What's Hidden Under The Sand of Sahara ? | Secrets of African Sahara

Journey into the enigmatic Sahara Desert, exploring its geological wonders, historical significance, and the ecological mysteries hidden within its vast expanse.

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1/15/20258 min read

Astronomical Discovery

In 1965, a spacecraft was flying over the Sahara Desert, and the two astronauts onboard were looking down in amazement. They had spotted something in the middle of the desert that was hard to believe. These astronauts, James McDivitt and Edward White, had seen a massive structure that looked like a human eye in the sandy wasteland. Surprisingly, there was even a pupil in the middle of this eye. Welcome back, viewers, to our segment on this eye, which measures 265 kilometers long and 70 kilometers wide.

The Mysterious Eye of the Sahara

The total area is over 18,500 square kilometers, which means you could easily fit 30 cities like Mumbai and five cities like Karachi in there. Its center, which is perfectly round, has a diameter of 40 kilometers. This huge and mysterious structure can only be seen from space, and it’s known as the Eye of the Sahara or the Richat Structure. You might think it looks like the mark of a massive asteroid impact, but that's not the case at all. Scientists haven't found any evidence of an asteroid impact here, which is why it's so intriguing.

Atlantis and the Eye of the Sahara

"This structure has kept the scientific community scratching their heads for ages. We still don’t know how this unique and perfect circular structure ended up in the desert thousands of miles away. However, historians have described a map of the lost city of Atlantis that bears a striking resemblance to the Isle of Sahara. It's not just one or two, but dozens of maps of Atlantis suggest that it was a highly advanced civilization with cities built in a ring shape, and each ring was connected by bridges, all sitting above the ocean."

Historical Theories and Maps

There are a lot of similarities between the shape of the Sahara and the description of Atlantis. When it comes to its location, about 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus created a map of the world that mentioned a city called Atlantis in the west of Africa. If we compare that map to today's world map, the location of Atlantis lines up pretty well with the location of Richard's structure. It's not just this map; even 2,000 years ago, the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela made a world map that also mentioned a city named Atlantis.

An Enigma in the Sand

The orientation of this map is towards the east, but if you rotate it to have north on top, you can see that they’ve marked Atlantis in the northwest area of the Sahara, where the Atlanteans supposedly lived. Once again, the location of Atlantis matches what we see today with the Richat Structure or Eye of the Sahara. When viewed from the ground, the rings of the Richat Structure are so large that you wouldn’t even realize you’re standing in the middle of them. Archaeologists haven’t found any evidence that clearly shows...

The Secrets of the Sahara

"12,000 years ago, there was a civilization of humans here, but there’s no other structure like Rich anywhere else in the world. That’s why it remains a mystery for science. Besides the Rich structure, the Sahara Desert holds many secrets as well. When we hear the name Sahara, we think of scorching sun, endless sand dunes, and unbearable heat. But as dry as the Sahara looks on the surface, it has experienced just as much greenery in Earth’s history."

The Changing Face of the Desert

The Sahara spans an area of 9 million square kilometers, which is roughly the size of the entire United States or all of Europe. It’s so vast that 11 countries share it, and it’s constantly growing. Every 100 years, the Sahara expands by about 10%. But why does it keep getting bigger, and where does all this sand come from? One of the most stunning sights in this desert is the White Desert in Egypt, which looks like the Arctic during the day with its white sand and the formations of white limestone scattered throughout.

The Ancient Oceans and Limestone

It’s like someone specially shaped this place, but actually, millions of years ago, this spot used to be the bottom of an ocean. About 250 million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, there was an ocean called Tethys right where the Sahara is today. For millions of years, the weight of this ocean piled up a layer of limestone on the seabed. Over time, as new continents formed and the ocean disappeared, winds started hitting that solid limestone layer for the first time. Because of wind erosion, limestone particles began to break apart and spread out, and before you knew it, this happened.

Geological Transformation and Discovery

The White Desert isn't just about the White Desert itself; it's the same story for all the sand in the Sahara. Where there used to be limestone, now there's the White Desert, and where there was sandstone, it's turned into orange sand. What's surprising is that the Sahara Desert hasn't always been like this. Scientists have found evidence in the sand, like fossils of plants and trees that couldn't survive in the harsh conditions of the Sahara today. This means the Sahara hasn't always looked the way it does now; the landscape was quite different around 2.6 million years ago.

Ice Ages and Green Sahara

Our world was heading towards the last ice age, and everything started to freeze. There was no difference between the land and oceans anymore, and glaciers were beginning to form. Geologists say this marked the start of the fifth major ice age in Earth's history. The Earth goes into an ice age every few hundred million years, usually due to changes in its orbit. When the Earth gets farther from the sun, it cools down. In this last ice age, areas near the equator, including Africa, didn’t freeze completely, but they did get pretty cold.

The Green Sahara and Human Migration

There was a time known as the African Humid Period when the whole world was covered in thick ice, but the Sahara was lush and full of life. It had thousands of miles of meadows and green grass everywhere. Because of the rains, rivers flowed here, and there were lakes that, if they existed today, would be the biggest lakes in the world. There were all kinds of animals that you'd find in a rainforest. Along with all this, a large number of early humans migrated here because the greenery of the Sahara supported life much better than elsewhere in the world.

The Shifting Climate and Landscape

Agriculture could have been done, and animals could have been raised, and the weather was suitable, just like it is in Europe today. This ice age, which lasted about 2.5 million years, started to come to an end around 11,000 years ago. The Earth's average temperature slowly began to rise from -60°C, and thick layers of ice started to melt. Over time, even the ice over the oceans began to gradually melt away. For the next several thousand years, the Sahara's living conditions remained stable, but around 4000 BC, which is about 6000 years ago, nature decided to take the greenery of the Sahara back.

The Resurgence of the Sahara Desert

Once it all settled down, the Green Madonna started up again, and the sand down below began to spread as it came into contact with the wind. Millions of years ago, you could catch a glimpse of lush Africa, which can still be seen today in the world’s longest river, the Nile. Stretching 6,695 kilometers, it starts in Uganda in South Africa, flows through the Sahara, and finally meets the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt. When North Africa turned into a desert, the people living there had no idea what was happening. That’s why the ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile River.

Rivers and Civilizations

They started to worship it; in their eyes, it was a sacred river, the source of which no one knew. Even in modern times, many expeditions were launched to find the origin of the Nile River. The Nile flows through 11 countries on its journey and is only 200 meters shorter than the Amazon River. Now, during every ice age, the African continent had pleasant weather, meaning it was either really hot or had normal conditions, but there were never Arctic conditions here that would make it impossible for humans to live.

The Cradle of Humanity

That's why a lot of evidence of ancient human civilizations has been found in Africa. In fact, it's fair to say that humanity started here. In November 1974, the oldest human skeleton was discovered at Hadar in Ethiopia. This skeleton is about 40% complete and astonishingly, it's around 3.2 million years old. Many religions also point to today's Africa as the birthplace of humanity, and scientific evidence supports this idea too.

Oases and Ancient Artifacts

First of all, it was in Africa where the famous ND Plateau is located in the Sahara Desert, a place with a secret garden. This spot is like paradise for local nomads amidst the hot sands. For thousands of years, it has served as a stopover for caravans traveling across the Sahara. Here, animals, especially camels, drink water, and there are cool caves for people to rest in. These caves still have engravings from when the Sahara was green. Inside the caves, you can find rock art, with cattle, especially cows, being the most commonly depicted animals.

Life in the Hidden Oases

You often find them in places where there's grass for them to eat. These days, besides camels, no other animals can really roam around here. Until 1940, there were African lions here too, but they've disappeared now. In this hidden oasis, a few crocodiles hang out by the water's edge. But the question is, crocodiles can’t travel that far, so how did they end up right in the middle of the Sahara? Experts believe these are African crocodiles that didn’t come from anywhere special; they’ve been here for thousands of years. Nowadays, there are only a handful of them left.

Unique Discoveries in the Sahara

They're living there, and little by little, they're running out of food. They mostly survive by eating frogs and fish from the water. The unique and mysterious stones of the Egyptian King Tutankhamun's necklace are also hidden in the Sahara. This stone kept researchers puzzled for years. It's a natural glass stone that's not found anywhere else in the world. At one point, it was believed that it didn't even belong to our planet but came from another world. However, eventually, its origin was also traced back to the Sahara.

Legends and Science

Experts believe that in the part of the Sahara located in Libya, many stones scattered among the sand are remnants of an asteroid impact that melted the sandstone around 30 million years ago. Back then, rivers and streams were quite common in the area. When the sandstone lava came into contact with water, it cooled down quickly and turned into glass stone. While the Sahara's endless sand might seem completely useless, it can't be used for construction or making concrete mixtures, nor does it have any other productive uses, but in reality...

The Vital Role of Sahara Sand

It's the Sahara sand that breathes life into the Amazon rainforest, 4,000 kilometers away. Every year, millions of tons of sand get blown across the ocean to South America. It has just 0.08% phosphorus, but experts believe that's enough to maintain the phosphorus levels in the Amazon. When it rains in the Amazon, phosphorus gets washed away into rivers. If this phosphorus doesn’t fall in the Amazon, the soil will run short of it, affecting new plants and growth.

Sahara's Climatic Intricacies

Trees will stop growing. Let’s finally talk about some surprising facts about the Sahara Desert. It's often called the largest desert in the world, but actually, it’s the third largest. The first two are Antarctica and the Arctic. It’s true that the Sahara is the biggest hot desert, while Antarctica and the Arctic are classified as cold deserts. The total area of the Sahara is about 9 million square kilometers, but this area changes every season because the sand either spreads out or gets compacted with the weather.

The Majestic Landscape

The sand only covers about 25% of the area; the rest is filled with rocky mountains. Here, the sand dunes can reach heights of up to 180 meters, and the highest point in the Sahara is Mount Koussi, which stands at 3,415 meters. It's definitely the hottest desert in the world, but there are also places where it snows, and temperatures can drop to -6 degrees Celsius. I hope you all enjoy this blog and give it lots of likes and shares. Thank you so much for your loving comments, and I'll see you in the next amazing blog!