The Geographical landmark for Astronauts- ‘Eye of Sahara’ and A mysterious structure in earth

For millions of years, the Eye of the Sahara was hidden in the plain of the African desert because this huge and mysterious geologic formation is hard to spot from ground level, walking around on Earth. This prominent circular feature in the Sahara desert of Mauretania has attracted attention because it forms a conspicuous bull’s-eye structure in the featureless Sahara desert. It’s looking like an outsized ammonite in the desert.  The structure has a diameter of almost 50 kilometers and becomes a landmark for space shuttle crews.

Landmark for Astronauts

‘Eye of Sahara’ or Richat Structure located in vast Sahara desert just outside of Ouadane town in Mauritania. From space, this natural curiosity forms a distinct and unmistakable bulls-eye that once served as a geographical landmark for astronauts as they passed over the Sahara.

Geological Theory

Initially, this structure was interpreted as a meteorite impact structure because of its high degree of circularity but the formation is now widely believed to have been caused by the erosion of a geological dome formed by pressure from a bulb of molten magma below.

The desert floor ‘blistered,’ and the layers of rock were pushed up and fractured.  This also created fault lines circling the Eye and crossing it. The molten rock also dissolved limestone near the center of the eye, which collapsed to form a special rock type known as Breccia. Due to the years of weathering gradually the structure leveled flat again and exposed the structures in distinctive concentric rings. Geologists classified this structure as a domed anticline. In this type of geologic structure, rocks exposed in the center of the “bull’s eye” are older than rocks forming the outer rings.

Most of Mauritania facing Dry climate conditions and periodic droughts due to its location in the Sahara desert. Approximately 3.7 million people live in Mauritania and much of the population lives along its Atlantic coastline, about 500 kilometers from the Richat Structure.

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Chinguetti and Ouadane town are UNESCO World Heritage Sites because they are vestiges of the once-flourishing civilizations that existed during the era of the Trans-Sahara salt trade. This civilization is known as Ksours.

The dunes around the Richat structure are part of the Oudane.  An enormous body of sand stretching hundreds of kilometers to Mali, within which still some ancient Ksours stand.