2011 • E44 Sep 22, 2011 45m
When it rains in the Namib, a thick carpet of grass covers the sand and stony desert. But this green layer is punctuated by bare circular patches, as regular as if drawn by a compass. And there are not just one or two of them, but hundreds of thousands. Observed from the air, they could be innumerable golf bunkers - or an abstract painting: «Red dots on green background». They appear between 60 to 120 kilometres from the coast and Stretch from South Africa to Angola. They are bordered by a ring of tall, thick grass, which stands out from the surrounding sparse vegetation. But where did these mysterious «fairy circles» come from? Are they caused by mineral compounds in the ground? Did poisonous plants or poison gas contaminate the subsoil? Are they the work of insects? Or is it the impact of meteorites that is responsible? And what crucial role do they play in the ecosystem? Three scientific teams have conflicting theories, but finally the amazing secret of the fairy circles is revealed!
