Pantasma
Encyclopedia
Pantasma is a region in the north of Nicaragua
. In the Miskito
language the word Pantasma means small humans or flat head. The Spanish word Fantasma (Galego: Pantasma) origins from the Greek Phantasma and means ghost.
The Valle de Pantasma, also called the "Crater of Pantasma", is a circular valley over 12 km in diameter situated in Nicaragua
. It is passed by the Rio Pantasma, a tributary of the Rio Coco (also called Rio Segovia). In its center lies the village of Las Praderas, the principal place of the community of Santa Maria de Pantasma with about 40,000 inhabitants in the province of Jinotega. In the poor, but fertile and agricultural intensely used valley corn, grain, fruit, and coffee are cultivated and cattle is bred.
The town is the site of one of the most famous actions of the civil war between the Sandinista government and the rebel Contras
. On October 18, 1983, the Nicaraguan Democratic Force
's Task Force Diriangén, under Comandante "Mike Lima," launched a surprise attack on the town, overrunning a battalion headquarters, detonating a munitions depot, robbing a state bank, and destroying a police station, a school, and all other government offices and facilities, leaving 47 defenders and residents dead. Though a military success, politically the Sandinistas depicted the assault as a "massacre" and a symbol of rebel atrocities.
struck into the Tertiary
effusive layers of the volcanic mountains in the north of Nicaragua. The circular shape of the crater, the skew of its floor according to the spacious mountain slope and its apparently arbitrary situation supports the thesis of a meteorite impact. A central uplift is missing or may already be covered with sediments. An ejection ring is not recognizable clearly in the rough landscape. The size and the shape of the crater remind at the 10 km large and about one million years old crater of Lake Bosumtwi
in Ghana
. Its embedding into the landscape is nearly identical to the impact crater of Goat Paddock
in Australia (5 km, up to 50 million years). The volcanic history of the whole region and the neighbourhood of an active volcanic zone suggest a volcanic origin, but don't prove it conclusively.
A search for typical impact material (shatter cone
s, suevites
, tektite
s), that could prove an impact event
, has yet to take place. Based on available observations and data, this site is listed as improbable, or unlikely to be an impact site. But in spite of this an expedition by the Nicaraguan Scientific Association of Astronomers and Astrophysicists (Astronic) to the Pantasma Valley in July 2009 has confirmed the impact hypothesis. Note: The Pantasma valley can not be "triassic" (250 to 200 million years B.C.) because it lies on the caribbean platter, that was formed between 140 and 70 B.C. The fresh look of the crater suggests an age of only up to 1 million years.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. In the Miskito
Miskito language
Miskito is a Misumalpan language spoken by the Miskito people in northeastern Nicaragua, especially in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, and in eastern Honduras....
language the word Pantasma means small humans or flat head. The Spanish word Fantasma (Galego: Pantasma) origins from the Greek Phantasma and means ghost.
The Valle de Pantasma, also called the "Crater of Pantasma", is a circular valley over 12 km in diameter situated in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. It is passed by the Rio Pantasma, a tributary of the Rio Coco (also called Rio Segovia). In its center lies the village of Las Praderas, the principal place of the community of Santa Maria de Pantasma with about 40,000 inhabitants in the province of Jinotega. In the poor, but fertile and agricultural intensely used valley corn, grain, fruit, and coffee are cultivated and cattle is bred.
The town is the site of one of the most famous actions of the civil war between the Sandinista government and the rebel Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
. On October 18, 1983, the Nicaraguan Democratic Force
Nicaraguan Democratic Force
The Nicaraguan Democratic Force was one of the earliest Contra groups, formed on August 11, 1981 in Guatemala City. It was formed to oppose Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government following the 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle...
's Task Force Diriangén, under Comandante "Mike Lima," launched a surprise attack on the town, overrunning a battalion headquarters, detonating a munitions depot, robbing a state bank, and destroying a police station, a school, and all other government offices and facilities, leaving 47 defenders and residents dead. Though a military success, politically the Sandinistas depicted the assault as a "massacre" and a symbol of rebel atrocities.
Impact crater hypothesis
Some have speculated that the Crater of Pantasma was formed when an over 500 m large meteoriteMeteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
struck into the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
effusive layers of the volcanic mountains in the north of Nicaragua. The circular shape of the crater, the skew of its floor according to the spacious mountain slope and its apparently arbitrary situation supports the thesis of a meteorite impact. A central uplift is missing or may already be covered with sediments. An ejection ring is not recognizable clearly in the rough landscape. The size and the shape of the crater remind at the 10 km large and about one million years old crater of Lake Bosumtwi
Lake Bosumtwi
Lake Bosumtwi , situated within an ancient meteorite impact crater, is approximately 8 km across and the only natural lake in Ghana. It is situated about 30 km south-east of Kumasi and is a popular recreational area. There are about 30 villages near the lake, with a combined population of...
in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
. Its embedding into the landscape is nearly identical to the impact crater of Goat Paddock
Goat Paddock crater
Goat Paddock is a 5 km-diameter near-circular bowl-shaped depression in a range of gently dipping Proterozoic sandstone in the Kimberley Region of northern Western Australia, 106 km west-southwest of Halls Creek...
in Australia (5 km, up to 50 million years). The volcanic history of the whole region and the neighbourhood of an active volcanic zone suggest a volcanic origin, but don't prove it conclusively.
A search for typical impact material (shatter cone
Shatter cone
Shatter cones are rare geological features that are only known to form in the bedrock beneath meteorite impact craters or underground nuclear explosions...
s, suevites
Impactite
Impactite is an informal term describing a rock created or modified by the impact of a meteorite. The term encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components .-Some localities:*Nördlinger Ries...
, tektite
Tektite
Tektites are natural glass rocks up to a few centimeters in size, which most scientists argue were formed by the impact of large meteorites on Earth's surface. Tektites are typically black or olive-green, and their shape varies from rounded to irregular.Tektites are among the "driest" rocks, with...
s), that could prove an impact event
Impact event
An impact event is the collision of a large meteorite, asteroid, comet, or other celestial object with the Earth or another planet. Throughout recorded history, hundreds of minor impact events have been reported, with some occurrences causing deaths, injuries, property damage or other significant...
, has yet to take place. Based on available observations and data, this site is listed as improbable, or unlikely to be an impact site. But in spite of this an expedition by the Nicaraguan Scientific Association of Astronomers and Astrophysicists (Astronic) to the Pantasma Valley in July 2009 has confirmed the impact hypothesis. Note: The Pantasma valley can not be "triassic" (250 to 200 million years B.C.) because it lies on the caribbean platter, that was formed between 140 and 70 B.C. The fresh look of the crater suggests an age of only up to 1 million years.