algeria: Tassili n'Ajjer

Tassili n'Ajjer (Berber: Tasili n Ajjer, meaning "Plateau of the Rivers"; Arabic: طاسيلي ناجر‎) is a mountain range in the Algerian section of the Sahara Desert. It is a vast plateau in south-east Algeria at the borders of Libya and Niger, covering an area of 72,000 km².

Geography[edit source]

The Tassili n'Ajjer range extends from 26°20′N 5°00′E east-south-east to24°00′N 10°00′E, and the highest point is Adrar Afao, 2158 m, at 25°10′N 8°11′E. The nearest town is Djanet, about 10 km southwest of the range. Much of the range, including the cypresses and archaeological sites (see below), is protected in a National park, Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, named the Tassili n'Ajjer National Park.

The plateau is also of great geological and aesthetic interest: the panorama of geological formations with "rock forests" of eroded sandstone resembles a strange lunar landscape.

Geology[edit source]

The range is composed largely of sandstone. Erosion in the area has resulted in nearly 300 natural rock arches being formed, along with many other spectacular landforms.

Ecology[edit source]

Because of the altitude and the water-holding properties of the sandstone, the vegetation here is somewhat richer than in the surrounding desert; it includes a very scattered woodland of the endangered endemic species Saharan Cypress and Saharan Myrtle in the higher eastern half of the range.

The ecology of the Tassili n'Ajjer is more fully described in the article West Saharan montane xeric woodlands, the ecoregion to which this area belongs. The literal English translation of Tassili n'Ajjer is 'Plateau of the rivers' referring to a time when the climate was repeatedly far wetter than it is today (see Neolithic Subpluvial).

In popular culture[edit source]

Tassili is the recording location and the title of a 2011 album by the Tuareg-Berber band Tinariwen.
In his 1992 book Food of the Gods, new-age icon Terence McKenna hypothesized that the Neolithic culture that inhabited the site used psilocybin mushrooms as part of its religious ritual life, citing rock paintings showing persons holding mushroom-like objects in their hands, as well as mushrooms growing from their bodies.
Tassili Plain is a track on the 1994 album Natural Wonders of the World in Dub by dub reggae group Zion Train.