It lies in the Hoggar mountains and consists of a variety of volcanic features such as lava flows and about 450 individual vents which create a spectacular scenery.

Atakor is one of several large volcanic fields in this mountain range, which sits atop of a domal uplift and has erupted basalt, trachyte and phonolite.

The field lies in the Hoggar[1] and the terrain approaches elevations of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft)[3] although the volcanics form an only superficial cover.

[7] Basalts form a 400 metres (1,300 ft) thick plateau,[3] and deep gorges lead up to the volcanic field[8] and split the Hoggar Mountains in a number of segments.

[9] Wadis diverge from the Atakor volcanic field;[10] some of them reached Lake Chad in the past,[11] others continued through the Grand Erg Oriental towards Chott Melrhir.

[22] A low-seismic velocity anomaly underpins the Atakor volcanic field in the mantle[23] but does not appear to reflect the existence of a hotspot.

[31] The volcanic rocks appear to ultimately derive from mantle plume melts,[32] although a tectonic origin resulting from the convergence between African and Europe has also been suggested.

[8] In the past, precipitation was considerably higher than today,[39] such as during the Villafranchian and the Paleolithic when nivation landforms developed above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) elevation,[40] as well as moraines[41] such as at Tahat[42] and rock glaciers.