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Libya 2004 - illustrated report
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According to their brand-marks these dromedaries belong to the Marabut of Idris. They run freely in the desert and if you get lost you may try to follow one of the animals to the next well. Prepare to march a 50 miles per day!

A long and winding road
The approach from Sebha in the south leads our three men party first through the Wadi Schati, then through the desolated Dschebel al Hasawinah.

From the hamlet of Idris marking the eastern end of the Wadi Schati to the edge of the Hammada the GPS announces a swift 60 miles as the crow flies. Our heavily loaded Landcruiser seesaws on the steep passes like a Chinese junk. What appeared to be a little airing before noon turns out to be a boneshaking five-hour ride through steep wadis and over axle-breaking debris.

The deserted ravines and escarpments bear no sign of life. Saleh, the Touareg clan chief claims

"Al tariq tauwil wa al leila quasir", "The night is short and it's a long way to go".

that dschinns, the lost souls of the desert, are the only local inhabitants. Obviously there was not much variety either ten thousand years ago. For unlike in the Tibesti or the Ennedi Mountains the Neolithic engravings of this area only show a single species: serpents - in fact plenty of them.

We make our way up to the Hammada and pitch our first camp. At sunrise next morning we start cruising west. The Sun at our back illuminates a bright gravel surface on which meteorites can easily be spotted.

The gravel is embedded in a more or less thick layer of fine ocher, covering the dolomite and limestone bedrock. The brick-red clay dust that gave its name to the Hammada al "homra" is the remains of an early holocene top soil. There is evidence of a Savannah vegetation that once spread over present day HaH during more humid periods. As recently as 3,000 years ago, the local climate changed with the beginning of the current arid period.

Hammada al Hamrah meteorite in situ

Stepping on the ground raises a fine red cloud of powder. Our footprints will still be visible after fifty years. In the HaH there is no quartz sand to fill them.

This constitutes another important factor for the in situ preservation of meteorites. With a constantly blowing wind the quartz grains would abrade any cosmic visitor within a few millennia.

The usual suspects
The first hours on new terrain are needed to acquaint us with the local meteor wrongs. Galena, larger shadows, shredded pieces of tire, remnants of ancient fireplaces are abundant and require frequent stops. Another tempting deception are the dark lydite noodles that weather out of the bedrock. And the usual suspects are not complete until Saleh radios

Section of the digital GPS navigation sheet. The numbered icons stand for coordinates of previous meteorite finds published in the Meteoritcal Bulletin.

another false alarm. A closer drive by reveals his "thunderstone" to be a camel's product of digestion. We radio back congrats on his find of the "Umm kulla Ah'schar", the "mother of all stones".

Another two hours are lost this first day bypassing a deep wadi that intersects our search area and is unknown to our maps. The steep depression is littered with boulders the size of a mobile home. As no meteorites have ever been found at the bottom of these geologically younger dry beds, we carry on zigzagging on the far side.

www.niger-meteorite-recon.de
Libya 2004 - illustrated report
go to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Team | Area Map

Printed in Meteorite
Nov. 2004