Kediet ej Jill () is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in Tiris Zemmour,

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

, with the city of

Zouérat Zouérat () is the largest town in northern Mauritania and the capital of the Tiris Zemmour region, with an approximate population of 62,380 (2023). It lies at the eastern end of the Mauritania Railway to Nouadhibou. History The town devel ...

on its east and Fderick at west.

Geography

At tall, Kediet ej Jill includes the highest peak in Mauritania. The mountain and its surrounding area are rich in

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

deposits, thought to have been mined here since the 11th century and commercially exploited since 1952. The mines are connected to

Nouadhibou Nouadhibou (; , ), formerly named Port-Étienne, is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial center. The city has about 173,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a 65-kilometre peninsula or headland called Ras Nouadhibou ...

on the Atlantic coast by a 700 km

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Geology

The mountain appears bluish because of the high concentration of

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula . It is one of the iron oxide, oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetism, ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetization, magnetized to become a ...

, an iron ore and naturally magnetic.''European Space Agency''
esa.int
(access: August 2 2020) Owing to its inherent magnetic properties, the mountain disrupts navigational compasses. Similar magnetic fields allowed the discovery of other deposits in the region (magnetite guelbs) in the 1960s.

Environment

Ephemeral watercourses drain from the mountain escarpment into the surrounding desert. The vegetation includes ''

Phoenix dactylifera ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

'', ''

Adiantum capillus-veneris ''Adiantum capillus-veneris'', the Southern maidenhair fern, black maidenhair fern, maidenhair fern, and venus hair fern, is a species of ferns in the genus ''Adiantum'' and the family Pteridaceae with a subcosmopolitan worldwide distribution. I ...

'', '' Hyoscyamus muticus'', ''

Tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...

'' sp., ''

Vachellia tortilis ''Vachellia tortilis'', widely known as ''Acacia tortilis'' but now attributed to the genus ''Vachellia'' of the Mimosa Family ( Mimosaceae), is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as umbrella thorn and Israeli babool, a medium to large canop ...

'', '' Rhus tripartitus'', '' Capparis decidua'', ''

Leptadenia pyrotechnica ''Leptadenia pyrotechnica'' (; ) is the botanical name of a desert herb of the family Apocynaceae. It is widespread from Senegal to India. It is known as in Hindi and Urdu, and in Punjabi.L. R. Burdak (1982): Recent advances in desert afforesta ...

'', ''

Maerua crassifolia ''Maerua crassifolia'' is a species of plant in the Capparaceae family. It is native to Africa, tropical Arabia, and Israel, but is disappearing from Egypt. Foliage from this plant is used as fodder for animals, especially camels, during the dry ...

'', ''

Salvadora persica Salvadora may refer to: * Salvadora Medina Onrubia (1894-1972), Argentine poet, anarchist, feminist * ''Salvadora'' (snake), a genus of patchnose snakes in the family Colubridae * ''Salvadora'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the fami ...

'', ''

Balanites aegyptiaca ''Balanites aegyptiaca'' (also known as the Egyptian balsam and Lalob in Sudan) is a species of tree, classified as a member of either the Zygophyllaceae or the Balanitaceae. This tree is native to much of Africa and parts of the Middle East. ...

'' and ''

Panicum turgidum ''Panicum turgidum'' is an old world clumping desert bunchgrass of the genus '' Panicum''. It is a plant of arid regions across Africa and Asia, and has been introduced to other parts of the world. Description ''Panicum turgidum'' is a perenni ...

''.

The site has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports significant populations of crowned sandgrouse, Nubian bustards,

pharaoh eagle-owl The Pharaoh eagle-owl (''Bubo ascalaphus'') is a Middle Eastern and North African species of owl in the family Strigidae. Description The Pharaoh eagle-owl has a mottled plumage and large orange-yellow eyes. The head and upperparts are tawny an ...

greater hoopoe-lark The greater hoopoe-lark (''Alaemon alaudipes'') is a Passeriformes, passerine bird which is a breeding resident of arid, desert and semi-desert regions from the Cape Verde Islands across much of northern Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula, Syr ...

bar-tailed lark The bar-tailed lark or bar-tailed desert lark (''Ammomanes cinctura'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. Two other species, the rufous-tailed lark and the Cape clapper lark are both also sometimes referred to using the name bar-tai ...

desert lark The desert lark (''Ammomanes deserti'') breeds in deserts and semi-deserts from Morocco to western India. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, and surveys have shown that it is slowly increasing in numbers as it expands ...

pale rock martin The pale crag martin (''Ptyonoprogne obsoleta'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family that is resident in Northern Africa and in Southwestern Asia, east to Pakistan. It breeds mainly in the mountains, but also at lower altitudes, esp ...

s, streaked scrub-warblers,

fulvous babbler The fulvous babbler or fulvous chatterer (''Argya fulva'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is 25 cm long with a wingspan of 27–30.5 cm. It is warm brown above with very faint streaking on the crown and back. Th ...

s, white-crowned and

mourning wheatear The mourning wheatear (''Oenanthe lugens'') is a bird, one of 14 species of wheatear found in northern Africa and the Middle East. It is a small passerine in a group formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, but now more generall ...

desert sparrow The desert sparrow (''Passer simplex'') is a species of bird in the sparrow family Passeridae, found in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa. A similar bird, Zarudny's sparrow, is found in Central Asia and was historically recognised as a subs ...

s and

trumpeter finch The trumpeter finch (''Bucanetes githagineus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch Family (biology), family Fringillidae. It is mainly a desert species which is found in North Africa and Spain through to southern Asia. It has occurred as a V ...

es.

References

External links

Kediet ej Jill, Tiris Zemmour, Mauritania
* Landforms of Mauritania Important Bird Areas of Mauritania Tiris Zemmour region Highest points of countries Inselbergs of Africa Magnetic anomalies {{Highest points of Africa