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How a volcano crater the size of Ohio became home to a small village in Madagascar
A 90 million-year-old mountain in Madagascar, older than Mount Everest and the Grand Canyon, is marked by a crater, which wasn’t inhabited until 2008.
The Vox team, on discovering the spherical geographical structure on Google Maps, set out to learn more about the hidden mountain and the reason behind the location of the small village in one of the most remote regions. And what they discovered in the process is mind-boggling.
Ancient Madagascar mountain has a humongous crater village
The team at Vox went to great lengths to unravel the mystery surrounding the remote village in Madagascar, which was empty before 2008. It is supposedly located in a crater covering a bigger area than Paris, which is almost the same size as Ohio.
The researchers’ effort to find out more about the hidden region using the Internet was rendered useless as all they found were some popular anime references.
They later sought the help of experts working in Madagascar to contact the people of the village in person and reached out to geologists to learn more about the mountain, which is said to be the remnant of a volcanic eruption and dates back to 90 million years ago.
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The crater village could only be accessed after crossing the mountain, which took an entire day to trek across. The team of researchers and experts, however, had to wait until the end of the rainy season to be able to cross the mountain to get to the village.
As for the formation of the crater in the middle of the mountain, geologists think it may have something to do with Madagascar being located beneath a “really deep-seated mantle source” called plumes, which form hot spots on reaching the surface of the Earth. These hot spots burn holes through the surface, creating volcanoes.
The volcanoes collapsed once they were cut off from the hotspot as Madagascars continental plate continued to move.
When the Vox team struggled to find the name of the unlabeled mountain, an email sent to them by a Malagasy expert revealed it to be the Ambohiby Massif.
Ambohiby Massif is fertile and good for agriculture
Geoscientist Ndivhuwo Cecilia Mukosi, who claims to be the first or second person to map the Ambohiby complex said the region is fertile and favorable for agriculture.
She said the place was devoid of humans when she visited it 15 years ago, so the village has come to be only recently. Ndivhuwo conducted her research in 2007 before people moved to the village.
Once the rain ended, the team managed to get to the village with the help of a local guide to interview the local people to understand what made the region livable.
The people who have been living in the crater village only for a few years, said, the region is very fertile and the rich water resource will make it possible for their descendants to live there too.
The village is surrounded by water in all directions, which comes from an open valley on the top of the mountain. The rich soil and the space are among the main reasons why people inhabited the crater village. The framers are currently using the region to grow lemons and oranges, which are sold in the local market. However, exporting the produce to the market is a major struggle still owing to the bad network of roads.
