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A makhtesh ( plural: ?????? - "makhteshim") is a geological
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 landform regarded to be unique to the Negev
Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The indigenous Negev Bedouin inhabitants of the region refer to the desert as al-Naqab ....
 desert of Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 and the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia....
.






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Makhtesh Ramon
Makhtesh Sinai
A makhtesh ( plural: ?????? - "makhteshim") is a geological
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 landform regarded to be unique to the Negev
Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The indigenous Negev Bedouin inhabitants of the region refer to the desert as al-Naqab ....
 desert of Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 and the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia....
. Although commonly known as "craters" (a literal reading of the Hebrew, and due to the visual similarity), these formations are more accurately described as erosion cirque
Cirque

Cirque may be:* Cirque a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , a novel by Terry Carr...
s. A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a deep closed valley which is usually drained by a single wadi
Wadi

Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley; in some cases it may refer to a dry Stream bed that contains water only during times of heavy rain....
. The valleys have limited vegetation and soil, containing a variety of different colored rocks and a diverse fauna and flora which has been protected and preserved over millions of years. The best known (and largest) makhtesh is Makhtesh Ramon
Makhtesh Ramon

Makhtesh Ramon is a spectacular geological feature of Israel Negev desert. Located at the peak of Mount Negev, some 85 km south of the city of Beersheba, the landform is not actually an impact crater from a Meteoroid, but rather is the world's largest erosion cirque or makhtesh....
 of Israel's Negev desert.

Formation


A hard outer layer of rock covered softer rocks. Erosion
Erosion

For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion 'For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion Erosion is the removal of solids in the natural environment....
 relatively quickly removes the softer minerals, and they are washed away from under the harder rock. The harder rocks eventually collapse under their own weight and a crater-like valley structure is formed. In Negev and Sinai makhteshim, the hard rocks are limestone and dolomites, while the inner softer rocks are chalk or sandstone. In most cases, makhteshim only have one drainage system, although the Makhtesh Ramon has three.

The Hebrew term makhtesh ordinarily means "crater", and was used to describe these features before the geological formation processes were understood. In fact, proper crater
Crater

Crater may refer to:In landforms:*Impact crater, caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet...
s are formed by the impact of a meteor or volcanic eruption. Adopting the Hebrew words allows English speakers to distinguish the two kinds of features; an alternative English term for makhtesh can be "erosion cirque."

Makhteshim