- The Qattara Depression is located in the northwest of Egypt and forms part of the Western Desert.
- It is below sea level, with its lowest point at 436 ft (133m) below sea level.
Description
- The Depression consists of Sand dunes, salt pans, salt marshes and dried up lake beds, covered in a thick crust with mud underneath.
- There are lines of high cliffs and escarpments.
- The winds are predominantly from the North.
Wildlife
- The Qattara Depression has remote oases and acacia groves that are home to the Cheetah, who prey on the Gazelles who also live there.
- Other animals include Egyptian Jackals, sand foxes and Barbary sheep. The extinct Sahara Oryx used to inhabit the Depression.
WW II
- During the War, the Afrika Corps and the Long Range Desert Group operated patrols in the Depression. Due to the cliffs, salt marshes and fine sand, the Depression was considered unusable by tanks.
Siwa Oasis
- The Siwa Oasis lies in a smaller Depression, which is below sea level, 12 miles (20 km) to the west of the Qattara Depression.
Jaghbub Oasis
- The nearby Jaghbub Oasis lies in a Depression, which is below sea level, in the Eastern Libyan Desert.
In Film
- IMDb ‘Ice Cold in Alex’ 1958
- with John Mills and Sylvia Simms, features the Qattara Depression and Alexandria.
- IMDb ‘Play Dirty’ 1969
- with Michael Caine, set in the Qattara Depression, but filmed in Almeria, Spain.
Qattara Depresion, Siwa Desert, Egypt: