
The paleoclimate during this period in Egypt was considerably wetter, with monsoonal and even tropical rain forest climates during the late Eocene and Oligocene (Bown and Kraus, 1988). The caves were probably produced by episodes of subaerial exposure during multiple exposure events known from Maastrichtian through Oligocene time. Some of these caves are filled with laminated reddish colored clay, silt and coarse sand of channel origin (cave floor fill). The caves seems to be developed around the brecciated blocks that later on dissolved leaving concentric layers of secondary coarse crystalline calcite around the leached blocks. The paleocaves are composed rimmed with the calcite crystals. Black to dark brown impurities occur between and along the crystal boundaries. The collapsed breccias are composed of meter-sized rounded chalky limestone blocks within the massive Khoman Chalk, The outer surface of the breccias are surrounded concentric layers of stratified and centimeter-sized and triagonal clean calcite crystals. The paleokarst topography comprises huge collapsed breccias and paleocaves with columnar-shaped stalagmites. The Crystal Mountain is situated between the Baharyia Oasis and the Farafra Oasis, in the White Desert’s North. There are well-exposed caves and paleokarst topography developed within the Maastrichtian Khoman chalk.
