On the track of an asteroid in the Sahara

Scientific result

6 November 2024

Hundreds of thousand asteroids frequently collide the Earth. They represent a danger for inhabited areas. Geologists from the GET and the University of Hassan II (Casablanca, Morocco) have explored the collisions’ consequences based on the example of the study of the Aouelloul crater in Mauritania. They published their wonderful results in Journal of African Earth Sciences.

Contact GET: David Baratoux

Read more on the IRD website (in French).

Sources :

Navee E. O. M., Aoudjehane H. C., Baratoux D., Ferrière L., Sabar M. S. O., Mhamdi H.S. 2024. Aouelloul impact crater, Mauritania : new structural, lithological, and petrographic data. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 214, 105210 [12 p.] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2024.105210

More news

Climate warning for archaeological sites

From the Chauvet cave to the Ile d’Yeu, prehistoric sites are under close surveillance. The hope: to understand how climate change threatens them. And prevent the disappearance of cave paintings. […]

The origins of continents: continental crust shaped by water

ow did continents appear on Earth? This question, crucial to understanding the emergence of civilizations and life itself, remains one of the great mysteries of the early stages of planetary […]

Oxygen oases in the oceans 500 million years before oxygenation of the atmosphere

2.9-billion-year-old marine sedimentary rocks from Canada’s Red Lake region reveal areas of oxygen accumulation at a time when the oceans were globally anoxic and iron-rich. These oxygen oases played a […]

Search