Related papers: The small mounds of Bayuda region
The course of the Nile in northern Sudan follows a contorted path through bedrocks, creating the Great Bend. Few years ago, the satellite images showed a fertile strip of land with villages, where paleochannels of the river hosted many…
The paper is proposing a survey of a region in Sudan, the Bayuda desert, using the satellite images as obtained from Google Maps. The images reveal the ring granitic structure of the region enclosed by a bend of river Nile. To enhance the…
A recent announcement of some pyramids, buried under the sand of Egypt and discovered by means of infrared remote sensing, renewed the interest on the archaeological surveys aided by satellites. Here we propose the use of images, obtained…
The Arabia Shield has a volcanic nature inside. A region of the Western Saudi Arabia is in fact covered with vast fields of lava known as harraat. These lands are spotted by many stone circles and other quite interesting archaeological…
In several desert areas, the slow motion of sand dunes can be a challenge for modern human activities and a threat for the survival of ancient places or archaeological sites. However, several methods exist for surveying the dune fields and…
Erosion by flowing water is one of the major forces shaping the surface of Earth. Studies in the last decade have shown, in particular, that the drainage region of rivers, where water is collected, exhibits scale invariant features…
We propose the use of image processing to enhance the Google Maps of some archaeological areas of Egypt. In particular we analyse that place which is considered the cradle of pyramids, where it was announced the discovery of a new pyramid…
An arid land, known as the Syrian Desert, is covering a large part of the Middle East. In the past, this harsh environment, characterized by huge lava fields, the "harraat", was considered as a barrier between Levant and Mesopotamia. When…
Several methods exist for surveying the dunes and estimate their migration rate. Among methods suitable for the macroscopic scale, the use of the satellite images available on Google Earth is a convenient resource, in particular because of…
Small seasonal wetlands are a distinctive feature of the semi-arid environments. Although these systems are small and ephemeral in nature, they provide habitats to aquatic flora and fauna, and play a critical role in sustaining livelihoods…
Conceptual landscapes in Egypt show a remarkable continuity - for as long as 2000 years - in the use of symbols and in the interplay between natural and man-built features. Directionality, both in the sense of succession of elements and of…
Earthworks appear in the satellite images of deforested sections of the Amazon Basin. These images, and several other archaeological evidences, are showing that a lost civilization is waiting for further researches.
Arabia Terra is a region of Mars where signs of past-water occurrence are recorded in several landforms. Broad and local scale geomorphological, compositional and hydrological analyses point towards pervasive fluid circulation through time.…
Mars' surface bears the imprint of valley networks formed billions of years ago and their relicts can still be observed today. However, whether these networks were formed by groundwater sapping, ice melt, or fluvial runoff has been…
The problem of localization of megalithic memorials on the Earth surface is investigated. It is pointed on existence of Great Belt of megalithic observatories - of con- centration of astronomically significant objects near geographical…
A recent exploration has shown the presence of a significant void in the pyramid of Khufu at Giza. A possible explanation of this space, interpreted as a chamber connected to the lower north channel and aimed to contain a specific funerary…
Interesting landforms created by an ancient network of earthworks are shown, using Google satellite imagery enhanced by an image processing. This network covers a large part of the land near the Titicaca Lake. Satellite images clearly…
It is known since the 19 century that in the layout of the pyramid field of the pharaohs of the 4 th Egyptian dynasty at Giza, a main axis exists. Indeed, the south-east corners of these monuments align towards the site of the temple of…
Drain away the earth's oceans and a global pattern of great ridges appears. Adjacent to these continental and undersea mountain ranges are layers of silt and clay, so thick that they fill the gaps between ridges, creating extensive…
The chain of late Roman fortified settlements built in the Kharga Oasis, in Egypt Western Desert, represents an interesting case study to analyse how the ancient Roman town planners interacted with the landscape. A peculiar feature of the…