Iturralde Crater

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Iturralde Crater (also called Araona Crater) is a 5 mile (8 km) diameter circular feature in the Bolivian portion of the Amazon Rainforest, first identified from Landsat satellite imagery in 1985.^[1][2] Being so circular, it is believed by some scientists that it may be a meteorite impact crater. Because it is in an area of active sediment accumulation by rivers, it must be a geologically young feature, with estimates of its age ranging between 11,000 and 30,000 years.^[1] Unlike other young craters, it is very flat, so if it is of impact origin, perhaps the crater sunk into the soft sediments leaving only a circular 'ghost' marking the original rim. The site is very remote, but has been visited twice by scientific investigators, most recently by a team from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in September 2002.^[3][4] In both cases, the expeditions failed to find conclusive evidence for the origin of the feature.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} NASA Educational Brief. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
2. ^ Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
3. ^ ICE2002 Expedition. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
4. ^ 'Top Story' at Goddard Space Science Center. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.

[edit] External links with images of Iturralde

• NASA Earth Observatory: Topographic Map of the Iturralde Structure, Bolivia
• NASA Earth Observatory: Iturralde Crater, Bolivia

Coordinates: 12°35.2′S, 67°40.5′W