Going Into The Eye Of The Sahara - The Richat Structure

Have you ever wondered why you never see photos of crop circles from the ground level? Every crop circle photo shows them from the air, right?

That’s because, from the ground level, crop circles are rather unremarkable.

The same is true for the Eye of the Sahara.

Astronauts capture the Eye of the Sahara, an eroded circular geological structure, aboard the International Space Station in Mauritania, Africa. The ISS has been documenting the ever-changing face of the Earth, capturing vast deserts, isolated mountain regions and bustling cities. The grand space station orbits the Earth at an altitude of 205 and 270 miles and goes around the planet an incredible 15.5 times each day. Even though Earth has a 40,075 km circumference, each orbit of the earth only takes 92.65 minutes in the ISS. (Photo credit: NASA / SPL / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Astronauts love to observe the Eye of the Sahara from space because it looks like the landing site of a 40-kilometer wide flying saucer.

The truth is a trifle less sensational: it’s the remnants of a dome that has taken 100 million years to erode.

It’s heaven for a geologist.

A topographic reconstruction of the Eye of the Sahara based on SRTM data and using Landsat Image.

The Richat Structure looks great from above.

But from the below, not so much.

Looking at the Richat Structure from the ground is far less thrilling than viewing it from space. My truck made the tire tracks in the photo. Don’t credit the aliens.

My young guide, Alioune d’Azougui, scratched his head for an hour as we drove around in our 4×4 truck. “It’s gotta be around here somewhere,” he mumbled in French.

Alioune had been to the Eye of the Sahara a couple of times. Few tourists are willing to go so deep into the Sahara. Indeed, few tourists go anywhere in Mauritania nowadays.

It had been so long since he had come, Alioune wasn’t sure if we were in the Richat Structure or not. Ultimately, he concluded that we hadn’t found it. He was wrong.

My GPS tracks in the Richat Structure (Eye of the Sahara) in Mauritania.

We felt like failures but the adventure was fun regardless. Weeks later, when I had good bandwidth, I saw that my GPS tracks were smack in the middle of the Eye of the Sahara. Perhaps an astronaut was admiring it right while I was driving through it.

Richat Structure, Mauritania, true color satellite image. The Richat Structure is a geological formation in the African country of Mauritania. Although it resembles an impact crater, the Richat Structure formed when a volcanic dome hardened and gradually eroded, exposing the onion-like layers of rock. This image was taken using LANDSAT data. (Photo by Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

As Alioune and I returned to the town of Ouadane, I told him about the conspiracy theories about crop circles. We laughed. It seems that they would be a bit easier to find a crop circle than the Richat Structure.

This is either an alien spaceport or evidence that some people in Wiltshire, England have a bit too much time on their hands. (Photo by David Goddard/Getty Images)

We returned to Ouadane, which is a 1,000-year-old town dangling on the edge of the Sahara wasteland. Beyond it is the most inhospitable desert on Earth. An oasis permits locals to grow date-filled palm trees near the ancient ruins.

A view of the remains of the original mosque in the old city of Ouadane, Mauritania. The street of 40 savants leads between the old mosque that is 200 years old. (David Degner/Getty Images)

Chinguetti and Ouadane are UNESCO World Heritage Sites because they are vestiges of the once-flourishing civilizations that existed during the era of the Trans-Sahara salt trade.

Both towns were learning centers back when Muslims led the world in science and technology. Today, they oversee decaying books.

A book from the private library of the Kettab family of Ouadane, Mauritania. The city is famous for being a trading post in the desert with many libraries and scholars. (David Degner/Getty Images)

Although there’s little to see from the ground level, the adventure of going to the Eye of the Sahara is unforgettable.

If you ever need to get away from it all, go to this desolate corner of Mauritania.

Good luck finding the Richat Structure. (Credit: Shutterstock)