During the Cretaceous period, nearly 135 million years ago, the land that was to become Egypt was flooded with seawater. Marine deposits formed Cretaceous limestone. In a few places in Egypt, later contortions of the earth’s crust caused this limestone to break through much younger formations.
Contorted Cretaceous limestone beds may be seen along the road to Alexandria from Cairo at El Hassana where earth movements have created a dome-like structure that stands alone in the predominantly Eocene plateau of about 50 million years old. The contortions and folding are quite clearly visible in the dome together with the numerous marine fossils that are embedded in the stone. This unusual formation well deserves its status as a protected area.
Despite the aridity of the area, there is a scarce amount of vegetation including the rare desert shrub Salsola sp. as well as lizards, snakes, scorpions and the secretive Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes.
Nearby at Abu Ruwash lies the Pyramid Complex of Redjedef, the third king of the Fourth Dynasty (2613 – 2181 B.C.).