The Eye of the Sahara, also known as the Richat structure, is situated in the western Sahara Desert in Mauritania.
The eye, which measures about 40 Kilometers across, was originally thought to be an impact crater.
However, series of research that followed later have eliminated the possibility of it having been made by extraterrestrial impact such as a meteor, falling from space.
Recently, more studied have been suggesting that its features perfectly match Plato’s description of the mythical or maybe lost Atlantis.
But could the eye of the Sahara really be the lost continent?
The Richat Structure, also called Guelb er Richât, it may resemble the fictitious Atlantis in its circular formation, but this is an inland feature.
It is an oval naturally formed landmark which happens to be deeply eroded.
The Guelb Richat is a slightly elliptical dome featuring a diameter of 25 miles. A good candidate for the global geoparks too.
Geologists describe the age of the sedimentary rock exposed in this dome to be ranging in age from Late Proterozoic within the center of the dome to Ordovician sandstone around its edges.
Sometimes referred to as the Eye of Africa, the Richat is a prominent circular geological feature in the Sahara’s Adrar Plateau, near Ouadane, west–central Mauritania in Northwest parts of Africa.
From a bird’s eye view the Saharan Eye resembles a blue-bull’s eye.
Located in Western Sahara, the eye is visible from space and has been used as a visual landmark by astronauts.
Geologists believe that the Eye’s formation began when the supercontinent Pangaea started to pull apart.
The Richat was first photographed in the 1960s by the Gemini astronauts.
They apparently used it as a landmark to track the progress of their landing sequences.
Some years later, the Landsat satellite took additional images and provided information about the size, height, and extent of the formation.
Geologic studies of the Eye of Sahara suggest that it may actually be an uplifted geologic dome which is sometimes regarded as a domed anticline.
Over time, differing erosion rates between various rock types in the exposed upper dome led to the formation of circular ridges known as cuestas.
Varying color tones in the image reveal different sedimentary and igneous rocks exposed in the structure and landscape.