[meteorite-list] Does this seem implausible to anyone else?

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:45:08 -0500
Message-ID: <i4jfa59qfmt2e26k3th9pgs47ievjr7i2p_at_4ax.com>

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hRa6u8O0ZprE7dF10g8FMNv1ERig

Patagonia site of world's biggest crater field: study

(AFP) ? 19 hours ago

BUENOS AIRES ? Argentina can lay claim to the world's largest crater field, a
volcanic area in Patagonia known as the "Devil's Slope," according to a study
released Tuesday.

Covering 400 square kilometers (154 square miles), the Bajada del Diablo field
is peppered with at least 100 depressions left by the collisions of meteorites
or comets 130,000 to 780,000 years ago, the study found.

"Each crater measures between 100 and 500 meters (yards) in diameter and is
between 30 and 50 meters deep, which makes it the biggest such field in the
world in terms of the size of the craters," said Rogelio Acevedo of the Southern
Center for Scientific Investigations.

The study, published in the September edition of the journal Geomorphology, was
led by Acevedo and Hugo Corbella, who first identified the field in the 1970s.

Thirty years later, the team obtained financing from the Argentine province of
Chubut and the National Geographic Society to survey the field.

In terms of the number of craters, the field is only the second largest in the
world after the Sikhote-Aalin field in Siberia, which has 159 craters.

"But in Siberia the craters are smaller," Acevedo said.

With just one impact of the size that struck Patagonia, he said, Buenos Aires
"would be pulverized in a matter of seconds."

He said the field's craters, which are visible on Google Earth, are similar to
those found on the Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus, making them worthy of further
study.

They are well preserved because the remote sheep-raising region in which they
are found is arid and sparsely populated, he said, adding that it will be
necessary to protect it from tourists.

But Acevedo suggested, "this exceptional place could become a natural park."

Argentina has another crater field, called Campo de Cielo, in the northern Chaco
province. There are only nine such fields in the world.



Also:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V93-4W2NDK5-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1005936461&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=6d007a363d66c8808fd411934d4da9d3
Received on Wed 09 Sep 2009 11:45:08 AM PDT