cluster of craters in Egypt

[pbarosso]

i found this in Egypt using Google earth. i could find no mention of them on google. could they be craters?

[questionmark]

knowing where you found them could be helpful, in any case it looks like either old fortifications or gun emplacements from WWII.

[Travelling Man]

Animal paddocks are typically round in that area - they could be areas that were used for a time by the Bedouin nomads that ground down the bedrock and were then scoured even deeper by the blowing sands. Lighting and shadows in the area and sand deposits can also give apparent shape to things that have no discernible shape.

[pallidin]

Yeah, I'm no expert, but they don't look like impact craters to me.

[pbarosso]

hmmm. possibly.

knowing where you found them could be helpful, in any case it looks like either old fortifications or gun emplacements from WWII.

the coordinates are on the bottom of the pic..thanks!

[questionmark]

That would be near Bawiti, Egypt. Those are likely not craters but abandoned irrigation projects. You still can find some active ones south from the town. You will notice that the circles are greener.

From a little nearer they look like this:

and the circumferences are generated by irrigation contraptions of this type:

Edited August 14, 2012 by questionmark

[pallidin]

OOOOooooooo, that's perrrttttyyyy. I like it's contrast with the surrounding area.