This color film about mapping the Sahara for oil was photographed and narrated by R. Guillaume, a geologist sponsored by Total Oil Products Ltd. Their logo is from the 1950s, which changed in 1963. It opens with the landing of an Air France Breguet 761S on a runway covered in sand. (:28-1:15). The supplies and equipment are loaded into vehicles. They drive in the ruts to know where the road is and avoid getting bogged down (1:16-1:52). A tank truck filled with water passes (1:53-1:59). Base camp is established at an old military facility to return to once a week to resupply (2:00-2:22). Mildly salty water is stored up in goat skins, attracting camels who drink up (2:23-2:47). The tents at the archaeological exploration stand against the desert sand. Multiple vehicles are overhauled from their travel (2:48-3:18). Radio contact is made twice a day (3:19-3:35). The desert seems to consist of camels, sand, and stone (3:36-4:10). Locusts scurry across the sand (4:11-4:25). The locals call the wind Jin, which covers and uncovers what’s left behind. A tomb is uncovered, along with pestles and mortars (4:26-5:20). The geologist also picks up flint darts used for hunting (5:21-5:30). An unusual pile of rocks is decorated with prehistoric carvings. These pictographs show rhinoceros and buffalo once drank from a lake there (5:31-6:09). People of the region still carve rounded rocks to make dishes. (6:10-6:20). The desert has areas with some moisture for random plants and flowers to grow (6:21-6:36). The cliff face helps identify rock outcrops that may indicate oil, which are followed and topographical surveys performed. A certain points, prefabricated cement is used to make a marker. Back at camp, the topographer makes his detailed map of the stratum (6:37-9:30). Borings 160” deep are made each mile (9:31-10:35). A sandstorm hits the camp. The tents are quickly taken down and the trucks drive through the storm in order to not lose the tracks. New dunes are formed each time (10:36-11:42).

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com