Richat Structure: Mysterious Geologic Formation Seen From Space Station (PHOTO)

By: OurAmazingPlanet Staff
Published: 03/26/2012 12:29 PM EDT on OurAmazingPlanet

This story was updated at 12:54 p.m. EDT.

A huge, copper-toned formation in West Africa dominates a mesmerizing photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers snapped this hypnotic image of the so-called Richat structure in Mauritania, as the space station flew over the Sahara Desert on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa. Erosion of the various rock layers created the ring-like features that make up the sprawling structure, but the origin of the Richat structure remains somewhat mysterious, geologists have said.

The photo shows Kuipers' unique vantage point from the orbiting complex, which flies approximately 240 miles (386 kilometers) above the surface of the Earth. The image was taken on March 7 using a Nikon D2Xs camera, officials at the European Space Agency said in a statement.

During their months-long stints aboard the International Space Station, astronauts often perform Earth observations for science and public outreach.

Throughout their mission, many spaceflyers maintain active social media presences, such as on Twitter or Google+, to share stunning views from spacewith members of the public.

Space agencies also use photos taken by astronauts to engage students and space enthusiasts in geography, planetary science and human spaceflight.

There are currently six people living and working on the space station: Kuipers, Americans Dan Burbank and Don Pettit, and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and Oleg Kononenko. Burbank is commander of the station's Expedition 30 mission.

Kuipers launched to the space station in December 2011. He is almost midway through his six-month stay at the orbiting outpost. Kuipers, Kononenko and Pettit are slated to return to Earth on July 1.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to reflect that the Richat structure in Mauritania is not a lava crater.

Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanetand on Facebook.

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Comments

[RGKahn]

06:40 AM on 05/09/2012

From Wikipedia.org "The Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara and Guelb er Richat, is a prominent circular feature in the Sahara desert of west–central Mauritania near Ouadane. This structure is a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical, 40-km in diameter, dome. The sedimentary rock exposed in this dome range in age from Late Proterozoic within the center of the dome to Ordovician sandstone around its edges. The sedimentary rocks comprising this structure dip outward at 10°-20°. Differential erosion of resistant layers of quartzite has created high-relief circular cuestas. Its center consists of a siliceous breccia covering an area that is at least 3 km in diameter."

[RGKahn]

06:24 AM on 05/09/2012

You can see it with Google Earth. It is also called Eye of the Sahara and is located at Ouadane, Mauritania. Have to say that the photo from the space station is a better image though. It is a former sea bed that has been exposed by erosion.

[Twiztid Menace]

12:38 PM on 03/29/2012

From Plato's "Timeaus":

In this mountain there dwelt one of the earth born primeval men of that country, whose name was Evenor, and he had a wife named Leucippe, and they had an only daughter who was called Cleito. The maiden had already reached womanhood, when her father and mother died; Poseidon fell in love with her and had intercourse with her, and breaking the ground, inclosed the hill in which she dwelt all round, making alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water, which he turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference equidistant every way from the centre, so that no man could get to the island, for ships and voyages were not as yet.

Makes ya wonder. The Sahara wasn't always a desert.

[DocBollywood]

08:01 AM on 03/29/2012

I've been in the center of Richat a couple of years ago, and while it looks stunning on the pictures from the space, it is absolutely impossible to sense the structure from the earth. First of all - it is all flat. The height difference between the lowest and highest point must be less than 100 feet. Second, there is no sign of fancy colors - it's black rocks that consist the rings and sand inbetween. And third, it is not possible to gain a view on the whole structure.
http://sahara.jam.si/wp-content/uploads/2007/img_8018.jpg

[GrimReverb]

07:21 AM on 03/29/2012

Definitely aliens.

[jeneric82]

04:19 AM on 03/29/2012

Looks like the Pit of Carkoon from Return of the Jedi! There is a large monster at the bottom of the pit! :)

[JubieJewels]

03:19 AM on 03/29/2012

Looks like the iris of a human eyeball to me~
Awesome!!

[irishkids1234]

02:07 AM on 03/29/2012

Earth's belly button.

[MrAmericanMadeOnly]

02:06 AM on 03/29/2012

Relax it is Nothing..
I got Good Information from a source in NASA that I can't Reveel, BUT someone accidently through out a Cinnamon Bun in Space, and it got stuck on the end of the Camera window outside the Space Station. So you are really seening a close up of a Cinnimon bun !

[JubieJewels]

03:19 AM on 03/29/2012

lmbo!! ;0)
YOU FUNNY!!!!

[esq1128]

01:12 AM on 03/29/2012

Alien strip mining.

[VapeGirl]

11:50 PM on 03/28/2012

It's a Sarlacc pit.

[happyjoyjoy333]

11:33 PM on 03/28/2012

There are two explanations:
1. It's "magic"
2. The earth has a belly button.
Pick whichever one makes you smile.

[prestonsturges]

01:19 AM on 03/29/2012

Number 2

[happyjoyjoy333]

01:27 PM on 03/29/2012

lol.....if you look at the photo again, you can even see the lint ;o)

[amugsey]

11:24 PM on 03/28/2012

i think it was the 47 or so that don't pay taxes linging up for the obama food stamps

[jessdmny]

10:43 PM on 03/28/2012

That's where the cue stick hit us!

[Mark Brislin]

01:36 AM on 03/29/2012

Aha! So that explains our rotation. Always wondered about that.

[flamealchroy]

10:31 PM on 03/28/2012

Very beautiful.