Rings of Atlantis formed by 3 aligned meteorite craters?
In Figure 3 (click image below), LANDSAT 5 TM satellite imagery shows what appear to be the Rings of Atlantis near the small 
mountain on the south-central shore of the Atlas Island’s plain, just beyond the former harbor identified in Figure 2b. However, the rings are not the popularized concentric circles of the archer’s target, but rather another geometric arrangement that still complies with Plato’s description. These rings are apparently composed of three un-catalogued presumably complex meteorite craters arranged along a straight line connecting their centers- -hence, just as Plato indicated, “alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller … two of land and three of water, which he [Poseidon] turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference equidistant every way from the center” where their shared focus is along a common central line. Ours is the first hypothesis ever to physically identify a visible and measurable natural three-ring geometry consistent with Plato’s complicated description. Plus, in terms of geomythology, if the meteors were witnessed entering the atmosphere by predecessors of the Atlanteans, they may have communicated their interpretation of what they saw orally in the form of a myth. This mythical recollection could have described the natural event as the god Poseidon coming from the heavens to establish his domain by the sea forming a great city of rings. This in turn would have directly correlated with Plato’s retelling of the Egyptian legend.
Meteorite impacts offer potential explanation for special features of Atlantis
Many scholars have repeatedly expressed disbelief that the Atlanteans could have produced the special attributes described by Plato such as the orichalcum metal and massive canals that cross the plain. It does seem a bit far-fetched unless the Atlanteans didn’t produce all of these characteristics themselves; but rather, simply adapted for their own use the naturally occurring geography and geology that preceded their occupation.
The meteorite craters can actually play a profound role in providing a measurable basis for at least 5 of the special features (click Table 2, 1st image on left, for a quick review). The first of the features are the rings themselves as described above and shown in Figure 3 (Table 2, #1). The second feature is the Palace Island within the largest of the Atlantean rings depicted in the lower image of Figure 3. Figure 4 (2nd image on left, click to enlarge) explains the rationale. It shows a juxtaposition of Barringer’s Meteorite Crater in Arizona to the largest crater at the Saharan-Atlas site for comparison. The similarities around the circular rim of the craters are quite remarkable. However, the Arizona crater is termed simple because it is a depression without a central uplift. The largest of the proposed Atlantean craters 
is considered complex because we presume it to have a central uplifted area that was created due to a higher meteorite impact velocity than the Arizona event (note: over the millennia, the craters have filled with sand, so excavation is required to verify the complex nature). The resultant central uplifted area in the largest crater would have yielded an easily leveled surface for the palace to be built. Based on the size of the largest crater (~1 mile, or 1.6 km in diameter), a complex crater could have created a raised central area of ~0.5 miles, or 0.8 km diameter (Fig. 3 & 4) which again matches the size Plato described (Table 2, #2).
The meteorite impact would have also caused fissures in the Earth’s crust that could have accounted for the artesian wells and hydrothermal springs (Fig. 4 and Table 2, #3). In addition, the impact sites are in sedimentary sandstone that over-lies the red and black granitic Taureg-shield. Both the sandstone and granite layers were likely uplifted by the meteorite impact when the central Palace Island area was formed as detailed above, thereby making the red, black and white stone described by Plato readily available to quarry (Fig. 4 and Table 2, #4).
Lastly, the fifth feature that can be attributed to the meteorite craters is the rare metal orichalcum. This is an alloy from copper and zinc ore similar to brass that humans apparently did not know how to make until approximately 200 BCE, so here again the validity of Plato’s account may be called into question. One may indeed wonder how the Atlanteans came to possess this metal alloy. Well, it is feasible if we consider the following: the Atlas Mountains region has reserves of zinc and copper ore; the meteorite itself introduced unknown metals; and the meteorite impact would have introduced enough roasting heat into the ore to naturally produce the alloy in a rain of ejecta that fell back to Earth in a manner similar to that depicted in Figure 4 (Table 2, #5). Remember, Plato specifically said, “…they dug out of the Earth…orichalcum…” clearly suggesting the metal was already formed.
L-wave earthquake remnants provide means for Atlantis canals?
The massive canals described by Plato (Table 2, #7) appear to be evident at this location as well. Figure 5 (image below, click to enlarge) 
shows three images of the Saharan-Atlas region. There is a desert road and track map on the lower left and the image on the lower right is a digitally enhanced map highlighting surface features. Both maps show numerous extinct or ephemeral watercourse beds called wadis which are depicted by the blue dashed lines. The larger upper image is a satellite composite that also shows the wadis along with their broader arcing bands visible across the inland plain. A few of the wadis are highlighted in yellow for visual aid. These bands are possibly the result of a powerful L-wave earthquake along the Atlas fault line that preceded Atlantean occupation of the site and which may have been induced by the forces released during the meteorite impacts. The harmonic waves from the earthquake would have been propagated across the plain much as a pebble thrown in a pond creates ripples across the surface, only here, once the rolling earthquake stopped, the footprint of the repeating vibration was left behind in the soil as if flash frozen. Regardless of the actual formative processes, across the entire plain, more than thirty approximately 100 mile (160 km) long “canals” can still be easily seen today on a common road map. Many of these wadis are essentially 11.5 miles (18.5 km) apart as Plato described and from the ground would have appeared as gigantic straight canals that the innovative Atlanteans could readily adapt for irrigation and transport when they developed the site.
Along with the many canals, four major rivers are evident which once flowed across the Saharan-Atlas Steppe region at about the same time Plato suggests the bountiful plains of the garden island paradise were ruled by the offspring of Poseidon, the god-kings of Atlantis. These four rivers would have all been connected by the perimeter canal near the sea which Plato describes as having been dug by the Atlanteans surrounding the rectangular and oblong plain. The visibly prominent extinct rivers are seen on most maps of the region and are known today as Oued Namous, Oued Rharbi, Oued Seggur, and Oued Mehaiguene.
A possibly obvious point of interest can be here stated with regard to the plains of the Saharan-Atlas steppe region and the rivers that cross them; notably, in addition to the Greco-Egyptian stories which are the focus of this study, the geology and geography of the area appears to be rather descriptively similar to the island garden paradise creation and expulsion-destruction stories of other distant Mediterranean cultures as well, which may be evidence of syncretism. Specifically, the ancient Sumerian word for the rough desert-steppe-plain where god Enki planted his garden, is Edin; a descriptive term which, in turn, according to many generally accepted translations, can be directly correlated with the later Mosaic garden references to Eden. Incidentally, though once a myth-driving abundant garden plains, the steppe region has been reduced to esparto grasses, or wormwood – a pertinent consistency with the writings of the scribes of Moses.
Of course, this line of reasoning indicates that some ancient Levantine, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek place names, including Tigris and Euphrates, or Eridu and Enoch, or Bakhu, or even possibly Olympos, originated on a large island in the distant west from what we now call the Middle East and were piningly and reverently reused when new settlements were there established. So, in attempting to solve for the unknowns of these ancient stories, part of the problem can be reduced to a geographic relativity issue, where cardinal directions associated with the original island stories located on the northwestern edge of Africa appear to have been confused when they became adapted to locations in the east. Locations which then subsequently became the new point of reference, complete with ancient names borrowed from tales of the mysterious primeval island which disappeared in the distant past.
Evidence for fauna and flora on Atlantic Island
The eighth and ninth special features in Table 2 are the fauna and flora Plato described as diverse and plentiful including elephants and bulls along with abundant woods, marshes and rivers. Here too, the Saharan-Atlas site complies based on fossil remains and prehistoric cave art found in the area. This art has been discovered throughout the Sahara ranging from Tassili-n-Ajer to Bardai dating as far back as 8,500 years ago. Some scholars even estimate the cave drawings occurred as early as 12,000 years ago, but unfortunately that imagery did not endure the test of time. The surviving paintings and etchings depict elephants, bulls, giraffe, and even catfish, indicating this type of fauna was prevalent in the region at the end of the ice age. Similarly, as mentioned earlier, this region is known to have been wet with pluvial conditions during the Younger-Dryas, covered by vast wetlands and a sea of reeds. The region of Atlantis was located in semi-desert soils which are sufficiently fertile to support abundant vegetation when irrigated as readily evidenced by oases. In addition, researchers have discovered that numerous types of vegetation were prolific in the Atlas Mountains at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition including deciduous, sclerophyllous and coniferous trees. As we noted above, the Atlanteans would have been ideally situated with the naturally occurring irrigation canals that were fed by “streams that came down from the mountains.”