Atakor

Atakor volcanic field ("Atakor" in Tuareg means "swollen part, knot at the end of something") is a volcanic field in Algeria. It lies in the Hoggar mountains and consists of a variety of volcanic features such as lava flows and about 450 individual vents. Atakor is one of several large volcanic fields in this mountain range, which sits atop of a domal uplift and has erupted basalt, trachyte, and phonolite. Volcanism in Atakor took place in several different phases, beginning 20 million years ago and continuing into the Holocene. Presently there is fumarolic activity.

The field lies in the Hoggar and the terrain approaches elevations of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), although the volcanics form an only superficial cover. The ground has a desert-like appearance. The scenery of the volcanic field is considered to be spectacular, with the lava domes and volcanic necks rising above the surrounding terrain. The field consists of lava domes, lava flows, maars, scoria cones, and volcanic necks and covers an area of about 2,500 square kilometres (970 sq mi) with a volume of about 250 cubic kilometres (60 cu mi) of volcanic rock. Basalts form a 400-metre-thick (1,300 ft) plateau, and deep gorges lead up to the volcanic field and split the Hoggar Mountains into a number of segments. Wadis diverge from the Atakor volcanic field; some of them reached Lake Chad in the past, while others continued through the Grand Erg Oriental towards Chott Melrhir.

There are about 450 recent volcanic centres, of which about 400 are lava domes and 50 are small stratovolcanoes. The latter include many recent cones which are accompanied by lava flows whose lengths reach 20 kilometres (12 mi). Among the older volcanoes of Atakor are the peaks Assekrem and Tahat, the latter of which is the highest summit in the Hoggar. Some of these volcanoes have craters, including double craters, and others are eroded to the point that only volcanic necks remain, while lava domes include shapes from steep pillars to short stubby lava flows and are responsible for much of the field's scenery. Some of these lava domes and necks penetrated older basaltic layers. Among the stratovolcanoes is the Oued Temorte cone, whic

Location: Algeria.

Mountain range data from Wikidata (CC0). Elevation is the height of the highest peak.