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Description: This paper proposes a novel hypothesis that the Richat Structure in Mauritania once contained a substantial deposit of peat within its central concentric basins during the African Humid Period. The unique hydrological and geomorphological conditions may have enabled peat accumulation over millennia. Saturation, combined with anaerobic decay, could have produced methane-rich deposits. A significant seismic event, potentially linked to post-glacial crustal adjustments, could have destabilised this deposit, triggering collapse or subsidence. This mechanism is explored here as a possible cause for a sudden destruction event in the prehistoric settlement that may have existed at the site.