Impact Structures and Meteorites in North Africa

The arid to semi-arid climate of northern African countries is an asset for the preservation of meteorites and impact structures. The Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world, is considered the most productive region for the recovery of meteorites on Earth after Antarctica. In contrast, North Africa, like the rest of the African continent, remains relatively unexplored for impact structures. This chapter presents current knowledge of the impact cratering record and meteorite falls and finds in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia). It provides a comprehensive literature review and data set (including aerial imagery and topography) of confirmed impact structures, including (in alphabetical order) Agoudal, Amguid, B.P. Structure, Kamil, Ouarkziz, Oasis, Talemzane and Tin Bider. A subsection includes a discussion about the unresolved enigma of the source of Libyan Desert Glass. This is followed by a presentation of current knowledge and hypotheses on eight non or partially elucidated circular structures, which aims to stimulate field exploration and further research. Circular structures once regarded as potential impact structures and now elucidated are briefly described in a subsection entitled “discarded impact structures”. The section on meteorites highlights a selection of the most remarkable objects discovered in this region and the relationship between meteorites and ancient civilizations in Egypt, revealing on of the most ancient pieces of evidence of the interest of humankind for these objects.