[1] The name “Amba Aradam Sandstone” was coined by geologist William Thomas Blanford, who accompanied the British invading army in 1868.

The Amba Aradam Formation overlies the Agula Shale at Imba Aradom[6] and in the eastern part of Dogu’a Tembien; further to the west, it rests on the Antalo Limestone and then on the Adigrat Sandstone.

[8] The Amba Aradam Formation comprises white or red cross-bedded sandstones, and also mottled purple to violet siltstones and claystones.

[1][11] In the 1980s, during the civil war, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) excavated a cave in the sandstones of the Amba Aradam Formation, using dynamite.

The cave is located near the Addi Geza'iti village, to the west of Hagere Selam, and served as offices for its leaders, including Meles Zenawi and Siye Abraha.