Rocher de Sel ("Salt Rock"), known in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

as Khanguet-el-Melah ("Parade of Salt"), is a large geological formation in the

Ouled Naïl Range The Ouled Naïl Range (, ) is a mountain range in Algeria, part of the Saharan Atlas of the greater Atlas Mountain System. The range is named after a confederation of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, all of which claim to hail from Arab ancesto ...

, near the town of

Djelfa Djelfa () is the capital city of Djelfa Province, Algeria and the site of ancient city and former bishopric Fallaba, which remains a Latin catholic titular see. It has a population of 520622 (2019 census). The city lies at the junction of the N1 ...

. Rocher de Sel is composed of a mixture of

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, and is nearly in diameter and tall. Due to its composition, Rocher de Sel is distinctly whitish-gray, and entirely barren of plant life. Rocher de Sel was formed when the Earth's crust folded upwards, pushing a previously-buried layer of salt and clay upwards in a bulge. Later precipitation would erode the surface into its current scarred and furrowed state. It is unknown why the formation has not eroded completely, despite the susceptibility of its materials. It has been suggested that the clay repels the area's light rainfall before it can do much damage, or that the water becomes so saturated by salt that it quickly becomes unable to dissolve any more. Another theory states that the formation is still bulging upwards at a rate that almost matches the erosion.

References

Landforms of Algeria Djelfa Province {{Djelfa-geo-stub