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www.niger-meteorite-recon.de
Niger 2002 - illustrated report
go to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Team | Area Map
Crossing a basalt desert in the Tassili Ahoggar
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The journey from Tamanghasset, the southernmost airstrip in the Algerian Sahara, to the border of the Republic of Niger measures some 380 miles as the crow flies. Our team, consisting of two geologists, an archaeologist and an "embedded" correspondent left "Tam" as the locals call it, just before sunrise. We passed the foothills of the mighty Ahoggar Mountains and reached the desolate outpost of In Guezzam by nightfall. As of early 2002 In Guezzam is the single open frontier post connecting Algeria and the Republic of Niger. Wrecked vehicles from the last five decades litter the piste and tell about the fate of those who got stranded enroute. Burned tires show evidence of last desperate attempts to smoke signal a position to the all to often not existing rescuers.
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Mummified dromedarian camel in the Tamesna desert. This robust and extremely hardy species can survive more than a month without water. This animal perished near a salty spring some 180 km away from the next freshwater well.
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At In Guezzam we join with Aoutchiki Kriska called "The Locust". It's a nickname the Tuareg tribal leader and biologist received for his sucessful battle against a plague of locusts haunting the willows of his clan in the early eighties. As one of the leaders of the Tuareg rebellion in 1991 the folk hero knows the central deserts like no other. After the cease-fire agreement with the government which Aoutchiki signed together with the famous Mano Dayak in 1995, the weapons remain silent. Today the situation is largely stabilized. But still the deserts on both sides of the Air Mountains where the rebels once retreated after their raids, are the most untouched and aboriginal regions on our planet.
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Mohammed Aoutchiki "The Locust"
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Far off the lone and rarely visited piste which leads from Agadez via the uranium mines of Arlit northwards towards Tam, an elementary zone is waiting, that is very unforgiving. This is an experience that Heinrich Barth had to undergo, as he crossed the area during his "Great Journey" in August 1850. Only the excellent eyes of his Tuareg guide saved the explorer who lost his company on a recon excursion, close to delirium and dying with thirst, facing an atrocious death. With a croaky "Alhamdulillah", "praise to the Lord" on his lips, the young explorer embraced his rescuers.
Our first search area is "Timmersoi". Translated from "Tamashek" the Tuareg language, this means a "Place of the cadavers". It's a broad flat ancient alluvial plain, which spreads from North to Southwest across the Tamesna desert. According to the few geological datasheets available for this region we assume the geological age of the surface to be some 15,000 years. Our mission is find meteorites, extraterrestrial rocks that have rested here for thousands of years in the dust of the Sahara. The statistics of meteorite strikes indicate that 1 meteorite weighing at least 10 grams hits every square mile of the earth once on 1000 years.
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Sedimentary deposits in the northern Martian hemisphere (arrows). Canyons and older impact structures are getting filled by younger aeolian deposits. The younger areas can easily be recognized by the lower number of craters. The larger impact on the left has a diameter of approx. 200 miles.
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To research potential areas, satellite images were reviewed since they show the traces of geological processes much better than best topographic maps. A substantial part of preparing the expedition consisted in identifying and eliminating sedimentation zones of relatively younger geological age. In these areas, fluvial or eolian deposits have covered the older surface including potential meteorites accumulated during the past. To recognize these younger deposits in the satellite images we researched imagery where the geological activity such as erosion, eolian deflation and sedimentation for typical desert landscapes could be viewed in a more exaggerated manner. Mars, with its huge deserts and intense wind forces proved to be an ideal comparison. Since the deserts on the "Red Planet" are the product of extreme atmospheric conditions, the Martian landscape gives a far more distinct image of its geological history. Morphological comparisons of Mars Global Surveyor images with LandSat images of the Niger deserts helped a lot to separate the older and potential meteorite-rich areas from the younger deposit zones.
A 120 km behind in Guezzam we believe we have left the inhabited world far behind. But fresh tracks from at least six vehicles tell us better. Our guides who already seem to know about the mysterious party announce an encounter of a peculiar kind. After only a short distance the uninhabited Timir oasis comes into view. The few tamarisk (an acacia shrub) owe their existence to an artesian well, that pervades the surface amidst the Tamesna desert. These artesian sources prove evidence of recent volcanic activity of the Air Mountains which are located not far to the east. Slowly we approach the spot in a wide loop but we have already been spotted by a hidden sentry. From between the bushes shapes appear, beckoning us. It's a group of smugglers, transporting cigarettes across the border and into Algeria. Known as "La Contrebande" as the Touareg call them, they are legends in the local army dispatches, newspaper reports and horror stories, but there is rarely a foreigner who has ever seen them face to face.
www.niger-meteorite-recon.de
Niger 2002 - illustrated report
go to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Team | Area Map
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