Brandberg Massif, Namibia

Credit: Credit: USGS/NASA, Posted on: Sunday, 1 February 2004, 06:00 CST Download full size image

Over 120 million years ago, a single mass of granite punched through the Earth’s crust and intruded into the heart of the Namib Desert in what is now northern Namibia. Today the mountain of rock called the Brandberg Massif towers over the arid desert below. A ring of dark, steep-sided rocks forced upward during the mountain's arrival encircles the granite intruder. The locals call it Dâures —- the burning mountain. Its volcanism has long since stilled, but the granite core left behind apparently glows redly in the light of the setting sun. The formation is a remnant of a long period of tumultuous volcanic and geological activity on Earth during which the southern super-continent of Gondwana was splitting apart. This is a Landsat image.

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