The Richat Structure in central Mauritania is a stunning geological structure 50 kilometers across (Wikipedia entry). Once thought to be an impact crater, it is actually a sedimentary formation that has eroded flat over many eons. Apparently there’s a hotel smack-bang in the middle of it.

There are also several other similar structures in the Sahara, such as the Jebel Uwaynat (thumbnail #2) which was used to define the borders of Sudan, Egypt and Libya, and also the Brandberg Intrusion in Namibia.

Even though none of these features are in high-resolution, it’s well worth zooming in a bit, as they’re perhaps even more fascinating to look at closer up.

Thanks to Pat Scaramuzza, Peter Nordstrom, GeMatt and Kai Huebner.

This isn’t a sight I’m afraid, just a quick update… Has anyone else noticed that Google have finally put a scale on their maps?

Update: Yup, sorry it appears I missed the boat. There’s an article over on Scavengeroogle about it already

Update 2: Oops. Googlemapsmania had it first, and apparently we told them about it! Who knew? However, a comment on this post points something very cool out. Tobin said:

did you notice that if you’re looking at the initial view (the entire US), when you scroll around the map, the scale changes? I assume it’s because the curvature of the earth.

Try it out, it’s cool!

Some large type. ‘Net Jesus Red‘ is seen here written on the side of a hill in Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa. I assume the language is Afrikaans, but unfortunately none of the online tools I could find would translate it…

I tried Dutch though, and got ‘Save Exactly Jesus’. Can anyone do a more accurate translation?

Updated: Thanks to everyone who translated the Afrikaans to “Only Jesus Saves”.

Thanks to TeddyJoe.

Battersea Powerstation was constructed in the early 1930s but has been disused since the late 70s. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (who also designed the classic red phoneboxes) the power station is probably most famous for starring alongside an inflatable pig on the cover of Pink Floyd’s album, ‘Animals‘.

Since they pulled out the generating equipment there has been no roof on the building so we can see right into the middle, which could easily house Trafalgar Square and St Paul’s Cathedral (it’s one of the largest brick structures in Europe). Soon it will all be gone to make way for trendy apartments, posh hotels and sculptured gardens. For more info and ground level panoramas see the BBC site.

Thanks: Reagan Blundell, Bertrand Capo, Wayne, GazH (UK), Richard Wild, russ, Charles Chow & Andy