Radiometric dating has yielded an age of about 200,000 years, but other circumstantial evidence points to a formation of the volcano during Holocene or even historical times.

[7][11] The landscape around Waw an Namus has been described as "very beautiful"[12] and is reportedly a tourism target[13] but logistical issues and the Libyan Civil War make it difficult to access the area.

[21] The tephra deposit consists of volcanic ash and lapilli[18] and covers a surface of about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi).

[16] Trade winds have blown the tephra over 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwestward,[23] and a large number of megaripples formed by volcanic material occur both inside and outside of the caldera.

[24] Also within the caldera are three small lakes[1] and additional smaller water bodies,[25] which together form a semicircle around the northern, eastern and southern flanks of the central cone.

[19] These lakes cover a total surface of 0.3 square kilometres (0.12 sq mi)[25] and the largest lake has a surface area of 0.146 square kilometres (0.056 sq mi) with a depth of 12.5 metres (41 ft),[26] while the deepest of these waterbodies reaches depths of 15–16 metres (49–52 ft).

[27] The water surface reaches 434 metres (1,424 ft) elevation above sea level, although seasonal variations[25] sometimes cause the lakebodies to dry up.

[1] About 70 kilometres (43 mi) north[18] lie lava flows of basaltic composition and the Haruj volcanic field,[1] of which Waw an Namus is sometimes considered to be a part.

[2] A number of theories have been proposed to explain the volcanism in the Sahara,[31] such as the activation of ancient crustal lineaments by the collision between Africa and Europe;[32] in the case of Waw an Namus the magmas originated in the mantle at about 130 kilometres (81 mi) depth,[33] and include both asthenosphere and lithosphere components[34] that underwent metasomatism before melting.

[37] Minerals contained within these rocks include apatite, clinopyroxene, magnetite, nepheline and olivine, and occasionally melilite and sodalite.

[39] Wind is the most important weather factor, forming ventifacts and dunes among other structures;[14] at Waw an Namus it mostly blows from the northeast[39] and is sometimes accompanied by dust devils south of the volcano.

[15] Salty muds and rocks erupted by the scoria cone and the crater northwest of the main Waw an Namus caldera must have been emplaced after the last pluvial.

[46] The oasis has a rich bird life;[47] among the birds are the ducks Anas clypeata (northern shoveler), Anas crecca (Eurasian teal), Anas strepera (gadwall),[48] as well as Acrocephalus scirpaceus (Eurasian reed warbler), Anthus cervinus (red-throated pipit), Anthus pratensis (meadow pipit), Bubulcus ibis (western cattle egret), Corvus ruficollis (brown-necked raven), Falco biarmicus (lanner falcon), Fulica atra (Eurasian coot), Gallinula chloropus (common moorhen), Luscinia svecica (bluethroat), Motacilla alba (white wagtail), Oenanthe deserti (desert wheatear), Passer simplex (desert sparrow), Phoenicurus ochruros (black redstart), Phylloscopus collybita (common chiffchaff), Podyceps nigricollis (black-necked grebe), Rallus aquaticus (water rail), Saxicola rubicola (European stonechat) and Tachybaptus ruficollis (little grebe).