Amguid crater

Amguid crater
Impact crater/structure
ConfidenceConfirmed
Diameter500–530 m (1,640–1,740 ft)
Depth65 m (213 ft)
Age<1 Ma
Pleistocene
ExposedYes
DrilledNo
Location
LocationSahara
Coordinates26°5′16″N 4°23′43″E / 26.08778°N 4.39528°E / 26.08778; 4.39528
CountryAlgeria
StateTamanrasset Province
Amguid crater is located in Algeria
Amguid crater
Location of the crater in Algeria

Amguid is a meteorite crater located in the Central Sahara, Algeria. It is approximately 500 to 530 metres (1,640 to 1,740 ft) in diameter and approximately 65 meters deep.[1][2] Its age has been estimated to be less than 100,000 years and probably formed during the Pleistocene epoch making it relatively young.[2] The origins of the impact was likely low-velocity and from an asteroid. It was possibly a carbonaceous chondritic that was loosely compacted and strongly unequilibrated. Studied of the craters mineralogy has excluded potential hypotheses of hypervelocity metallic bodies causing the crater.[3]

The crater was discovered by Karpoff in 1948 by aircraft and the first scientific description was made by Jean-Phillippe Lefranc in 1969. It was then later studied more by Lambert and Lamali in 1980 and 2009.[4] The crater is understudied as access to this crater is difficult being on of the hardest to access craters.[2][5]

Morphology

OrbView-3 satellite view of the crater

It is a well-preserved crater that is exposed at the surface. It is visable due to its location in the Sahara desert where it’s very arid and devoid vegetation cover. These factors make the crater pristine like other craters located in Algeria.[6][4] It has an almost perfectly circular structure with the central part being collapsed. The southeastern section of the craters rim is steeper than the rest of the perimeter. The walls of the crater dips and gets progressively steeper in its upper parts. From the crater, there are well highlighted radial and fold features.[5]

Geology

In the flat center of Amguid crater, the dominate rocks are partially filled of very bright, fine-grained eolian compacted silt. Part of it is also covered in covered by detrital materials composed of fall-back breccias which contains fine-grained components. The white spot in the center is the result of rain running into the center and evaporating.[6]

The rim of the crater is studded with breccia. Shatter cones are also located at the crater.[5] On the internal walls of the craters rim, there are distinct series of sandstone bed outcroppings.[3]

It landed in Lower Devonian rocks that is composed of sandstone from the extern Tassili series.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Amguid". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  2. ^ a b c "Amguid crater". Wondermondo. 10 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b Sighinolfi, Gian Paolo; Barbieri, Maurizio; Brunelli, Daniele; Serra, Romano (March 2020). "Mineralogical and Chemical Investigations of the Amguid Crater (Algeria): Is there Evidence on an Impact Origin?". Geosciences. 10 (3): 107. Bibcode:2020Geosc..10..107S. doi:10.3390/geosciences10030107. ISSN 2076-3263.
  4. ^ a b Sahoui, Ratiba (2024-07-01). "Morphometric and structural parameters of impact craters in Algeria: Control of sedimentary target rocks and effect of post impact process". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 215 105281. Bibcode:2024JAfES.21505281S. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2024.105281. ISSN 1464-343X.
  5. ^ a b c d Belhai, D. B.; Belhai, H. B.; Sahoui, R. S.; Nemer, Z. N.; Bayou, Y. B.; Belhai, A. B. (August 2022). "The Amguid Crater: New Structural and Geophysical Data". 85th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society. 85 (2695): 6118. Bibcode:2022LPICo2695.6118B. ISSN 0161-5297.
  6. ^ a b SaharaOverland. "Amguid Crater in In Amguel". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2026-02-13.

Further reading

  • Koeberl, C., African meteorite impact craters: Characteristics and geological importance. Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 18, pp. 263–295. 1994
  • Lambert, P., McHone, J.F. Jr., Dietz, R.S. and Houfani, M., Impact and impact-like structures in Algeria. Part I. Four bowl-shaped depressions. Meteoritics, v. 15, pp. 157–179. 1980
  • Lefranc, J. -P., Exploration of a meteorite crater at Amguid ( Mouydir, central Sahara). Académie des Sciences, Paris, Comptes Rendus, Série D, v. 268, pp. 900–902. 1969
  • McHone, J. F. Jr., Lambert, P., Dietz, R.S. and Briedj, M., Impact structures in Algeria (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 15, pp. 331–332. 1980
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