Curious carpet-like patterns in Algerian desert

lostinself

Jedi Master
In Aldar province, central Algeria, large areas of a desert seem to be covered with a regular geometric line pattern, like a rectangular grid rotated by 45 deg. Lines are mostly worn and hard to spot on satellite images but the design can be easily recognized in several locations.

https://www.google.pl/maps/@28.1700162,0.3958055,3290m/data=!3m1!1e3

https://www.google.pl/maps/@28.0414994,0.3597566,3294m/data=!3m1!1e3

https://www.google.pl/maps/@27.8711866,0.3890028,3299m/data=!3m1!1e3

I'm also attaching some screenshots.

Note the size of the pattern: each cell is ~400m high/wide. Also, the design seems pretty intricate, decorative even, with lines being subtly curved. It reminds me of Arabic style. Given the size, it looks quite impressive and may point to an advanced civilization having once lived in that region.

What are these lines and how old are they? Are they traces of an ancient irrigation grid for some cultivation areas or gardens? As we now know, western Sahara wasn't always a desert:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/10/ancient-river-network-discoverd-buried-under-saharan-sand

If the river map is accurate, the proposed Tamanrasett river reached the exact location of the patterns with its upper arm.
 

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Originally i found the patterns mentioned here:

https://curiousmatic.com/4-mysterious-satellite-images-to-feed-your-inner-conspiracy-theorist/

According to a Reddit user, these grid-like patterns show up on Nokia maps as well. So i assume it's not a Google-specific glitch or manipulation.
 
This is very strange, too perfect. I am at a loss for what it might represent.
 
Let's add to the curiosity...
Some years ago i stumbled on some pictures (google earth) depicting the exact same pattern (also in a desert area). Now i can't find the pictures or the place. The area was definitely the middle east, perhaps eastern Syria if i remember correctly, but not Africa...

Edit:
Found a link, __http://www.viewzone.com/syriangrid.html
 
It's all a watermark in the photo. Zoom in and you can see more details to the pattern and also the copyright name. All of the satellite imagery is watermarked.
 
rs said:
It's all a watermark in the photo. Zoom in and you can see more details to the pattern and also the copyright name. All of the satellite imagery is watermarked.
Did You look at the link I provided? To me it doesn't look like "watermarks" but rather tyre tracks in the sand.
 
rs said:
It's all a watermark in the photo. Zoom in and you can see more details to the pattern and also the copyright name. All of the satellite imagery is watermarked.

Watermarking in satellite images used in Google Maps does not scale together with the terrain when the map is zoomed in/out. The point probably is for watermarks not to be confused with terrain features.

Also the lines in question seem to be bound to a certain type (level) of terrain. It can be seen at the first of attached images - the lines are not visible over what seems to be an old river bed.

clerck de bonk said:
Let's add to the curiosity...
Some years ago i stumbled on some pictures (google earth) depicting the exact same pattern (also in a desert area). Now i can't find the pictures or the place. The area was definitely the middle east, perhaps eastern Syria if i remember correctly, but not Africa...

Edit:
Found a link, __http://www.viewzone.com/syriangrid.html

There are differences but overall it looks very similar. I wonder how old are they and if if the two grids served the same purpose, whatever it was.
 
These patterns are highly unusual. To me they don't like like digital watermarks, their details are irregular. I wanted to think of (military?) automobile tracks, but then, what a strange exercise/training to do in the desert. Really, I don't have an explanation apart from that.

clerck de bonk said:
Let's add to the curiosity...
Some years ago i stumbled on some pictures (google earth) depicting the exact same pattern (also in a desert area). Now i can't find the pictures or the place. The area was definitely the middle east, perhaps eastern Syria if i remember correctly, but not Africa...

Edit:
Found a link, __http://www.viewzone.com/syriangrid.html

Thanks for the link. The article doesn't give a link to Google Maps, but I found them:

https://www.google.pl/maps/@34.9226156,41.1370583,1686m/data=!3m1!1e3
 
I'm scrolling through the map right now. Other parts of that desert are cut with perfect straight lines, sometimes also forming a grid.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.0092515,2.2014953,3264m/data=!3m1!1e3

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4372129,2.3406771,3250m/data=!3m1!1e3

Such perfect straight lines are most often associated with Nazca area but it seems they can be found in deserts all over the world. Some time ago i was looking into Kazakhstan deserts and they were there as well. They're not roads as they pass seamlessly through various terrain features.
 
Pretty interesting. I also noticed that the place Data found, is several thousand kilometers apart from the places lostinself has found in Algeria. Also interesting is that you can see on the map-point that Data found, that it is a different geometrical pattern then the first three map-points lostinself provided in his first post. The last two links from lostinself last post, show jet another geometrical configuration.

Also interesting:

In Data's map you can see strings, of what looks like holes aligned in lines like a bead chain in different lengths (hole numbers). Those "chains" seem to be aligned to each other in yet another geometrical formation in somekind of combination with the geometrical lines.

I checked and those bead chain like holes, with their geometrically aligned spacing to each other, as well as their lengths follow this geometrical pattern. Those holes only seem to visible generally where the geometrical lines are and their geometry seems to fit in the geometry of the lines.

I've marked all the "chains" I could find in this screenshot (not the chains that seem to be perpendicular to those):

bild1vector2EYGC.png


There also appears to be at least a couple of this bead chain like holes, that seem to be directly perpendicular to the marked holes above...
 
Another map service provides more detailed images of the lines in Algeria:

https://maps.here.com/?map=27.8574,0.38085,18,satellite

At this scale they're indeed very similar to the lines in Syria. They clearly resemble vehicle tracks. The military exercise hypothesis seems like a probable one.
 
Hi,
I've been wondering about a similar grid-like pattern located at https://www.google.cz/maps/@28.6751323,1.1016211,15z/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

I came to the same conclusion, i.e. these are certainly tracks of some vehicle, but I don't think the military would ride so deep into the desert just to "draw some lines in the sand". :) In Google Earth, I found some photos associated with the nearby area and one of them referred to a "GR5 gas pipeline". After some research, in short, it seems likely that those tracks belong to geological survey trucks that were mapping the area, presumably searching for suitable "tapping points" for oil or natural gas. This also explains the regular, geometric pattern. Also, it corresponds quite well with the map of gas / oil fields in the area (see attachment) -- you will find similar pattern near most of these areas..

So, mystery solved, I think. Finally I can sleep in peace.. ^^
 

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It looks very interesting. Since it is a desert has it not moving sand most of the time?

H:S said:
Hi,
I've been wondering about a similar grid-like pattern located at https://www.google.cz/maps/@28.6751323,1.1016211,15z/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

I came to the same conclusion, i.e. these are certainly tracks of some vehicle, but I don't think the military would ride so deep into the desert just to "draw some lines in the sand". :) In Google Earth, I found some photos associated with the nearby area and one of them referred to a "GR5 gas pipeline". After some research, in short, it seems likely that those tracks belong to geological survey trucks that were mapping the area, presumably searching for suitable "tapping points" for oil or natural gas. This also explains the regular, geometric pattern. Also, it corresponds quite well with the map of gas / oil fields in the area (see attachment) -- you will find similar pattern near most of these areas..

So, mystery solved, I think. Finally I can sleep in peace.. ^^

To me it sounds like a plausible explanation.

Anyway, seeing as this is your first post on the forum, we would appreciate it if you would post a brief intro about yourself in the Newbies section, telling us how you found this forum, how long you've been reading it and/or the SOTT page, whether or not you've read any of Laura's books yet, etc.
 
I thought it was the watermark of the map at first, but it seems form Data's link it isn't, I'd speculate it may have been old roads? no? :huh:
 
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