Volcanoes in the Sahara!

A 350-mile-long basaltic massif in Northern Chad and (marginally) Southern Libya. The region is dominated by seven large stratovolcanoes (in order, from northwest to southeast): The Tibesti appear(s) to be situated over a hot spot in the Earth's crust (although another theory attributes the region to the impact of a large asteroid).  So, if you have been asking yourself "What would Hawaii be like if it had formed in the middle of the Sahara?", here is your answer.

The volcanoes began to form in the Miocene epoch but there was considerable activity in the Pleistocene (when the Sahara was a mixture of temperate forest and savanna).  The volcanoes are considered "temporarily inactive".

As forbidding as a rugged mountain range in the middle of the world's largest desert may seem, the region is inhabited by the Tibu people, nomadic herders.

The ruggedness of the terrain has meant that many of Chad's rebel movements, the most recent being MDJT, have based themselves in the Tibesti.

For some great images of the volcanoes, you can go to
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_Tibesti.html

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