The Qattara Depression is about 133 metres (436 ft) below sea level and is shaped like a teardrop, with Moghra Oasis in its northeastern corner.
The floor of the Depression consists of salt marshes and dry lake beds that flood occasionally and there are also large areas of windblown sand.
[3] Just to the north of the oasis is a cliff which gives its name to the Moghra Formation, a thick layer of clastic sedimentary rocks with some minor carbonate interbeds.
There are three main species in this plant community, each dominating its own concentric zone; Zygophyllum album, Nitraria retusa and Tamarix nilotica.
The T. nilotica dominated area forms a scrub community on the outer fringes of the dune zone surrounding the salt flats, where it is associated with A. maurorum, Cressa cretica, N. retusa and Z album.