Vichada Structure
2016 Landsat image of the Vichada Structure
Impact crater/structure
ConfidenceProbable
CountryColumbia
1973 Skylab image of the Vichada Structure

The Vichada Structure is a probable impact structure along the Vichada River in Colombia (Vichada Department), South America. It is most likely the largest impact structure in South America.[1]

4°30′N 69°15′W / 4.500°N 69.250°W / 4.500; -69.250 (Vichada)

The structure was discovered in 2004 by Max Rocca, a geologist in Buenos Aires, by examining Landsat imagery. He was supported by a grant from the Planetary Society. The structure consists of a central flat depression surrounded by two concentric rings of hills of approximately 30 and 50 km diameter. The Vichada River anomalously flows around the outer ring of hills. An international team of scientists collected aerial gravity data over the 50 km wide structure and discovered a positive free-air anomaly at the center of the structure, supporting its interpretation as an impact structure.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Planetary Society Researcher Max Rocca Discovers Largest Impact Crater in South America, A Target Earth update by Amir Alexander, February 13, 2010, retrieved 25 May 2017
  2. ↑ Hernandez, O., et al., 2009, Geophysical evidence for an impact crater in Vichada, northwestern South America, and its economic potential, Earth Sci. Res. J., Vol. 13, No. 2 (December 2009): 97-107


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