Hoggar Mountains

(Redirected from Hoggar) Mountain range in Algeria "Hoggar" redirects here. Not to be confused with Hoggard (disambiguation).

Hoggar Mountains
Landscape of the Assekrem region in the Hoggar in Tamanrasset Province
Highest point
Peak	Mount Tahat
Elevation	2,908 m (9,541 ft)
Coordinates	23°17′20″N 05°32′01″E / 23.28889°N 5.53361°E / 23.28889; 5.53361
Naming
Native name	جبال هقار (Arabic) Idurar n Uhaggar (Berber languages)
Geography
Hoggar MountainsLocation in southern Algeria
Country	Algeria

Hoggar National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Locator map

Location	Tamanrasset Province, Algeria
Nearest city	Tamanrasset
Coordinates	22°08′N 6°10′E / 22.133°N 6.167°E / 22.133; 6.167
Area	450,000 km (170,000 sq mi)
Established	1987

The Hoggar Mountains (Arabic: جبال هقار (Ǧibāl Haqqār), Berber: idurar n Ahaggar) are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km.

The Hoggar Mountains are home to the Ahaggar National Park, one of the national parks of the country. The tallest peak in the range and Algeria, Mount Tahat, is located in the park area, which covers approximately 450,000 square kilometres (170,000 sq mi).

Geography

This mountainous region is located about 1,500 km (930 mi) south of the capital, Algiers. The area is largely rocky desert with an average elevation of more than 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level. The highest peak, Mount Tahat, is at 2,908 m (9,541 ft). The mountains are primarily composed of metamorphic rock approximately 2 billion years old, although there are areas where more recent volcanic activity has laid down much newer rock. Several of the more dramatic peaks, such as Ilamen, are the result of erosion wearing away extinct volcano domes, leaving behind the more resistant material that plugged the volcanic cones.

Assekrem is a famous and often visited point where Charles de Foucauld built a hermitage in 1911.

The highlands are believed to be one of the main sources of the Tamanrasset River, an ancient river that flowed during the African humid period, and named after the main city near the Hoggar Mountains, Tamanrasset, built in a desert valley or wadi that was part of the ancient watercourse.

Environment

The Hoggar Mountains range typically experiences hot summers, with a cold winter climate. Temperatures fall below freezing in the winter. Rainfall is rare and sporadic year-round. However, since the climate is less extreme than in most other areas of the Sahara, the mountains are a major location for biodiversity, including a number of relict species. The Hoggar Mountains are part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion.

Flora and fauna

Vegetation in this area includes trees such as Vachellia tortilis, Vachellia seyal, myrtle and Tamarix aphylla which are scattered throughout the area. Other plants may include Citrullus colocynthis and Calotropis procera.

Slightly to the west of the Hoggar range, a population of the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) remained viable into the 20th century, but is now thought to be extirpated within this entire region. Relict populations of the West African crocodile persisted in the Hoggar Mountains until the early 20th century.

Analysis of collected scat in 2006 showed the presence of the Northwest African cheetah in the region. Between August 2008 and November 2010, four individuals were recorded by camera traps. A single cheetah was filmed and photographed by Algerian naturalists in 2020 in the national park in the Atakor volcanic field whose peaks approach a height of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). The park also contains a population of herbivores such as the saharan subspecies of the barbary sheep and the Dorcas gazelle.

The park has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of spotted, crowned and Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse, Pharaoh eagle-owls, pallid harriers, greater hoopoe-larks, bar-tailed and desert larks, pale rock martins, fulvous babblers, white-crowned and mourning wheatears, desert sparrows and trumpeter finches.

History

Prehistoric settlement is evident from extant rock paintings dating to 6000 BC. The Hoggar Massif is the land of the Kel Ahaggar Tuareg. The tomb of Tin Hinan, the woman believed to be the matriarch of the Tuareg, is located at Abalessa, an oasis near Tamanrasset.

The hermitage of Charles de Foucauld, which continues to be inhabited by a few Catholic monks, is at the top of the Assekrem plateau in the Hoggar Mountains.

Underground atomic tests were conducted by France in the mountains in the 1960s.

Panorama of the Ahaggar Mountains

References

^ Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
^ "Ahaggar National Park, Saharan Algeria Region, Algeria". Algeria.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
Sattin, Anthony Ham, Nana Luckham, Anthony (2007). Algeria (1st ed.). Footscray, Vic.: Lonely Planet. p. 188. ISBN 978-1741790993. assekrem.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Hogan, C. Michael (2009). "Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus". GlobalTwitcher.com. N. Stromberg. Archived from the original on December 9, 2010.
Brito, J. C.; Martínez-Freiría, F.; Sierra, P.; et al. (2011). "Crocodiles in the Sahara Desert: An Update of Distribution, Habitats and Population Status for Conservation Planning in Mauritania". PLOS One. 6 (2): e14734. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...614734B. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.293.4325. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014734. PMC 3045445. PMID 21364897.
Busby, G. B. J. (2006). The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in Northern Africa : A Non-Invasive Genetic Study of Carnivores from the Ahaggar Mountains, Southern Algeria (PDF) (Master's thesis). Imperial College London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
Busby, G. B. J.; Gottelli, D.; Durant, S.; et al. (November 2006). "A Report from the Sahelo Saharan Interest Group - Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar Survey, Algeria (March 2005) - Part 5: Using Molecular Genetics to study the Presence of Endangered Carnivores" (PDF). Unpublished Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
Belbachir, F.; Pettorelli, N.; Wacher, T.; Belbachir-Bazi, A. & Durant, S.M. (2015). "Monitoring rarity: the critically endangered Saharan cheetah as a flagship species for a threatened ecosystem". PLOS ONE. 10 (1): e0115136. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1015136B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115136. PMC 4309643. PMID 25629400.
Agence France-Presse (24 May 2020). "Critically Endangered Saharan Cheetah Seen in Algeria For The First Time in a Decade". Sciencealert.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
"Parc National de l'Ahaggar". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
Haggett, Peter (2001). Encyclopedia of World Geography. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 0-7614-7289-4.
Ham, Anthony (2007). Algeria. Lonely Planet. p. 188.

External links

v t e National Parks of Algeria
Ahaggar Belezma Chréa Djurdjura El Kala Gouraya Tassili n'Ajjer Taza Théniet El Had Tlemcen

v t e Mountains of Algeria
Tell Atlas	Blidean Atlas Babor Mountains Beni-Chougrane Bibans Bouzegza Mount [ar] Constantine Mountains Chenoua Mount Dahra Range Djurdjura Edough Khachna Kroumirie Ouarsenis Medjerda Mountains Murdjajo Numidian Range Saïda Mountains Tlemcen Mountains Titteri Tessala Range Trara Yemma Gouraya
Saharan Atlas	Amour Range Aurès Mountains Belezma Range Hodna Mountains Ksour Range Ouled Naïl Range Nememcha Range Zab Mountains
Saharan massifs	Ougarta Range Ahaggar Mountains Teffedest Mountains Tassili n'Ajjer Tadrart Rouge Adrar des Ifoghas
Peaks	Achaoun Anneb Djebel Antar Djebel Azao Djebel Chélia Djebel Grouz Djebel Guetiane Djebel Tsili Koudiat Béni Arif Koudiat Sidi Abdelkader Lalla Khedidja Maouna Mount Babor Mount Bissa Mount Issa Mount Tahat Mount Tamgout Mount Zaccar Pic des Singes Taourirt Tan Afella Thaletat
Geography of Algeria List of mountains in Algeria Atlas Mountains Hautes Plaines Kem Kem

v t e Major African geological formations
Plates	Major plates: African plate Minor plates: Somali plate Microplates: Lwandle plate Madagascar plate Rovuma plate Seychelles plate Victoria Microplate
Cratons and shields	Arabian-Nubian Shield Congo Craton Kaapvaal Craton Kalahari Craton Saharan Metacraton Tanzania Craton Tuareg Shield West African Craton Zimbabwe Craton
Shear zones	Aswa Dislocation Broodkop Shear Zone Central African Shear Zone Chuan Shear Zones Foumban Shear Zone Kandi Fault Zone Mwembeshi Shear Zone Todi Shear Zone Western Meseta Shear Zone
Orogens	Alpine Orogen Cape Fold Belt Damara Orogen East African Orogen Eburnean Orogen Gondwanide Orogen Kibaran Orogen Kuunga Orogen Mauritanide Belt Pan-African orogens Terra Australis Orogen
Rifts	Afar Triangle Anza trough Bahr el Arab rift Benue Trough Blue Nile rift East African Rift Gulf of Suez Rift Lamu Embayment Melut Basin Muglad Basin Red Sea Rift Sangha Aulacogen Atbara rift Urema Valley West and Central African Rift System White Nile rift
Sedimentary basins	Angola Basin Aoukar Blue Nile Basin Chad Basin Congo Basin Douala Basin El Djouf Karoo Basin Gabon Basin Iullemmeden Basin Kufra Basin Murzuq Basin Niger Delta Basin Ogaden Basin Orange River Basin Ouled Abdoun Basin Owambo Basin Reggane Basin Rio del Rey Basin Sirte Basin Somali Coastal Basin Taoudeni Basin Tanzania Coastal Basin Tindouf Basin Turkana Basin
Mountain ranges	Aïr Mountains Atlas Mountains Aurès Mountains Bambouk Mountains Blue Mountains Cameroon line Central Pangean Mountains Chaillu Mountains Drakensberg Eastern Arc Mountains Eastern Rift mountains Ethiopian Highlands Great Escarpment Great Karas Mountains Guinea Highlands Hoggar Mountains Imatong Mountains Jebel Uweinat Loma Mountains Mandara Mountains Marrah Mountains Mitumba Mountains Nuba Mountains Rif Mountains Rwenzori Mountains Sankwala Mountains Serra da Leba Serra da Chela Teffedest Mountains Tibesti Mountains
Inselbergs (aka koppie)	Anti-Atlas Mount Gorongosa Jugurtha Tableland Mount Mabu Mulanje Massif Mont Niénokoué Wase Rock Zuma Rock List of inselbergs

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