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1. Introduction 
Until the twenties and thirties of 
this century, the vast part 
of the Sahara desert between the oases of Kharga in Egypt and 
Kufra in Libya was mostly unknown. 
Only since the first forays 
of Prince KEMAL EL DIN, and the expeditions of the Hungarian 
Count ALMAZY and the British Major 
BAGNOLD, the first topo- 
graphic and geological data on the so called "Western Desert" 
became available. Even nowadays, this information is rather 
sparse where geology is concerned, 
still very close to a "blank spot" 
250 280 309 330 350 
n d à i 
| T | 1 
Mediterranean Sea 
| 
Jia AG lat 
  
  
  
  
  
  
     
IN. 
~ 
S. 
~ { 
20°} — > — SUDAN 
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Now, for two reasons this immense 
and Southwestern Egypt is 
on the geological map. 
Fig. 1: Dark shaded areas: 
Geological interpretation 
maps 1:500 ooo published; 
light shaded areas: maps in 
print or in preparation. 
area - considerably larger 
than the Federal Republic of Germany - has become increasingly 
important for the development of Egypt: 
Since practically all population of Egypt is confined to the 
narrow stretch of the Nile valley, 
land for human use is imperative. 
the reclamation of desert 
So Egypt has launched the 
ambitious "New Valley Project" which aims at developing the 
existing oases of Kharga, Dakhla, 
Farafra and Baharia and