Over 250 mysterious crop circles spotted from space across three continents

Mysterious ring-like patterns of vegetation surround barren patches of soil in Namibia and Australia, but no one knows why. These ring-like patterns are called ‘fairy circles’, which have baffled scientists for decades and left them thinking about what exactly are they. Now, new research regarding these peculiar patternshopes to provide some insights into the formation and locations of these patterns.

"We conducted a global and systematic assessment of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns and discovered hundreds of [fairy-circle]-like locations on three continents," writes a team led by environmental scientist Emilio Guirado of the University of Alicante in Spain.

Also Read |Explained | NASA sends Bennu asteroid samples to Earth. Here's why the celestial cargo matters

Add WION as a Preferred Source

What are fairy circles?

Fairy circles are unexplained peculiar ring-like patterns of vegetation that are generally found in barren lands of Namibia and Australia. A new global assessment has counted a total of 263 such sites of bald spots with these puzzled patterns. They are spread across three continents and 15 countries, including Sahel, Madagascar, and Middle-West Asia.

What does a new study about fairy circlestell us?

The new study provides insights into the ecology and biogeography of the fascinating vegetation patterns and the first atlas of their global vegetation, said Emilio.

Emilio and his team undertook a systematic survey using very high-resolution satellite imagery, and used machine learning to analyse the results, to carefully study 574,799 hectare-sized plots of land around the world. This painstaking analysis rewarded the scientists with a vastly expanded atlas of fairy circle sites.

Also Read |Next ‘supercontinent’ formation could wipe out humans: Study

"Our analyses revealed 263 locations with [fairy-circle]-like vegetation patterns distributed across dry lands worldwide," they write.

This information, the researchers say, will help in narrowing down what causes them. This is because they were able to identify specific features common to all sites in which fairy circles can be found. These include a very dry, arid, desert environment; high temperatures and high precipitation seasonality; and soil with very low nutrients, and a high sand content.

Also Read |Pangolins, made famous by Covid, have more species than previously known: Study

Interestingly, the team also found that areas with fairy rings show more stable vegetation productivity over time than surrounding areas without fairy rings. Their findings, Emilio and his colleagues say, can help identify region-specific reasons why fairy circles might emerge.

"The global atlas introduced here advances our understanding of the biogeography of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns and will facilitate conducting future research about the characteristics and mechanisms underlying these enigmatic vegetation patterns in locations never studied so far," they write.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.