Serra da Cangalha is an impact crater in the State of Tocantins, near the border of Maranhão State, in north/northeastern Brazil.[1] The crater is between 12 and 13 kilometres (7.5 and 8.1 mi) in diameter, making it the second-largest known crater in Brazil.[2] Its age is estimated to be about 220 million years (Triassic period).[3] The name means Pack-Saddle Mountains in Portuguese.
Description
The outer perimeter is a circular inward scarp about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) in diameter on the largely undisturbed Cretaceous and upper Silurian sediments of the Parnaíba basin,[4] breached on the west, north, and south sides by drainage valleys. Within the perimeter there is a series of concentric circular valleys and a central basin, all at roughly the same elevation, separated by ring walls. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission imagery shows a faint ring about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) in diameter, a second ring of gentle hills about 5 to 6 kilometres (3.1 to 3.7 mi) in diameter, and an inner ring of steeper hills, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in diameter and up to 420 metres (1,380 ft) high, open to the northwest, surrounding a central basin about 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) in diameter.[5][6][7]
The impact origin is attested by the presence of impact breccias, quartzite shatter cones and shocked quartz. The meteorite is believed to have struck the surface at a low oblique angle, 25 to 30 degrees on dry land. Radial faults are present inside the crater, and some extend up to 16 km from the center.[7]
Disturbed and steeply inclined sediments from the Carboniferous and Devonian periods occur within the crater. A magnetic survey of the structure indicates that deformation within the crater extends to a depth of about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).[3][5][6][8][9]
History and studies
The identification of the structure as an impact crater was first published in 1973 by R.S. Dietz and B.M. French.[10][11]
Shatter cones were reported by Beatty in 1980.[12]
Impact breccias, impact melting, and shocked quartz were reported by McHone in his 1986 thesis.[13]
A magnetic survey of the structure was published by A.A. Adepelumi and others in 2005.[6]
^McHone, J. F.; Dietz, R. S. (1992). "Earth's multiple impact craters and astroblemes (abstract)". XXIII Lunar and Planetary Science. Houston: Lunar and Planetary Institute. pp. 887–888. Bibcode:1992LPI....23..887M.
^W. Masero; P.-A. Schnegg; S.L. Fontes. "Magnetotelluric investigation of the Serra da Cangalha impact crater, Northeast Brazil". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Adekunle Adepelumi; Jean M. Flexor; Sergio L. Fontes; Pierre-A. Schnegg. A magnetotelluric investigation of the Serra da Cangalha impact crater structure, Brazil.
^Beatty J. K. (1980). "Crater hunting in Brazil". Sky and Telescope. 59: 464––467. Bibcode:1980S&T....59..464B.
^McHone J. F. (1986). Terrestrial impact structures: Their detection and verification with new examples from Brazil. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois. p. 210.