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Description

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Interpretation

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2.1
IUGS geological heritage site

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Archaeology

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Fringe theory of Atlantis site

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Richat Structure

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Coordinates: 21°06′53″N 11°23′39″W / 21.114700°N 11.394300°W / 21.114700; -11.394300

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Circular geological feature in the Sahara desert

Richat Structure
قلب الريشات (Arabic)Tagense[1]DomeImage from the International Space Station, 17 December 2011Richat StructureLocation within MauritaniaShow map of MauritaniaRichat StructureLocation within AfricaShow map of AfricaCoordinates: 21°06′53″N 11°23′39″W / 21.114700°N 11.394300°W / 21.114700; -11.394300LocationAdrar Plateau of the SaharaPart ofAdrar Region, Mauritania
The Richat Structure, or Guelb er Richât (Arabic: قلب الريشات, romanized: Qalb ar-Rīšāt, Hassaniyya: [galb er.riːʃaːt] ⓘ), often called the Eye of Africa[2][3] is a prominent circular geological feature at the northwestern edge of the Taoudeni Basin, on the Adrar Plateau of the Sahara. It is located near Ouadane in the Adrar Region of Mauritania. In Hassaniya Arabic, rīšāt means feathers and it is also known locally in Arabic as tagense, referring to the circular opening of the leather pouch that is used to draw water from local wells.[1]
It is an eroded geological dome, 40 kilometres (25 mi) in diameter, caused by a subsurface igneous intrusion deforming the overlying sedimentary rock layers, causing the rock to be exposed as concentric rings with the oldest layers exposed at the centre of the structure. Igneous rock is exposed inside and there are rhyolites and gabbros that have undergone hydrothermal alteration, and a central megabreccia. The structure is also the location of exceptional accumulations of Acheulean Paleolithic stone tools. It was selected as one of the 100 geological heritage sites identified by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to be of the highest scientific value.[4]
Description
Cross section of the structure. Magenta is the volcanic intrusion, while purple, green and grey represent sedimentary layers
The Richat Structure is a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical dome with a diameter of 40 kilometres (25 mi). The sedimentary rock exposed in this dome ranges in age from Late Proterozoic within the center of the dome to Ordovician sandstone around its edges. The sedimentary rocks composing this structure dip outward at 10–20°. Differential erosion of resistant layers of quartzite has created high-relief circular cuestas. Its center consists of a siliceous breccia covering an area that is at least 30 kilometres (19 mi) in diameter.[5][6][7]Satellite picture of the Richat Structure (false color)Exposed within the interior of the Richat Structure is a variety of intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks. They include rhyolitic volcanic rocks, gabbros, carbonatites and kimberlites. The rhyolitic rocks consist of lava flows and hydrothermally altered tuffaceous rocks that are part of two distinct eruptive centers, which are interpreted to be the eroded remains of two maars. According to field mapping, aeromagnetic, and gravimetric data, the gabbroic rocks form two concentric ring dikes. The inner ring dike is about 30 metres (98 ft) in width, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the center of the Richat Structure. The outer ring dike is about 70 metres (230 ft) in width, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the center of the structure.[8] Thirty-two carbonatite dikes and sills have been mapped within the structure. The dikes are generally about 300 metres (980 ft) long and typically 1 to 4 metres (3.3 to 13.1 ft) wide. They consist of massive carbonatites that are mostly devoid of vesicles. The carbonatite rocks have been dated as having cooled between 94 and 104 million years ago. A kimberlitic plug and several sills have been found within the northern part of the structure. The kimberlite plug has been dated to around 99 million years old. These intrusive igneous rocks are interpreted as indicating the presence of a large alkaline igneous intrusion that currently underlies the structure and was created by uplifting the overlying rock.[5][6][9][10]
Topographic map of Guelb er Richat. Elevation in meters. 10 m contour interval with major contour line every 50 m
Topographic map of Guelb er Richat and Ouadane with place and field names
Spectacular hydrothermal features are a part of the Richat Structure. They include the extensive hydrothermal alteration of rhyolites and gabbros and a central megabreccia created by hydrothermal dissolution and collapse. The siliceous megabreccia is at least 40 metres (130 ft) thick in its center to only a few meters thick along its edges. The breccia consists of fragments of white to dark gray cherty material, quartz-rich sandstone, diagenetic cherty nodules, and stromatolitic limestone and is intensively silicified. The hydrothermal alteration, which created this breccia, has been dated to have occurred about 98.2 ± 2.6 million years ago using the 40Ar/39Ar method.[5][6][10]
Interpretation
The structure was first described in the 1930s to 1940s, as Richât Crater or Richât buttonhole (boutonnière du Richât). Richard-Molard (1948) considered it to be the result of a laccolithic uplift.[11] A geological expedition to Mauritania led by Théodore Monod in 1952 recorded four "crateriform or circular irregularities" (accidents cratériformes ou circulaires) in the area, Er Richât, Aouelloul (south of Chinguetti), Temimichat-Ghallaman and Tenoumer.[12] It was initially considered to be an impact structure (as is clearly the case with the other three), but a closer study in the 1950s to 1960s suggested that it might instead have been formed by terrestrial processes. After field and laboratory studies in the 1960s, no significant evidence was found for shock metamorphism or other deformation indicative of a hypervelocity extraterrestrial impact.[13] Coesite, an indicator of shock metamorphism, was initially reported as being present in rock samples from the structure, but a further analysis in 1969 concluded that barite had been misidentified as coesite.[14] Work on dating the structure was done in the 1990s.[15] A study of the formation of the structure by Matton, et al. (2005, 2008) concluded it was not an impact structure.[5][6]
Further analysis of deep structure underneath the surface, including with aeromagnetic and gravimetric mapping,[8] concluded that the structure is the result of ring faults which led to gabbroic ring dikes over a large intrusive body of magma, and the uplifting and later erosion of a dome, through intense hydrothermal activity through the fractured substructure. This can form cuestas over time through the differential erosion of the resulting alternating hard and soft rock layers.[8] The underlying alkaline igneous complex exposed through erosion dates to the Cretaceous period.[a]
IUGS geological heritage site
In respect of it being "a spectacular example of a magmatic concentric alkaline complex", the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the Richat Structure in its assemblage of 100 geological heritage sites around the world, in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as "a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history."[4]
Archaeology
A topographic reconstruction (scaled 6:1 on the vertical axis) from satellite photos. False colouring as follows: • Brown: bedrock • Yellow/white: sand • Green: vegetation • Blue: salty sediments
The Richat Structure is the location of exceptional accumulations of Acheulean artifacts.[16][17] These Acheulean archaeological sites are located along wadis that occupy the outermost annular depression of this structure. Pre-Acheulean stone tools also have been found in the same areas. These sites are associated with rubbly outcrops of quartzite that provided the raw material needed for the manufacture of these artifacts. The most important Acheulean sites and their associated outcrops are found along the northwest of the outer ring, from which Wadi Akerdil heads east and Wadi Bamouere to the west. Sparse and widely scattered Neolithic spear points and other artifacts have also been found. However, since these sites were first discovered by Théodore Monod in 1974,[16] mapping of artifacts within the area of the structure have found them to be generally absent in its innermost depressions. The local apparent wealth of surface artifacts is the result of the concentration and mixing by deflation over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles.[17][18]
Artifacts are found, typically redeposited, deflated, or both, in Late Pleistocene to early Holocene gravelly mud, muddy gravel, clayey sand, and silty sand. These sediments are often cemented into either concretionary masses or beds by calcrete. Ridges typically consist of deeply weathered bedrock representing truncated Cenozoic paleosols that formed under tropical environments. The Pleistocene to Middle Holocene sediments occur along wadis as the thin, meter- to less-than-meter-thick accumulations in the interior annular depressions to 3-to-4-metre-thick (9.8 to 13.1 ft) accumulations along the wadis in the outermost annular depression of the structure. The gravelly deposits consist of a mixture of slope scree, debris flow, and fluviatile or even torrential flow deposits. The finer-grained, sandy deposits consist of eolian and playa lake deposits. The latter contain well-preserved freshwater fossils. Numerous concordant radiocarbon dates indicate that the bulk of these sediments accumulated between 15,000 and 8,000 BP during the African humid period. These deposits lie directly upon deeply eroded and weathered bedrock.[18]
In addition to Acheulean artifacts, the Richat Structure contains Middle Stone Age Aterian stone artifacts produced by modern humans, dating to the latest Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene period, around 145,000-29,000 years ago.[19][20]
The protruding land dikes of the Richat Structure are lined with thousands of stone burial mounds in various styles.[21] These still remain to be excavated in order to establish their age. Several rock art sites have also been identified, which include depictions of horsemen armed with javelins, chariots, bovids, elephants (Tililit, Oued Slil) and Libyco-Berber inscriptions (Tin Labbé, Lemqader).[22][23][24][25]
Fringe theory of Atlantis site
The Richat Structure has been the subject of unsubstantiated fringe claims to be the site of Atlantis mentioned in the works of Plato.[26][27] This claim is primarily based on the concentric nature of the structure, which superficially matches Plato's description of the city.[26] Most classicists believe that Atlantis was a fictional rhetorical invention by Plato, rather than a real geographic location.[28][29] According to archaeologist Sean M. Rafferty, other than superficially matching Plato's Atlantis description in being circular, in its particular details, including being a geologically ancient natural structure, the Richat Structure bears little resemblance to Plato's description of Atlantis, with the Richat Structure's location far inland in a desert contradicting Plato's information regarding the location of Atlantis.[26] Skeptic Steven Novella criticised other inconsistencies in the claim, including the lack of any archaeological evidence for a city having been built there, and the lack of evidence for the canals mentioned in Plato's Atlantis account.[30]
Notes

↑ The breccia core is genetically related to plutonic activity since doming and the production of hydrothermal fluids were instrumental in creating a favorable setting for dissolution. The resulting fluids were also responsible for subsequent silicification and hydrothermal infilling. To the best of our knowledge, karst collapse phenomena at the summit of an alkaline complex are unique but may be more frequent than previously believed.(Matton 2005)

References

1 2 Richard-Molard, J. (1952). "The Pseudo-boutonniers of Richat". Gouvernement Général de l'Afrique Occidentale Française Bulletin de la Direction des Mines. 15 (2): 391–401.
↑ "ESA - Earth from Space: Eye of Africa". www.esa.int. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
↑ Matton; Jébrak (2014). "The "eye of Africa" (Richat dome, Mauritania): An isolated Cretaceous alkaline-hydrothermal complex". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 97: 109–124. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2014.04.006.
1 2 "The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites" (PDF). IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage. IUGS. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
1 2 3 4 Matton, G. (2008). "The Cretaceous Richat Complex (Mauritania); a peri-Atlantic alkaline" (PDF). Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada: Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
1 2 3 4 Matton, Guillaume; Jébrak, Michel; Lee, James K.W. (2005). "Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex" (PDF). Geology. 33 (8): 665–68. doi:10.1130/G21542AR.1.
↑ Woolley, Alan Robert (1987). Alkaline Rocks and Carbonatites of the World. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70389-9. OCLC 16448519.
1 2 3 Abdeina, El Houssein; Bazin, Sara; Chazot, Gilles; Bertrand, Hervé; Le Gall, Bernard; Youbi, Nasrrddine; Sabar, Mohamed Salem; Bensalah, Mohamed Khalil; Boumehdi, Moulay Ahmed (3 November 2021). "Geophysical modelling of the deep structure of the Richat magmatic intrusion (northern Mauritania): insights into its kinematics of emplacement". Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 14 (22): 2315. Bibcode:2021ArJG...14.2315A. doi:10.1007/s12517-021-08734-4. ISSN 1866-7538. S2CID 241620488.
↑ Netto, A.M.; Fabre, J.; Poupeau, G.; Champemmois, M. (1992). "Datations par traces de fissions de la structure circulaire des Richats". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 314: 1179–1186.
1 2 Matton, Guillaume; Jébrak, Michel (2014). "The 'eye of Africa' (Richat dome, Mauritania): An isolated Cretaceous alkaline–hydrothermal complex". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 97: 109–124. Bibcode:2014JAfES..97..109M. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2014.04.006.
↑ Richard-Molard, Jacques (1948). "The Richât Buttonhole in Mauritanian Adrar". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. 227: 142.
↑ Cailleux, A. (1962). "El Richat: dôme arasé, surbaissé ou cratère bombé?". Notes Africaines. 93: 27–29.
↑ Dietz, Robert S.; Fudali, Robert; Cassidy, William (1969). "Richat and Semsiyat Domes (Mauritania): Not Astroblemes". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 80 (7): 1367. Bibcode:1969GSAB...80.1367D. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1969)80[1367:RASDMN]2.0.CO;2.
↑ Fudali, R. F. (10 October 1969). "Coesite from the Richat Dome, Mauritania: A Misidentification". Science. 166 (3902): 228–230. Bibcode:1969Sci...166..228F. doi:10.1126/science.166.3902.228. PMID 17731489. S2CID 37249316.
↑ Netto, A.M.; Fabre, J.; Poupeau, G.; Champemmois, M. (1992). "Fission Trace Dates of the Richats Circular Structure". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 314: 1179–86.Poupeau, G.; Fabre, J.; Labrin, E.; Azdimoussa, A.; Netto, A. M.; Monod, T. (1996). "Nouvelles datations par traces de fission de la structure circulaire des Richat (Mauritanie)". Mémoires du Service Géologique de l'Algérie. 8: 231–36.
1 2 Monod, T. (1975). "Three Pebble Deposits in the Mauritanian Adrar (Western Sahara)". Provence Historique. 99: 87–97.
1 2 Sao, Ousmane; Giresse, Pierre; de Lumley, Henry; Faure, Olivier; Perrenoud, Christian; Saos, Thibaud; Rachid, Mouamar Ould; Touré, Ousmane Cherif (2008). "The Sedimentary Environments of the Pre-Eulean and Aeulean Deposits of the Akerdil and Bamouéré Wadis (Guelb er-Richât, Adrar, Mauritania), A First Approach". L'Anthropologie. 112 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2008.01.001.
1 2 Giresse, Pierre; Sao, Ousmane; de Lumley, Henry (2012). "Paleo-environmental Study of the Quaternary Sediments of Guelb and Richât (Adrar of Mauritania) with Respect to Neighboring or Associated Sites of the Lower Paleolithic. Discussion and Perspectives". L'Anthropologie. 116 (1): 12–38. doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2011.12.001.
↑ Bordes J.G., Mourre V., 2010. Introduction : bilan sur les recherches connues. In : Bordes J.G., Gonzalez-Carballo A., Vernet R., 2010 – La Majâbat al koubrâ. Nord-ouest du bassin de Taoudenni, Mauritanie. Archéologiques 3. MNHA, Luxembourg, 367 p. : 131-163.
↑ Garcea, Elena A.A. (29 November 2021), "Aterian", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.327, ISBN 978-0-19-085458-4, retrieved 2 June 2025
↑ Vernet, R. (2025). "Funerary Monuments of Central Mauritania: Inventory and Distribution". Arid Zone Archeology Monographs. 10: 129–151.
↑ Vernet, Auteur Robert (27 June 2020). "Les gravures rupestres de l'Adrar de Mauritanie – III. Autres stations". Préhistoire de l'Ouest Saharien (in French). Retrieved 2 June 2025.
↑ Lluch, P.; Philip, S. (2003). "Six stations à gravures du N.E. de l'Adrar (dhar Chinguetti, Mauritanie)". Cahiers de l’AARS. 8: 87–96.
↑ Mauny, R. (1954). Gravures, peintures et inscriptions rupestres de l’ouest saharien. Dakar: IFAN Dakar. p. 92.
↑ Monod, Th. (1938). Contribution à l’étude du Sahara occidental : gravures, peintures, inscriptions rupestres. Paris: Éditions Larose. p. 173.
1 2 3 Rafferty, Sean M. (2025). Mythologizing the Past: Archaeology, History, and Ideology. S.l.: ROUTLEDGE. pp. 26, 46. ISBN 978-1-032-69020-9. Then there is the Richat Structure, a 30 km wide circular formation in the Sahara Desert. A dome of sedimentary rock formed millions of years ago has eroded at the surface, leaving a circular formation of exposed strata. Proponents of an Atlantean connection have argued that this circular structure exactly duplicates the descriptions of Plato, and so it must be the remains of the actual city. The facts that it is actually not a very good match for Plato's description (aside from being circular), is vastly too old, and is located in a desert, are data that again miss being cherry-picked.
↑ Anderson, David S. (2022), "'The Aliens from 2,000 B.C.!': Truth, Fiction and Pseudoarchaeology in American Comic Books", in Kamash, Zena; Soar, Katy; Van Broeck, Leen (eds.), Comics and Archaeology, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 21–48, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-98919-4_2#sec6, ISBN 978-3-030-98919-4, retrieved 5 January 2026, Between 2000 and 2011 alone, 98 claims were made to have found the real world location of Atlantis, and in 2018, the news media widely reported an unsubstantiated claim made by a YouTube vlogger that Atlantis was actually a well-known geological feature, the Richat structure, in the northern Sahara
↑ Clay, Diskin (2000). "The Invention of Atlantis: The Anatomy of a Fiction". In Cleary, John J.; Gurtler, Gary M. (eds.). Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy. Vol. 15. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 1–21. ISBN 978-90-04-11704-4.
↑ "As Smith discusses in the opening article in this theme issue, the lost island-continent was – in all likelihood – entirely Plato's invention for the purposes of illustrating arguments around Grecian polity. Archaeologists broadly agree with the view that Atlantis is quite simply 'utopia' (Doumas, 2007), a stance also taken by classical philologists, who interpret Atlantis as a metaphorical rather than an actual place (Broadie, 2013; Gill, 1979; Nesselrath, 2002). One might consider the question as being already reasonably solved but despite the general expert consensus on the matter, countless attempts have been made at finding Atlantis." (Dawson & Hayward, 2016)
↑ Novella, Steven (19 November 2018). "No – Atlantis Has Not Been Discovered in North Africa". NeuroLogica Blog. Retrieved 5 January 2026.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richat Structure.

Anonymous (nd) Earth’s Bulls-Eye, the Eye of Africa, Landmark for Astronauts. Love These Pics
Anonymous (nd) Richat Structure, Mauritania NASA Earth Observatory
Discovery - Richat's Enigma (French), a video documentary from Radio Canada.
Nemiroff, R., and J. Bonnell (2002) Earth's Richat Structure, Astronomy Picture of the Day, October 28, 2002. Astronomy Picture of the Day, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan.
Documentary film WHAT is the Richat Structure / The Eye of the Sahara
Authority control databases VIAF

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Richat Structure

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The Richat Structure is a prominent circular geological feature located on the Adrar Plateau of the Sahara in Mauritania, situated near the Taoudeni Basin. It is characterized as an eroded geological dome with a diameter of approximately forty kilometers, established by a subsurface igneous intrusion that deformed the overlying sedimentary rock layers, resulting in concentric rings of exposed strata, with the oldest layers found at the structure’s center. The location is defined by coordinates 21 degrees 6 minutes 53 seconds North latitude and 11 degrees 23 minutes 39 seconds West longitude.

Geologically, the structure involves a complex interplay of igneous and sedimentary processes. Exposed within the dome are various intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks, including rhyolites, gabbros, carbonatites, and kimberlites, which have undergone hydrothermal alteration. Field mapping and geophysical data indicate the presence of gabbroic ring dikes encircling a large intrusive body of magma, suggesting that the structure resulted from the uplifting and subsequent erosion of a dome through intense hydrothermal activity. The center of the structure is composed of a siliceous megabreccia, which is at least forty meters thick in its core, formed by hydrothermal dissolution and collapse, and which is intensely silicified. The sedimentary rocks composing the dome range in age from the Late Proterozoic in the center to Ordovician sandstone near the edges, dipping outward at ten to twenty degrees, which has led to the formation of high-relief circular cuestas through differential erosion of resistant quartzite layers.

The formation mechanism has been debated. Early descriptions suggested an impact structure, but subsequent field and laboratory studies in the 1960s found no evidence of shock metamorphism. Later research, such as that by Matton et al., concluded that the structure was instead formed by terrestrial processes, specifically involving ring faults that created gabbroic dikes, followed by the uplifting and erosion of an alkaline igneous complex. This complex, which exposes rocks dating to the Cretaceous period, is considered a spectacular example of a magmatic concentric alkaline complex.

The structure has been recognized by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) as one of its 100 geological heritage sites, reflecting its significant value to geological sciences. Archaeologically, the region contains exceptional accumulations of Acheulean Paleolithic stone tools, alongside evidence of Pre-Acheulean stone tools. These artifacts are associated with rubbly outcrops of quartzite found along the outermost annular depression of the structure, specifically along the northwest ring where wadis like Wadi Akerdil and Wadi Bamouere are located. Sediments of the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene, comprising gravelly muds and silty sands, have been found in these areas, demonstrating accumulation and mixing over glacial-interglacial cycles. Furthermore, Middle Stone Age Aterian stone artifacts are also present.

The overlying land dikes of the Richat Structure are lined with numerous stone burial mounds, and rock art sites depicting figures such as horsemen, chariots, and historical inscriptions have also been identified in the region. Despite some fringe claims linking the structure to Plato's Atlantis, archaeological and geological evidence does not support this notion, as the structure’s location and geological antiquity contradict the descriptions. Scholars generally agree that the notion of Atlantis, as described by Plato, is largely a rhetorical invention, and there is a lack of archaeological evidence for a city existing at this location or the canals mentioned in the account.