{{Short description|Ancient, inactive river in Algeria}} {{about|the ancient river|the city|Tamanrasset|other uses|Tamanrasset (disambiguation)}} [[File:Figure 1. Tamanrasset River. Hydrological context of Africa.jpg|alt=Figure 1. Tamanrasset River. Hydrological context of Africa|right|400px|thumb|Outline of the main course of the '''Tamanrasset''' along with the present-day active [[Nile River|Nile]], [[Senegal River|Senegal]], [[Niger River|Niger]], [[Sanaga River|Sanaga]] and [[Congo River|Congo]].<ref name="Skonieczny2015"/>]] The '''Tamanrasset River''' is an enormous [[palaeoriver]] believed to have flowed through [[West Africa]] as recently as 5000 years ago during the [[African humid period]]. The Tamanrasset River basin is thought to have been comparable with the present-day [[Ganges–Brahmaputra river basin]] in Asia.<ref name="Klokočník2017"/><ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="Gizmodo"/><ref name="Vice"/><ref name="Condé Nast"/>
== Tributaries == Western side: * [[Oued Saoura]] * Oued Namous Eastern side: * Oued Tamanrasset
==Overview== The Tamanrasset is thought to have flowed across the Sahara in ancient times from sources in the southern [[Atlas Mountains]] and [[Hoggar Mountains]] in what is now [[Algeria]].<ref name="Guardian"/>
It is thought the river fed into the Cap Timiris Canyon, located off the coast of [[Mauritania]]; the canyon is located in waters three kilometres deep and is 2.5km wide in places.<ref name="KrastelHanebuth2004"/><ref name="Guardian"/>
The presence of the river is thought to have had wide-ranging implications for [[Early human migrations|human migration]] from Central Africa to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Previously, the inhospitable [[Sahara desert]] was believed to have made a western route for migrating to Europe unviable.<ref name="HartCoulthard2013"/><ref name="CSM"/><ref name="Lahr2010"/><ref name="LCHES"/>
Researchers believe that the ancient river became active during the [[African humid period|African Humid Period]], climate oscillations caused by the [[Axial precession|precession of the Earth's rotation]].<ref name="Gizmodo"/>
The palaeoriver was discovered using a Japanese orbital satellite system called [[Advanced Land Observation Satellite|Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar]] (PALSAR). Using microwave sensing, PALSAR can see below Saharan sands and detect the [[fossil water]] still present.<ref name="Vice"/>
The Tamanrasset has been noted as a possible location for an ancient Saharan civilization based solely on comparisons with similar contemporary river systems and their associated civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Choudhury |first=Sajjad |date=Aug 15, 2021 |title=The Mysterious People That Lived in the Green Sahara |url=https://historyofyesterday.com/the-mysterious-people-that-lived-in-the-green-sahara-f993fe30a9d9 |access-date=August 8, 2022 |website=History of Yesterday}}</ref> The existence and location of the Tamanrasset River was only confirmed by scientists in 2015, although an expedition looking for oil found the Cap Timiris Canyon in 2003 which was likely formed by the flow of the sediment-laden freshwater of this river system.<ref>Antobreh, Andrew A. (January 2006). "Morphology, seismic characteristics and development of Cap Timiris Canyon, offshore Mauritania: A newly discovered canyon preserved-off a major arid climatic region". ''Science Direct''. Retrieved August 8, 2022.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wynn |first1=R. B. |last2=Wien |first2=K. |last3=Schulz |first3=H. D. |last4=Kölling |first4=M. |last5=Holz |first5=C. |last6=Henrich |first6=R. |last7=Antobreh |first7=A. A. |last8=Hanebuth |first8=T. J. J. |last9=Krastel |first9=S. |date=June 3, 2011 |title=CapTimiris Canyon: A newly discovered channel system offshore of Mauritania |journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union|volume=85 |issue=42 |page=417 |doi=10.1029/2004EO420001 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Currently no evidence exists of any former civilization or agricultural community which dates to the time in which the river was present.
==See also== *[[Arak gorges]] *[[African humid period]]
==References== {{reflist|40em|refs= <ref name="CSM">{{cite web |last1=Botkin-Kowacki |first1=E. |title=Rivers may have once criss-crossed the Sahara, say scientists |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1112/Rivers-may-have-once-criss-crossed-the-Sahara-say-scientists |website=csmonitor.com |publisher=Christian Science Monitor |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181107133538/https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1112/Rivers-may-have-once-criss-crossed-the-Sahara-say-scientists |archive-date=7 November 2018 |date=12 Nov 2015}}</ref> <ref name="HartCoulthard2013">{{cite journal|last1=Hart|first1=John P.|last2=Coulthard|first2=Tom J.|last3=Ramirez|first3=Jorge A.|last4=Barton|first4=Nick|last5=Rogerson|first5=Mike|last6=Brücher|first6=Tim|title=Were Rivers Flowing across the Sahara During the Last Interglacial? Implications for Human Migration through Africa|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=9|year=2013|article-number=e74834|issn=1932-6203|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0074834|pmid=24040347|pmc=3770569|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/151156471.pdf|bibcode=2013PLoSO...874834C|doi-access=free}}</ref> <ref name="KrastelHanebuth2004">{{cite journal|last1=Krastel|first1=S.|last2=Hanebuth|first2=T. J. J.|last3=Antobreh|first3=A. A.|last4=Henrich|first4=R.|last5=Holz|first5=C.|last6=Kölling|first6=M.|last7=Schulz|first7=H. D.|last8=Wien|first8=K.|last9=Wynn|first9=R. B.|title=CapTimiris Canyon: A newly discovered channel system offshore of Mauritania|journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union|volume=85|issue=42|year=2004|page=417|issn=0096-3941|doi=10.1029/2004EO420001|bibcode=2004EOSTr..85..417K|doi-access=free}}</ref> <ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Sample |first1=I. |title=Ancient river network discovered buried under Saharan sand |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/10/ancient-river-network-discoverd-buried-under-saharan-sand |work=The Guardian |date=10 Nov 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151113001253/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/10/ancient-river-network-discoverd-buried-under-saharan-sand |archive-date=13 November 2015}}</ref> <ref name="Gizmodo">{{cite web |last1=Stone |first1=M. |title=A Vast River Network Once Crisscrossed the Sahara |url=https://gizmodo.com/a-vast-river-network-once-crisscrossed-the-sahara-1741984951 |website=gizmodo.com |publisher=Gizmodo |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151111221526/http://gizmodo.com/a-vast-river-network-once-crisscrossed-the-sahara-1741984951 |archive-date=11 November 2015 |date=11 Nov 2015}}</ref> <ref name="Vice">{{cite web |last1=Ferreira |first1=B. |title=There's a Long-Lost 'Paleo-River' Beneath the Sahara Desert Nobody Knew Existed |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/theres-a-long-lost-paleo-river-beneath-the-sahara-desert-nobody-knew-existed/ |website=motherboard.vice.com |publisher=Vice Media |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181107093009/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qkjd95/theres-a-long-lost-paleo-river-beneath-the-sahara-desert-nobody-knew-existed |archive-date=7 November 2018 |url-status=live |date=10 Nov 2015}}</ref> <ref name="Condé Nast">{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=S. K. |title=Beneath the Saharan sands, a river valley |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/beneath-the-saharan-sands-a-river-valley/ |website=arstechnica.com |publisher=Condé Nast |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151111134149/http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/beneath-the-saharan-sands-a-river-valley/ |archive-date=11 November 2015 |date=10 Nov 2015}}</ref> <ref name="LCHES">{{cite web |last1=Lahr |first1=M. M. |title=Prehistory and Human Evolution in the Sahara |url=http://www.human-evol.cam.ac.uk/desertpasts/resources_prehis_1.html |website=human-evol.cam.ac.uk |publisher=Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181106230312/http://www.human-evol.cam.ac.uk/desertpasts/resources_prehis_1.html |archive-date=6 November 2018 |date=2011}}</ref> <ref name="Klokočník2017">{{cite journal|last1=Klokočník|first1=Jaroslav|last2=Kostelecký|first2=Jan|last3=Cílek|first3=Václav|last4=Bezděk|first4=Aleš|last5=Pešek|first5=Ivan|title=A support for the existence of paleolakes and paleorivers buried under Saharan sand by means of "gravitational signal" from EIGEN 6C4|journal=Arabian Journal of Geosciences|volume=10|issue=9|year=2017|issn=1866-7511|doi=10.1007/s12517-017-2962-8|s2cid=132812529|url=http://www.asu.cas.cz/~jklokocn/AJG_2017_Sahara.pdf|ref={{harvid|Klokočník et al.|2017}} }}</ref> <ref name="Skonieczny2015">{{cite journal|last1=Skonieczny|first1=C.|last2=Paillou|first2=P.|last3=Bory|first3=A.|last4=Bayon|first4=G.|last5=Biscara|first5=L.|last6=Crosta|first6=X.|last7=Eynaud|first7=F.|last8=Malaizé|first8=B.|last9=Revel|first9=M.|last10=Aleman|first10=N.|last11=Barusseau|first11=J. -P.|last12=Vernet|first12=R.|last13=Lopez|first13=S.|last14=Grousset|first14=F.|title=African humid periods triggered the reactivation of a large river system in Western Sahara|journal=Nature Communications|volume=6|issue=1|page=8751|year=2015|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/ncomms9751|pmid=26556052|bibcode=2015NatCo...6E8751S|ref={{harvid|Skonieczny et al.|2015}} |pmc=4659928}}</ref> <ref name="Lahr2010">{{cite book |last1=Lahr |first1=M. M. |editor1-last=Fleagle |editor1-first=J. G. |editor2-last=Shea |editor2-first=J. J. |editor3-last=Grine |editor3-first=F. E. |editor4-last=Baden |editor4-first=A. L. |editor5-last=Leakey |editor5-first=R. E. |title=Out of Africa: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht |isbn=978-90-481-9035-5 |chapter-url=http://www.human-evol.cam.ac.uk/desertpasts/pdf/evol_geogra_hum_disp/lahr_2010_out_of_africa_1_bk_chapter.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329015602/http://www.human-evol.cam.ac.uk/desertpasts/pdf/evol_geogra_hum_disp/lahr_2010_out_of_africa_1_bk_chapter.pdf |archive-date=29 March 2016 |chapter=Saharan Corridors and Their Role in the Evolutionary Geography|oclc=939066131|lccn=2010932000}}</ref> }}
==External links== {{Commons and category|Tamanrasset River|Tamanrasset River}}
[[Category:Former rivers]] [[Category:Rivers of Africa]] [[Category:Geography of West Africa]]