Will someone tell me about that crater?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a large circular crater located at the northern tip of South America, which is suggested to be visible from satellite images. Participants explore its age, nature, and geological effects, with references to its potential connection to the Chicxulub impact event and the implications of sedimentation and tectonic activity over millions of years.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Ian inquires about the age, nature, and effects of the crater, seeking information.
  • One participant suggests it is likely the Chicxulub crater, which is associated with the extinction of the dinosaurs, but notes that scientific consensus on this is uncertain.
  • Another participant argues against the crater being an impact site due to its geographic location, suggesting that it cannot be a remnant of an impact.
  • A participant counters that sedimentation and tectonic activity over 63 million years could sufficiently cover and alter the crater's structure.
  • Another participant agrees with the previous point, emphasizing that tectonic motion should have distorted the crater significantly, yet questions its current shape and proximity to tectonic boundaries.
  • One participant provides links to images and resources to support their claims about the crater's location and geological context.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the crater's origin and geological history, with no consensus reached regarding its classification as an impact crater or the effects of sedimentation and tectonics over time.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference the geological processes of sedimentation and tectonics, but there are unresolved assumptions about the crater's exact location and the extent of geological changes over millions of years.

Ian
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At the northern tip of South America there appears to be a gigantic circular 'crater' dating back millions of years that is only visible from satellite images.

How old? what is it? Its effect?
Any info please.

thanks,
Ian.
 
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That supposed impact crater is mostly beneath the sea but also appears on land. If it were somewhere else I might accept it as an impact crater, but due to it's geographic location it simply cannot be the remnant of an impact.
 
What's the problem? 63 million years of sedimentation and tectonics is more than enough to build complete mountains on top of it, burying it completely.
 
Yeah that's right, 60 million years of sedimentation to cover it and 60 milliion years of tectonic motion to break it up. The crater lies on a collision boundary so tectonics should have broken it up not preserved it. It should be severely mis-shapen after all that time.
 
Ian said:
Yeah that's right, 60 million years of sedimentation to cover it and 60 milliion years of tectonic motion to break it up. The crater lies on a collision boundary so tectonics should have broken it up not preserved it. It should be severely mis-shapen after all that time.

Actually, from what I can see, it is quite a distance from the nearest boundary, and outside of the regions of recent tectonic deformation.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com:...0000201/chap_tutorial/ch03/images/le03_01.jpg

http://www.huttoncommentaries.com/Other/Latinia/SAm_P&A750.jpg
 
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