NASA Satellite Captures Fascinating Images of an Ancient Lava Field in the Middle of the Sahara Desert
Earth from space is a completely different beast. For years, satellites have captured stunning visuals of the home planet. Another 'hot' entry has been added to this list, according to LADBible. The subject of the image is a region in the Sahara Desert, which appears to be a giant black field. 
The region is known as the Haruj volcanic field, located in central Libya. It is estimated to cover an area of around 45,000 square kilometres. For three years, a NASA satellite had been monitoring the area. The resultant image is a combination of pictures taken of the area from July 2013 to April 2016. An image created by such a method is called 'best pixel mosaic.'
The fossilized lava has been around for millions of years, according to Live Science. Experts claimed that the composite image makes the giant patch look like a gold-speckled shadow from space. The composite image was formed with the help of a special computer program. This program sorted through multiple photos of the same region. It took the pixels from the images that did not feature obscuring elements like clouds or dust storms. Researchers ensured that the pixels featuring sand patches that had settled in the lava gaps and caught the sunlight were selected. This was because other available satellite images did not focus on these sandy spots. Experts believe that the selection of these pixels has created the gold speckled effect across the field. 
The lava's dark color makes the field look smooth from above; however, in reality, the field is uneven. There are spots where multiple eruptions have resulted in the piling of rocks, making the texture rough in nature. In the field, experts have located volcanic rocks ranging in age from approximately 6 million years old to just thousands of years old.
The lava reportedly contains around 150 extinct volcanoes, varying in size from small vents and chimneys to shield volcanoes, according to NASA Earth Observatory. All the photos used for the field's 'best pixel mosaic' were captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.
The Haruj Mountains in central Libya—long dismissed as barren volcanic wastelands—hold secrets hidden in plain sight. With 150 volcanoes, the region is split into two: the Black Haruj, covered in hardened basalt, and a lesser-known realm where lakes rest atop dormant peaks. pic.twitter.com/zDnXhAUtPP
— Aprajita Nefes 🦋 Ancient Believer (@aprajitanefes) February 23, 2025
NASA scientists have also zoomed in on the eastern edge of the volcanic field shown in the composite image. In this image, there are several tan patches, which are spread all across the basalt. Experts think these patches are essentially depressions that are filled with fine-grained sand. Here, the team has also singled out a formation called kipuka, which is also known as balta. Such formations are covered by younger lava flows, but not fully surrounded. The team further added that these flows move from west to east, and were born amid a five-million-year period, just at the beginning of the Pliocene.
The Haruj volcanic field has always stood apart from others of its kind because of its features, according to Live Science. Typically, volcanoes are placed alongside fault lines. In Haruj's case, though there are no fault lines; instead, the lava here was dragged from the mantle due to the surge of some hot material. Hence, it has always been an appealing subject for experts. Some have speculated that Haruj is composed of two volcanic fields, namely Al Haruj al Aswad in the north and Al Haruj al Abyad in the south. The theory is yet to be confirmed through analysis.