[CoC/geology] It's not a crater. It's not volcanic. What is it?

Piratecat

Sesquipedalian

• Oct 28, 2002

• #1

Welcome to the Richat Structure. Located in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania, it's easily visible from space because it is nearly 50 kilometers across. Once thought to be an impact crater, the Richat Structure's flat middle and lack of shock-altered rock indicates otherwise. The possibility that the Richat Structure was formed by a volcanic eruption also seems improbable because of the lack of a dome of igneous or volcanic rock. Rather, the layered sedimentary rock of the Richat structure is now thought by many to have been caused by uplifted rock sculpted by erosion. The above image was captured last year by the orbiting Landsat 7 satellite. Why the Richat Structure is nearly circular remains a mystery.

If people can't craft an amazing Call of Cthulhu or d20 Modern adventure out of this, I'll eat my hat.

I grabbed this from one of my favorite sites, NASA's Picture of the day. In addition, this link shown an amazing variety of photos from the Space Shuttle that scream "adventure idea" and make nifty handouts.

Whatcha think? Got any adventure hooks from this? Let's brainstorm!

 

Last edited: Oct 28, 2002

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CrazyMage

4th Level Lawful Good Cleric

• Oct 28, 2002

• #2

How about, it's a map of the known universe (2-D, granted), with all sorts of unusual planets/stars where they don't belong. Didn't know Earth had a mirror planet, did you??

Or, this picture represents all that is left after Cthulhu ate all those baked beans at the Elder Gods picnic.

 

Moon_Goddess

Have I really been on this site for over 20 years!

• Oct 28, 2002

• #3

I can think of serveral interesting modern senerios, but the best thing is this pic make a great map for something I've been looking for for a long time... The site of the death of a god.

 

ninthcouncil

First Post

• Oct 28, 2002

• #4

Perhaps this is a good demonstration of why casual use of Call Azathoth is to be discouraged.

 

Plane Sailing

Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!

• Oct 28, 2002

• #5

See those bluish "tendrils" around the border of the structure?

It is actually growing... gathering up the material of this world and melding it into its own chaotic form. This could be to the mineral world what shub-niggurath is to the "animal & protoplasm" world.

Geologists investigating the feature start going missing, out by the fringes. After they go missing, the fringes in their area have extended further.

Also notice that the "tendrils" have a fractal-like outline. Strange that. The infinite recursive beauty that threatens to draw us into another world...

==

I love the idea of something growing, so slowly as to be imperceptible without time-lapse photography, but inexorably.

Cheers

 

The Forsaken One

Explorer

• Oct 28, 2002

• #6

Or, this picture represents all that is left after Cthulhu ate all those baked beans at the Elder Gods picnic.

Click to expand...

Or maybe this is what it what came OUT of Cthulhu after he ate all those baked beans at the Elder Gods picnic!

 

Thorntangle

First Post

• Oct 28, 2002

• #7

No, man... can't you see it? It's an Eye!

 

LcKedovan

Explorer

• Oct 28, 2002

• #8

ninthcouncil said:

Perhaps this is a good demonstration of why casual use of Call Azathoth is to be discouraged.

__________________
Graham

"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something."
- last words of Pancho Villa

Click to expand...

You know... the humerous thing about your .sig is that one of my brother's best CofC characters was a mexican dude who he named Pancho Villa who used to wear a big sombrero and poncho and drive a bicycle here is a bird's eye view of him on his bicycle:

-O-


-Will

 

Last edited: Oct 28, 2002

Desdichado

Hero

• Oct 28, 2002

• #9

Here's another image:

Click here - incredibly cool 268K image. Link added by Piratecat.

With this coloration, it suddenly looks like a formation on Mars. What in the world could explain the parallel growth of two identical geological (and not completely explainable) features on Mars and the earth at the same time?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 28, 2002

Barendd Nobeard

Explorer

• Oct 28, 2002

• #10

It's a crop circle for rock eaters!