High above the sands of the Sahara, a haunting face appears to stare back from Earth's surface. From space, it looks like a ghostly skull — pale, hollow-eyed, and chillingly lifelike. The eerie image is no supernatural sight but a geological wonder formed deep within a long-dead volcano.
What is the mysterious ‘skull’ in the Sahara?
The formation, known as the Trou au Natron, lies in northern Chad within the Tibesti Mountains, the highest range in the Sahara Desert. Locally called Doon Orei, meaning “big hole”, the extinct volcano’s caldera plunges nearly 1,000 metres deep. When viewed from above, its striking white surface and dark ridges create the illusion of a menacing human skull.
The pale ‘mask’ is not bone but natron, a natural salt deposit formed by steaming vents and hot springs. The floor of the crater is completely covered with chemical crusts, creating a ghostly glow. The eye-like cavities and nose-shaped ridges viewed in satellite images are actually cinder cones – small volcanic hills created by eruptions from the pit's ancient vents.
Why does it look like a human face?
Our brains are wired to find familiar patterns in random shapes – a phenomenon that is known as pareidolia. Scientists say this tendency often turns clouds, rocks, or craters into faces, animals, or objects. In this case, nature’s illusion has created one of the most striking examples yet — a skull seemingly carved into the planet itself.
How was the caldera formed?
Geologists believe Trou au Natron was once home to a glacial lake around 14,000 years ago. Over time, volcanic and climatic activity drained the basin to leave a stark, white soda lake. Indeed, the region remains one of the least explored volcanic zones on Earth, with scientists only having begun studying the Tibesti Mountains during the 1960s because of how extremely remote they were.
Today, the ancient lake bed no longer reflects the night sky; instead, it casts a ghostly gaze across the desert – a silent reminder that even in Earth's most desolate places, nature still finds ways to surprise and unsettle us.
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