The Meteor Crater of Monturaqui, II Region of Antofagasta, Chile
Panoramic view of the meteor crater of Monturaqui, from its SSW edge. Composition of 4 photographs taken by Marcela Palomino.
In the Atacama desert, the driest one on the planet, in the II
region of Chile, the meteor crater of Monturaqui marks the exact
place where a voyager of our Solar System, in a past time, ended
its voyage. The crater is one of the best preserved on the
planet due in part to its geographical location.
Several expeditions, since the first identification of the
crater in the early 60s, have been carried out to the impact
site. In 1998 and 1999 a group of college students, under the
support of the Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) and the Asociación Chilena de
Astronomía y Astronáutica (Achaya), carried
out a recollection of samples on site to its later analysis in
the laboratory.
The samples where studied using the method of thermoluminiscence
(TL) in the Laboratorio de Radioactividad y TL of the Facultad de
Física of the PUC. This method allows it to obtain an
estimation of the age of the crater. A first analysis was
conducted by the physics students of that faculty, Miguel
Verdugo and Carlos Cartes under the supervision of Professor
Alvaro Román. The results are presented in the report: Establecimiento de la Edad del
Cráter Monturaqui por el Método de Termoluminiscencia en
Sólidos [spanish].
On the other hand, a microscopic study of the obtained samples
was carried out in the laboratories
of the Servicio Nacional de
Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN) by the
astronomy student of the PUC, Camilo Rada under the supervision
of Professor Carlos Roeschmann. Their results were presented in
the IX Congreso Geológico Chileno (Vol. I, p.681-686,
Puerto Varas, Chile) under the title: El Impacto meteórico de
Monturaqui, región de Antofagasta, Chile: Productos y
Procesos [spanish].
A geomorphological study of the crater is presented in the
article Geomorfología del
Cráter de Impacto Meteórico de Monturaqui,
II. Región de Antofagasta, Chile [spanish] by
Mr. Hermann Manríquez of the Instituto Geográfico Militar
(IGM) of Chile.
The details of the 1998 PUC-Achaya expedition, are presented in
the article: Monturaqui, la
realidad de un sueño [spanish].
References:
Sanchez & Cassidy
(1966) | Ugalde, Valenzuela &
Milkereit (2007)
Earth
Impact Database | Monturaqui
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Ricardo Demarco - Last update: 10 May 2013
