In the vast Sahara Desert, on the Adrar Plateau just outside the remote city of Ouadane, Mauritania, in North Africa. There is a miracle that has captured the imagination for years and this is one of the most fascinating geological anomalies on the entire continent. Here, in the ancient land of this scorched barren land, there is a huge circular expanse of rock. It measures about 50 kilometers in diameter, with smaller circles inside that resemble a bull's eye. This anomaly has managed to defy any easy explanation as to its origin.
This abnormal structure is called Rishat, the Eye of Africa, or the Eye of the Sahara. This anomaly has long been recognized as an unusual structure due to its high circular relief. It contains disc disturbances such as circular ridges, valleys and ditches, as well as hydro and thermal characteristics and unusual geological structures. But no one really understood how unusual this was until they saw this anomaly from the air.
This happened when the Gemini IV mission (Gemini 4) was launched in the 1960s into orbit, and observed the Earth for four days. One of the astronauts' goals was to look for any evidence of large impact structures where ancient celestial bodies might have collided with Earth. They found what they thought was one such percussion structure. Indeed, Rishat is so distinctive and massive that it is still used as a reference point for astronauts.
Given the object's size and near-perfect roundness, it was assumed that it was an impact structure from some ancient meteorite impact. But a closer analysis showed that this is not the case. It turned out that there was no evidence of impact or molten rock to be expected from such a location. And it made scientists scratch their heads.
After all, what else could have created such an amazing huge circle in the middle of the desert? When this place became known, all sorts of theories appeared. That it was some kind of previously unknown geological anomaly, or that it was the work of aliens or ancient astronauts. But no one had the slightest idea what it was, and we still don't even know for sure.
The most generally accepted modern scientific theory is the origin of the "Rishat" structure. Is that this structure is the result of the gradual erosion of a giant geological dome from the earth's crust. That collapsed, possibly due to an eruption about 100 million years ago. It is believed that over countless millennia, the layers of the dome were destroyed by the elements, leaving behind these circular rock formations. Which range wildly in age from the late Proterozoic (2.500 to 541 million years ago) to the Ordovician period (485.4 to 443.8 million years ago). However, even this theory is not generally accepted, and many mysteries remain unanswered.
With all the uncertainty of the geological history of this place and its mystery. Unsurprisingly, there are many discussions and other theories, some of which are definitely more marginal. One idea is that the Richat structure bears a remarkable resemblance to Plato's vision of the vanished continent of Atlantis. Which he imagined in 360 BC, as consisting of concentric rings, water and earth. He also said that Atlantis was lost in a catastrophic event. Cut off from the world by an insurmountable barrier of mud for travelers sailing from here to any part of the ocean.
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He also mentions the "Great Plain in the South" and "the mountain that shelters the city." Which may refer to the high mountain range to the north of this place. And other little clues that have led some to believe that the Rishat structure is the actual remains of Atlantis. Because the sea once covered this area. But this is somewhat blunted by the fact that so far absolutely no signs of permanent residence of people have been found.
As a result, we are left with questions and few concrete answers. What is the Rishat structure? For some, this is a mysterious geological anomaly. For others, this is an alien structure, but for some it is the place of the lost Atlantis. But now no one is sure for sure. For now this is a magnificent, enormous feature of the landscape. Carved there in the other desolate, monotonous features of this windswept distant land. Making mysteries like it has been for millions of years.