History is almost totally neglected; in many
such places the inhabitants are firmly convinced that the Insects are
truly transformed leaves, by which they understand a bud developing
into a leaf and subsequently becoming a walking-leaf or Insect. To
them the change is a kind of metamorphosis of habit; it grew as a
leaf and then took to walking.[195] It is usually the tegmina that
display this great resemblance to vegetable structures, and there is
perhaps no case in which the phenomenon is more marked than it is
in the genus Phyllium, the members of which occur only in the
tropical regions of the Old World, where they extend from Mauritius
and the Seychelles to the Fiji Islands—possibly even more to the
East—and have, it would appear, a peculiar penchant for insular life.

Fig. 155.—Phyllium scythe, male. Sylhet. (After Murray.)

The genus Phyllium constitutes by itself the tribe Phylliides. Although

the characters and affinities of this group have been only very