Talemzane crater



Talemzane or madena (tamazight:ⵜⴰⵍⴻⵎⵣⴰⵏ Arabic:تالمزان/مادنة) is an impact crater in Algeria, 40 km south-east of Hassi Delaa (a small city).

One of four such craters in the country, Talemzane is classified as a simple crater. It has been designated by the 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference to be a two-million- year-old, "true meteorite crater."

Explored for the first time in 1928, studied in 1950 and 1988 by researchers from the universities of Oran (Algeria) and Nice (France). It is 1.75 km in diameter and the age is estimated to be less than three million years and is probably Pliocene.

The name Maadna come from Arabic for "depression of ore."