Page 43 - BBC Focus Earth From Above - 2017 UK
P. 43
AFRICA
MA UR I T A N I A LI B Y A
Desert eye MAURITANIA Dust storm LIBYA
The 40km-wide Richat structure is a Rich with minerals, these Saharan dust
giant geological wonder in the Sahara plumes will land in the Mediterranean
Desert. Since early space missions it’s – feeding microscopic organisms,
been a familiar sight to astronauts. known as phytoplankton, which sit
Initially, it was thought to have been at the bottom of the food chain.
Richat Tripoli
the product of a meteor impact, but structure PHOTO: NASA / JEFF SCHMALTZ
geologists now think it formed when a
large dome of molten rock lifted up,
followed by centuries of weathering to LIBYA
create the roughened landscape. MAURITANIA
PHOTO: ESA
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