Piratininga crater is a 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) diameter circular feature in the Paraná Basin of São Paulo State in Brazil. It is a possible impact crater, but further investigation is needed to obtain more information on the structure. The Russian Academy of Sciences listed the structure as a probable impact crater in 2017, but as questionable in 2019.[1]

Piratininga crater
Piratininga crater is located in Brazil
Piratininga crater
Location of the crater in Brazil
Impact crater/structure
ConfidenceProbable (2017)
Questionable (2019)[1]
Diameter12 km (7.5 mi)
Depth130 m (430 ft)
Age~117 Ma
Aptian
ExposedYes
DrilledNo
Location
LocationParaná Basin
Coordinates22°28′12″S 49°09′00″W / 22.47000°S 49.15000°W / -22.47000; -49.15000[1]
CountryBrazil
StateSão Paulo

Description

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The Piratininga crater is located in São Paulo State, Brazil. The structure was identified in the 1970s.[2] The crater is heavily eroded and has a 130 metres (430 ft) topographic difference between the centre and rim of the crater. The structure is analysed with aeromagnetic and seismic surveys. The identified structures are not conclusive for an impact crater and more research is needed. Normal faults have been registered in the east of the structure with smaller faults located in the west. The age has been estimated at Cretaceous,[3][4] and possibly the Aptian, around 117 Ma.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mikheeva, 2017
  2. ^ Amaro Machado et al., 2007
  3. ^ Exoss, 2017a
  4. ^ Exoss, 2017b

Bibliography

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  • Amaro Machado, Rogério; De Souza Portugal, Rodrigo; De Souza Filho, Carlos Roberto (2007), Caracterização de Impacto de Pratininga-SP (PDF), Unicamp, retrieved 2017-10-10
  • Exoss, Citizen Science (2017a), Série: Astroblemas no Brasil – crateras de impacto brasileiras – MG e SP, Exoss Citizen Science, p. 1, retrieved 2017-10-10
  • Exoss, Citizen Science (2017b), Impact Crater Brazil - Crateras de impacto em MG e SP - Piratininga, Exoss Citizen Science, pp. 00:30, retrieved 2017-10-10
  • Mikheeva, Anna (2017), The Complete Catalog of the Earth's Impact structures, Russian Academy of Sciences, p. 1, retrieved 2019-04-02