This is Tenoumer, one of the best preserved craters on Earth

July 1 () –

Deep in the Sahara desert is one of the best preserved craters on Earth, the Tenoumer. which with its almost perfectly circular shape is located in Mauritania.

1.9km widethe rims of the crater rise about 110 m above the base, but the bottom of the crater is covered with a layer of sediment about 200 to 300 m thick, informs the ESA.

It has long been debated whether the crater was formed by a volcano or a meteorite. Scattered rocks around the crater, similar to basalt, created the impression of an ancient volcano. However, further examination of the structure revealed that hardened “lava” from the crater it was actually rock that had been melted by a meteorite impact.

The crater sits on a vast plain of rocks that are so old they were deposited hundreds of millions of years before the first dinosaurs walked the Earth. Although he resides in an ancient rock, Tenoumer is much younger, with an age that ranges between 10,000 and 30,000 years.

This false color image of Sentinel-2, captured on May 16, 2022shows the arid landscape surrounding the crater, which appears in different shades of brown, tan, and orange.