What Is the ‘Hypnotic’ Structure in the Sahara Desert That NASA Captured from Space?
- Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:06pm by
Liz Klimas
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There are few earthy land formations visible from space. One of them lies in the Sahara Dessert and is sometimes referred to as Earth‘s bull’s eye.
The Richat Structure — a nearly 30-mile across rock formation which Our Amazing Planet describes as “somewhat mysterious” and “hypnotic” – was recently photographed from the International Space Station.
This image of the Richat Structure in the Sahara Desert was taken aboard the International Space Station on March 7. (Photo: ESA/NASA)
NASA explains that the structure, located in west-central Mauritania in West Africa was once thought to be an impact crater, but its “flat middle and lack of shock-altered rock indicates otherwise.“ It was also theorized to be the result of a volcano but that ”seems improbable because of the lack of a dome of igneous or volcanic rock.”
(Photo: NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS)
Richat Structure in 2002 taken by the Landsat 7. (Photo: USGS/NASA)
So what is it? According to NASA, current thoughts are that it was ”caused by uplifted rock sculpted by erosion,” but why it is circular still remains a mystery.
Zoom in and out on the geologic formation here.
[H/T Space.com]
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Comments (174)
Salamander
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:07amGlobal warming! The hole in the Swiss cheese (the rest are on the Moon!)
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:36amNow see that, muslims did make a large contribution to space science.
Report Post »PapaPatriarch
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 8:43amThis is evidence of the global flood of Noah’s day. Read the eyewitness account in Genesis 7:10 – 8:13. The Grand Canyon is another fine example of this.
Report Post »Delta D-5-3
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:36amI know what it is! It’s Earths “belly button”!!!!
Report Post »rt elms
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:53amDelta – Considering where it is located, I suspect it’s another bodily orifice.
Report Post »marvel
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:09am“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. “
Report Post »Bloody Sam
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:37amLooks like a strip mine or a copper mine.
Report Post »ptruth
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:37amLooks like a gigantic sink hole to me.
Report Post »black9897
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:40amGod had fun making that during the flood. He took his finger and swirled it together.
Report Post »SiY11
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:42amThis is simple there must have been a magma pool just under the crust and it would rapidly cool over time starting at the furthest point from the center thus warping the surface crust. Maybe tens of thousands of years of cooling maybe hundreds of years until it completed. Just my guess.
Report Post »zigzag
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:54amLooks like God’s fingerprint to me. Oh wait, the government told me there is no god. :(
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 11:44amPsalm 19 1
Report Post »The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork
SquidVetOhio
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:24pmIt definitely looks like it was moving in a circular motion. If it were water formed (i.e. Noah’s flood) it appears to be consistent with Coriolis affect.
Report Post »scruffycat
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 2:07pmWiki says that it is a highly water eroded geologic dome that has hydrothermal activity in it that is rearranging some of the rock. You can see another smaller “eye” off of the lower left hand corner of the big “eye”
Report Post »http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richat_Structure
red1
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 2:38pmIt‘s obviously where the Goa’uld buried their stargate.
Report Post »Hollywood
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 3:32pmLooks like Nancy Pelosi’s access port to her final home. That’d be:HELL
Report Post »jespasinthru
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 7:53pmThat part of Africa is above the equator. Wouldn’t the Coriolis Effect make the spiral appear to be spinning in the opposite direction? Just wonderin’.
Report Post »M1A2_Tanker
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 8:35pmCity of Atlantis!
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:02pm@red1
Report Post »Best comment on the Blaze I’ve seen in a long time.
PlowMan
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 1:51pmScruffcat, thanks for the link. I couldn’t tell how deep it is by the information in that article. If it were not in the desert would it have water in it? If it had water in it would we know that it looked like this? What I am saying is; I wonder if there are more of these on the planet but we don’t know it because they have water in them?
Report Post »JP4JOY
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:04amThere is a smaller circular pattern to the SW. My guess would be a multiple object impact that possibly disintegrated just above the surface. Like the Tunguska impact in Siberia.
Report Post »seeker9
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:17amNo crater at Tanguska.
Report Post »Confirmed: My Central Peak Elliminator works! To the patent office for me! Watch for the seeker9 CPE at a store near you.
Elena2010
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 1:30amNo shocked quartz; therefore, no impact, regardless of what your eyes tell you. Likely no iron or nickel either.
Report Post »MR_ANDERSON
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:50amFirst thing I thought was that it looked like a strip mine, but I thought humans didn’t start wrecking the planet until 1750.
(Industrial revolution reference for those that didn’t get it. Additionally, sarcasm intended.)
Report Post »commonsensefreethinker1
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 11:13amMy theory is that if this area was an ancient lake and a meteor hit it it would have caused a ripple effect on the soft lake bottom as it evaporated all of the water while the meteor disintegrated. The end result would be a giant ripple of mud. Just a thought.
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 11:30am…A “non-scientific” fact…One of the great-sized impacts which clouded-out the sun’s rays for enough time to help eliminate the dinosaurs, and a few other items. Oh…I’m sorry(not!). i’m not a scientist, so I am not supposed to have any cogent thoughts, or “out-o-the-box” ideas, either. I say…the impact(s) were so hard, enough heat was instantaniously-created(mega-friction), the heat turned the immediate-area into a glass-mix product…then through the near-years, was erroded-smoother. Wha? I’m just an average “Joe” with a simple mind. How many millions of us are there out-there who are being systematically “dumbed-down” by the progressive-adgenda…just sayin’… .
Report Post »Runeback
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 11:53amThe Richat Structure is an eroded volcanic dome in the Maur Adrar Desert, in the Western Sahara. As the volcanic dome eroded, these onion-like layers of rock were exposed. The structure is 485 metres high, and nearly 50 kilometres across.
Report Post »grownup
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:04amIt is a giant eye. Big brother is watching you.
Report Post »Cherynn
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 1:40amEye really? Thats silly, get real. Everybody knows its the earths belly button. Some of us didnt sleep through science class.
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 6:37amMaybe it’s earths anus. It’s fairly close to the ****** in the middle east.
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 6:52amEarth’s anus is DC.
Report Post »leftcoastslut
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 7:30amthe oval orifice
Report Post »efialtis
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 8:56am@LEFTCOASTSLUT,
To continue the bad punning…
It isn’t the “oval office”, it is the “offal office”…
Back to your normally scheduled blather…
Report Post »ferdnerkel
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 3:01pmhey soupsandwich, the earth has 3 buttholes from west to eastbeginning in north america they are;
Report Post »D.C., the “Citie of London”, and the vatican. the centers of political/military power–financial power—and religious authority respectively.
Fla Del
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:03amCome on. It is obvious that is an impression left behind from a landing craft. That was where they landed when they seeded the Earth with our DNA. That is why mankind began in Africa. They will be back soon to collect the slaves they have been growing, soon.
Report Post »Of course they will be really disappointed to find how lazy and stupid we are. All their work will have gone for nothing. So maybe we will be good for something — like food. They can start with Washington D.C. But they will need to bring a lot of tenderizer for those tough old birds.
ICRedifURBlue
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:15ammaybe they’ll come back for food…..we are kinda plump and squishy………….tastes like veal…….
Report Post »YA-allthe-WEH
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 1:16am“They will be back soon to collect the slaves they have been growing, soon.”
-They are just waiting for a “rapture” of the masses to start the show!
Report Post »And…ACTION!!!
CJohnWest
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:46amAdric’s crash site?
Report Post »Cat
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:02amAnd now, something completely different;
http://www.8legged.com/
Try the “Steak” click toon
Report Post »Centurian
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:53amHey, Cat,
Thanks for making me laugh! I give you two probes up!!! (heh)
Report Post »Fla Del
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:02amIt is obvious that is an impression left behind from a landing craft. That was where they landed when they seeded the Earth with our DNA. That is why mankind began in Africa. They will be back soon to collect the slaves they have been growing, soon.
Report Post »Of course they will be really disappointed to find how lazy and stupid we are. All their work will have gone for nothing. So maybe we will be good for something — like food. They can start with Washington D.C. But they will need to bring a lot of tenderizer for those tough old birds.
pwatkins
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:00amIf you zoom in it has face with half of the smile wiped off…lol. May be it is where Satan fell to earth.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:20amno…that would currently be the Oval Office
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:00amDefinitely a vortex, definitely! Earth’s belly-button!
Report Post »firstHat
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:23amExactly what I thought! The earth has a navel. :-)
Report Post »AxelPhantom
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:59pmAncient meteor impact crater?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:52pmMaybe this is one of the mysteries God placed on the earth to see his artistry in action.
Report Post »ICRedifURBlue
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:18amlooks like God crushed out his cigar there…………..
Report Post »PossumRoadkill
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 8:35amBest answer so far !
Report Post »Ultracurmudgeon
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:48pmThat’s where the moons umbilical cord was trimmed.
Report Post »Fla Del
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:00amNaaaaaahh. It is obvious that is an impression left behind from a landing craft. That was where they landed when they seeded the Earth with our DNA. That is why mankind began in Africa. They will be back soon to collect the slaves they have been growing, soon.
Report Post »Of course they will be really disappointed to find how lazy and stupid we are. All their work will have gone for nothing. So maybe we will be good for something — like food. They can start with Washington D.C. But they will need to bring a lot of tenderizer for those tough old birds.
TeslanEdison
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:44pmAncient mud spring or mud volcano, there is another small structure just to the east, my guess is that they will find mineral deposits related to underlying geologic structures, water/mud mixture transported them to the surface erosion over time has caused it to be crater like that would be my theory. It would be interesting to do a geologic survey and get some samples, might find some rare earth minerals there.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:10amYours is the Best reply I saw
Mine it for rare earth metals
Report Post »BostonHarold
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:27pmA geologic survey team might be in danger from local nomadic pirates who might hold them for ransom. Mybe they dug it as a trap to lure in the nosey scientific nerds..
Report Post »PurveyorOfTruth
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:42pmLuke 10:18- And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Considering the the times we now live in, perhaps this is where he landed?
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:45amThe sky was called the sky back the too, and Heaven isn’t the sky.
Report Post »Texas.7
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 10:06amI’m sure it is just a weird coincidence, but it does almost look like a signet ring stamp from his metaphoric planet Saturn… As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t help but think of Saturn.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/03/27/hexagon_spa.html?category=space
I’m sure it is just coincidence that this brings Saturn to mind, because there, those patterns are from gaseous formations- but if if was hexagonal instead of round, one might wonder. I really have no idea what made the pattern on Earth. There are lots of mysteries.
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:28pm@ITSJUSTTIME
Actually, the Bible describes 3 heavens. The first is the sky or atmosphere where the birds dwell, second is where God hung the stars, and the third heaven is where God dwells.
Report Post »HeyKoolAid
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 4:40pm@Purveyoroftruth
Luke 10:18- And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Considering the the times we now live in, perhaps this is where he landed?
If you look in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary you will find that the word “lightning” is translated in Ancient Hebrew as “Boraq.“ The word ”heaven“ or ”heights“ is translated to ”Bamah.“ The word ”of“ or ”from“ translates to ”O“ or ”U.“ Hence in Ancient Hebrew the phrase ”lightning from heaven“ translates to ”Boraq O Bamah” or Barak Obama. Scary thought. Coincidence?????
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:40pmGeez Blaze just come out & say it. It is probably a crater from a meteor or a caldera. The earth is pockmarked with hundreds of them.
We should have some sort of meteor defense. Instead we have this stupid racism stuff.
Report Post »PurveyorOfTruth
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:40pmLuke 10:18- And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Considering the times we now live in, perhaps this is where he landed?
Report Post »vtxphantom
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:38pmFossilized frisbee used by the Nephilim.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:35pmMaybe it’s an ancient NASCAR roundy-round track?
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:34pmSoros: For years I thought I WAS the Richat structure.
Now I just believe I’m a huge gasious moon.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:45pmIs the Eye… looking at you… or are you looking at it :)
Report Post »EP46
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:29amPicture of Nancy BEFORE surgery ???
Report Post »cuinsong
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:34pmIts a landing & blast off site of one big-ass alien spaceship?
Report Post »Good as any other explanation! Maybe we are nearing a time when they will return?
“The End Times” http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_10381143
BeingThere
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:29pmIt’s that 3rd world toilet starting to flush!!! Yea!!!
Report Post »Paul
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:29pmA cinnamon roll turning into mold, probably found under Moochelles bed…
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:22pmIt’s Earths belly-button….
Report Post »spfoam1
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:20pmThat is what Tehran should look like from space.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:17pmIt’s the Portal to the UnderWorld… from which came forth the Obama Administration!
Report Post »Atilla
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:15pmKinda looks like a New Mexico copper mine.
Report Post »Conservative_T-Rex
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:13pmI know one thing… this formation hasn‘t paid it’s fair share.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:41pmIt‘s Bush’s fault.
Report Post »Texas Chris
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 3:23pmThat hole is the 1%.
Report Post »