5/28: The Cinnamon Roll Impact Crater- Tenoumer

This image is the Tenoumer Crater in Mauritania, which is in the middle of the Sahara Desert. It looks like a cinnamon roll! I had a fun time learning about this guy, whose interesting shape is due to the surrounding rocks melting once the asteroid impacted the Earth. Originally scientists posited that it was simply the remains of an ancient volcano and solidified lava, however as it turns out that doesn’t make as much sense because the inside of the crater looks like a simple impact crater does. The picture below is just a close up picture of the crater when standing in the center and looking towards the horizon, taken in OpenSpace.

 

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