El Bahr: A Prospective Impact Crater

Abstract

This preliminary investigation addresses the discovery of an unidentified crater located south of the Sahara Desert between Qaret Had El Bahr and Qaret El Allafa, Egypt. The unidentified crater (hereafter tentatively named El Bahr Crater) was discovered during a terrain analysis of the Sahara Desert. El Bahr Crater is located Southwest Al-Jiza Giza and is approximately 327 meters across, has a rim with a circumference of approximately 1,027 meters, and occupies a surface area of approximately 83,981 square meters. Preliminary spectral and topographic analysis reveal features characteristic of an impact crater produced by a hypervelocity event of extraterrestrial origin, including a bowl-shaped rim and a crater wall. No proximal and/or distal ejecta, however, are visible from Landsat imagery. Moreover, the geomorphic features, along with the fact that the El Bahr basalts are known to be rich in orthopyroxene while the surrounding basalts are not, imply an impact as the most plausible explanation. The El Bahr Crater is not indexed in the Earth Impact Database, and an analysis of impact structures in Africa did not identify it as either a confirmed, proposed or disproved impact crater. In collaboration with the University of Cairo, therefore, an expedition has been organized to conduct an in-situ investigation of El Bahr Crater, to ascertain if planar formations, shatter cones, and shock metamorphic and or other meteoritic properties are present.