# Matton 2005: Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex

> Guillaume Matton, Michel Jébrak, James K. W. Lee, 2005. 11 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The standard account of the structure's origin, cited…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKKQJ1ACWQ/resolving-the-richat-enigma-doming-and-hydrothermal  
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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara)Matton 2005

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# Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex

Guillaume Matton, Michel Jébrak, James K. W. Lee, 2005. _Geology_ 33(8): 665-668.

Field, petrological and geochronological study showing the Richat is the eroded top of a Cretaceous alkaline complex, with a central breccia formed by hydrothermal karst dissolution and collapse.

**Eye of the Sahara and AtlantisSecondary source** Articledoi: **[10.1130/G21542AR.1](https://doi.org/10.1130/G21542AR.1)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

The standard account of the structure's origin, cited for its size, rock sequence, rings, ring dikes, breccia and the Cretaceous ages.

## Cited by on this site 11 records

[Carbonatite dated 99 ± 5 Ma and breccia feldspar 98.2 ± 2.6 Ma tie the hydrothermal breccia to Cretaceous magmatism](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKS0C49HJ3/carbonatite-dated-99-5-ma-and-breccia-feldspar-98-2-2-6-ma)

Evidence

EVD

[Matton and colleagues mapped the basalts as subvertical ring dikes, not sills](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKSHFEKGXN/matton-and-colleagues-mapped-the-basalts-as-subvertical-ring)

Evidence

EVD

[The crater-like shape and the kilometre-scale central breccia first suggested an impact](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKS26VSF10/the-crater-like-shape-and-the-kilometre-scale-central)

Evidence

EVD

[The likeness is one of shape: the rings are a natural landform with no human work in them](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKTAERZJCV/the-likeness-is-one-of-shape-the-rings-are-a-natural)

Evidence

EVD

[The rings are natural cuestas of an eroded Cretaceous dome, about 100 million years old](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKT1SXTFBY/the-rings-are-natural-cuestas-of-an-eroded-cretaceous-dome)

Evidence

EVD

[The rings are outward-dipping quartzite cuestas, and the igneous rocks occur only inside the structure](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKS11JVGX0/the-rings-are-outward-dipping-quartzite-cuestas-and-the)

Evidence

EVD

[The structure is at least 40 km across, and NASA gives about 45 km](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKTQ42P66F/the-structure-is-at-least-40-km-across-and-nasa-gives-about)

Evidence

EVD

[Matton, Jébrak and Lee publish the alkaline-complex model of the Richat](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/events/EVT0DCKQWZZXCZB/matton-jebrak-and-lee-publish-the-alkaline-complex-model-of)

EVT

[Guillaume Matton](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/people/FIG0DCKQHZ85E9N/guillaume-matton)

FIG

[Michel Jébrak](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/people/FIG0DCKQJAGHTET/michel-jebrak)

FIG

[The Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara)

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
Matton, G., Jébrak, M., & Lee, J. K. W. (2005). Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex. Geology, 33(8), 665-668. https://doi.org/10.1130/G21542AR.1
```

[Read it free at archipel.uqam.ca](https://archipel.uqam.ca/272/)

Key

**SRC** 0DCKKQJ1ACWQ

Kind

Journal article

Rights

The publisher's

Kept

28 Oct 2026, for editors

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

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The record

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