LATITUDE: 30°38'0"N / LONGITUDE: 34°50'41"E, October 9, 2011. Mineral deposits along the slope descending into the Makhtesh Ramōn (Ramon Crater). Makhtesh is a Hebrew term for a geological formation unique to the Negev, in which steep walls of resistant rock surround a deep and closed valley, usually drained by a wadi. One of the properties of the makhtesh is that it has limited vegetation and soil, but contains a variety of colored rocks and diverse flora and fauna. Erosion quickly removes the softer minerals, which are washed away from under the harder rocks, which in turn eventually collapse under their own weight and form a crater-like valley. This slope was previously an active volcano and the black stains are remnants of the volcanic rock from the Early Cretaceous Age. Rich in manganese, iron oxide, and copper, the base of the Makhtesh Ramōn has been extensively mined in the years since the establishment of the state., from the series Desert Bloom Artist: Fazal Sheikh (American, born 1965)