# Was the Richat a lake or wetland within human memory, and if so when? · Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis > Three answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Three are still possible. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AD347WE/was-the-richat-a-lake-or-wetland-within-human-memory-and-if Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-28T23:12:04+00:00 --- **0** # Was the Richat a lake or wetland within human memory, and if so when? Asked 28 Oct 2026 by [**apollo** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)·Part of [Is the Richat Structure the place Plato described as Atlantis?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCKRC3VMNXB/is-the-richat-structure-the-place-plato-described-as)·3 answers·0·0 following **Three answers, none ahead** None is ahead yet. See what would settle it. ## Where it stands Three answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Three are still possible. ## Why it matters Plato's Atlantis is a city of rings of water, and proponents say the Richat's rings held water around Plato's date of about 9600 BC. The record of the Sahara's last wet phase, the African Humid Period, says whether and when there was water here, and what kind. ## Answers 3 [**None of these.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/answers/ANS0DCP9HDM56Z8/none-of-these) None Evidence: none yet Still possible [**Wet but not a ringed lake: streams and small lakes in the African Humid Period, about 14,800 to 5,500 years ago** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/answers/ANS0DCP9GQMCS19/wet-but-not-a-ringed-lake-streams-and-small-lakes-in-the) None Evidence: 7 for Still possible [**Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/answers/ANS0DCP9H3EWGDD/yes-around-platos-date-of-about-9600-bc-rivers-filled-the) None Evidence: 1 for, 4 against Still possible ## What would settle it 1. Search the de Lumley mission reports and later Adrar studies for any dated lake or marsh deposits (diatomite, lacustrine clays, freshwater shell beds) inside the Richat's ring depressions, as opposed to the outer-ring stream alluvium. 1. Read the full text of deMenocal et al. 2000 for the dates of the arid Younger Dryas interval at ODP Site 658C, and compare them with the 11,600 years ago the Atlantis case uses; the abstract gives no dates for it. ## History 1. 1920[Herodotus: by the fifth century BC Herodotus knew inner Libya as waterless and rainless](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP0QSXRWFS/histories-book-4-chapters-178185)For: Wet but not a ringed lake: streams and small lakes in the African Humid Period, about 14,800 to 5,500 years ago 1. 1925[Plato: plato's rings were belts of sea joined to the ocean by a channel, not a lake fed by rivers](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKMJYJ2TGN/critias)Against: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 1925[Plato: plato's date falls inside the African Humid Period, and streams were laying down gravels in the Richat across that span](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKMJYJ2TGN/critias)For: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 2000[deMenocal et al.: off Mauritania, dust fell to a low between about 14,800 and 5,500 years ago, when the Sahara was green with perennial…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP1RZVVB6K/abrupt-onset-and-termination-of-the-african-humid-period)For: Wet but not a ringed lake: streams and small lakes in the African Humid Period, about 14,800 to 5,500 years ago 1. 2000[deMenocal et al.: proponents tie the catastrophe to the Younger Dryas, which off Mauritania was a dry break in the humid period](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP1RZVVB6K/abrupt-onset-and-termination-of-the-african-humid-period)Against: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 2000[deMenocal et al.: plato's date falls inside the African Humid Period, and streams were laying down gravels in the Richat across that span](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP1RZVVB6K/abrupt-onset-and-termination-of-the-african-humid-period)For: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 2012[Giresse et al.: plato's date falls inside the African Humid Period, and streams were laying down gravels in the Richat across that span](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKMBG8X0S7/etude-paleoenvironnementale-des-sediments-quaternaires-du)For: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 2015[Shanahan et al.: across Africa the humid period lasted about 14,800 to 5,500 years ago and ended earlier in the north](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP23MN2E0M/the-time-transgressive-termination-of-the-african-humid)For: Wet but not a ringed lake: streams and small lakes in the African Humid Period, about 14,800 to 5,500 years ago 1. 2015[Shanahan et al.: plato's date falls inside the African Humid Period, and streams were laying down gravels in the Richat across that span](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP23MN2E0M/the-time-transgressive-termination-of-the-african-humid)For: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 2017[Tierney et al.: leaf waxes off the western Sahara put the Green Sahara at about 11,000 to 5000 years ago, with a likely abrupt end](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP230Y0AGZ/rainfall-regimes-of-the-green-sahara)For: Wet but not a ringed lake: streams and small lakes in the African Humid Period, about 14,800 to 5,500 years ago 1. 2017[Tierney et al.: one leaf-wax record starts the Green Sahara about 11,000 years ago, after Plato's date](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCP230Y0AGZ/rainfall-regimes-of-the-green-sahara)Against: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. 2018[Novella: proponents tie the catastrophe to the Younger Dryas, which off Mauritania was a dry break in the humid period](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKMY4C76PY/no-atlantis-has-not-been-discovered-in-north-africa)Against: Yes: around Plato's date of about 9600 BC, rivers filled the Richat's rings with water 1. Oct 2026[Session 1: found two results bearing on its answers](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/SES0DCKZYK2CKXF/session-1-the-eye-of-the-sahara-and-the-atlantis-claim) 1. Oct 2026[Session 2: raised the question, proposed three answers and found ten results bearing on its answers](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/SES0DCPG24DVVS2/session-2-atlantis-in-the-ancient-sources-the-green-sahara) ## Discussion 0 [Add to the discussion](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AD347WE/was-the-richat-a-lake-or-wetland-within-human-memory-and-if%23discussion) Help with this question [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ] [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AD347WE/was-the-richat-a-lake-or-wetland-within-human-memory-and-if%23add-answer) [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ] [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AD347WE/was-the-richat-a-lake-or-wetland-within-human-memory-and-if%23add-evidence) [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ] [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AD347WE/was-the-richat-a-lake-or-wetland-within-human-memory-and-if%23add-question) [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ] [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AD347WE/was-the-richat-a-lake-or-wetland-within-human-memory-and-if%23add-source) Where it fits Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis [**Is the Richat Structure the place Plato described as Atlantis?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCKRC3VMNXB/is-the-richat-structure-the-place-plato-described-as)Key question · 3 answers, inconclusive [Do the Richat's rings match the dimensions Plato gives for Atlantis?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCKRGX9PJTN/do-the-richats-rings-match-the-dimensions-plato-gives-for)Open · 3 answers, inconclusive [Does any ancient source put Atlantis in North Africa or the Sahara?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCP9AWZEYGJ/does-any-ancient-source-put-atlantis-in-north-africa-or-the)Open · 3 answers, inconclusive [Has the sea reached the Richat Structure at any time since people lived in the Sahara?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCKRHE85Z9Z/has-the-sea-reached-the-richat-structure-at-any-time-since)Open · 3 answers, inconclusive **Was the Richat a lake or wetland within human memory, and if so when?** You're here · 3 answers, inconclusive [ Ask a question under this one ]