Wonder
Temimichât-Ghallaman crater (Temimichat-Ghallaman crater)
In short
Temimichât-Ghallaman crater is a very remote, large crater of unclear origin. Most likely it has been created by large meteorite but this has not been proved yet.
40.8%
GPS coordinates
Location, address
Alternate names
Diameter
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Age
Map of the site
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In detail
Temimichat-Ghallaman crater was known to locals and was described by French explorer Théodore Andre Monod already in the 1950s. Nevertheless few scientists have visited this remote site in the inhospitable, almost lifeless plains of northern Mauritania.
This crater is well visible on satellite images or in nature, but it is more eroded than the other great Mauritanian craters – Tenoumer and Aouelloul craters – thus it might be rather old.
Crater is formed in crystalline bedrock – 3.5 billion years old Precambrian gneisses and gabbro of Reguibat shield.
Rims of the crater are partly eroded, their height fluctuates from some meters to 35 m. The original circular form has been lost and now the crater looks rather hexagonal. The crater is filled with sediments – aeolian sand and silt.
The origin of this crater is unclear. Meteorite impact is just one of the possible explanations, although some aspects of the disturbed rocks show a possible impact event – re-melted granitic clasts, deformation effects, on the edges of crater are some blocks that seem to have a glassy cover.
References
- Rossi, A. P.; Baliva, A.; Piluso, E., New Indications for an impact origin of Temimichat crater, Mauritania. EGS – AGU – EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 – 11 April 2003, abstract #7403. Accessed on December 26, 2012.
Temimichât-Ghallaman crater is included in the following article:
Linked articles
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