Post by simcity on May 26, 2015 9:20:17 GMT
According to this paper there have been 3 or 4 very large putative impact craters identified in South America (see abstract below).
Is anyone aware (/u/Hill ?) of the locations or perhaps previously posted KML/KMZs? Interested for my Consolidated Earth Impact Database
Abstract:
Is anyone aware (/u/Hill ?) of the locations or perhaps previously posted KML/KMZs? Interested for my Consolidated Earth Impact Database
Abstract:
Novel analysis of high resolution InSAR-based digital elevation data from the year 2001 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission combined with a recently produced dataset of pan-tropical vegetation height from ALOS-1 SAR and IceSAT/GLAS Lidar estimates led to the quasi-bald-Earth discovery of four sizable near-perfect circle arcs in South America under dense tropical forests ranging in length from 216 km to 441 km. Terrain elevation profiles of cross-sections across the arcs show a distinct vertical rising and falling in elevations of hundreds of meters over a horizontal distance of tens of kilometers. It is hypothesized that these sizable arcs and associated rim-like topographic terrain features are remnants of huge meteorite impact craters with diameters ranging from 770 km to 1,310 km, thus forming potentially the largest known impact carter structures discovered on Earth today. The potential impact crater rim structures are located north of the eastern Amazon River, in the coastal region of Recife and Natal, and in the Brazilian, Bolivian and Paraguayan border region encompassing the Pantanal. Elevation profiles, hillshades and gray-shaded elevation maps were produced to support the geomorphologic analysis. It is also speculated whether in three of the four potential impact craters, central uplift domes or peaks, which are typical for complex impact crater structures can be identified. The worlds largest iron ore mining area of Carajás in Para, Brazil, falls exactly in the center of the largest hypothesized circular impact crater showing topographic elevations similar to the rim structure discovered 655 km to the north-north-west. Based on the topographic/geomorphologic driven hypothesis, geologic exploration of these topographic features is needed to test whether indeed meteorite impact craters could be verified, what the more exact ellipsoidal shapes of the potential impact craters might be, and to determine when during geologic times the impacts would have taken place. The propsoed talk based on the topographic evidence shall stimulate that discussion.