Talemzane or madena (Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵍⴻⵎⵣⴰⵏ Arabic: تالمزان/مادنة) is an impact crater in Algeria, 40 km south-east of Hassi Delaa (a small city). The Arabic name of the crater is "Maadna" and means "depression of ore."
The Talemzane crater has a diameter of 1.75 km. As such, it is classified as a "simple crater" (meaning a diameter of less than 2 km). It is one of two simple craters in Algeria's Saharan Platform. According to estimates, the crater formed between 203,000 and 3 million years ago. The crater was explored for the first time in 1928 and studied in 1950 and 1988 by researchers from the universities of Oran (Algeria) and Nice (France).
See also
List of impact craters in Africa
References
Further reading Karpoff, R., A "meteorite" crater at Talemzane in southern Algeria, with discussion (in French). International Geological Congress, 19th, Algiers, pp. 233–241. 1954 Karpoff, R., The meteorite crater of Talemzane in southern Algeria. Meteoritics, v. 1, pp. 31–38. 1953 Koeberl, C., African meteorite impact craters: Characteristics and geological importance. Journal of African Sciences, v. 18, pp. 263–295. 1994 Lambert, P., McHone, J.F. Jr., Dietz, R.S. and Houfani, M., Impact and impact-like structures in Algeria. Part I. Four bowl-shaped depressions. Meteoritics, v. 15, pp. 157–179. 1980 Lambert, P., McHone, J.F. Jr., Dietz, R.S., Djender, M. and Briedj, M., Multi-ringed structures in Algeria: Ancient impact craters or not? (abstract). International Geological Congress, 26th, Paris, France, v. 3, pp. 1248. 1980 McHone, J. F. Jr., Greeley, R., Talemzane: Algerian impact crater detected on SIR-A orbital imaging radar. Meteoritics, v. 22, pp. 253–264. 1987 McHone, J. F. Jr., Lambert, P., Dietz, R.S. and Houfani, M., Bowl-shaped impact craters and circular depressions in Algeria (abstract). International Geological Congress, 26th, Paris, France, v. 3, p. 1250. 1980 McHone, J. F. Jr., Lambert, P., Dietz, R.S. and Briedj, M., Impact structures in Algeria (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 15, pp. 331–332. 1980