Araguainha crater
| Araguainha crater | |
|---|---|
| Araguainha dome | |
Landsat image of the Araguainha crater (May 2020) | |
| Impact crater/structure | |
| Confidence | Confirmed |
| Diameter | 40 km (25 mi) |
| Age | 254.7 ± 2.5 Ma Permian–Triassic boundary |
| Exposed | Yes |
| Drilled | No |
| Location | |
| Location | Paraná Basin |
| Coordinates | 16°48′S 52°59′W / 16.800°S 52.983°W |
| Country | Brazil |
| State | Goiás, Mato Grosso |
| Municipality | Araguainha & Ponte Branca |
The Araguainha crater or Araguainha dome is an impact crater on the border of Mato Grosso and Goiás states, Brazil, between the villages of Araguainha and Ponte Branca. With a diameter of 40 kilometres (25 mi), it is the largest known impact crater in South America.
The crater has most recently been dated to 254.7 ± 2.5 million years ago, when the region was probably a shallow sea. The margins of error of this date overlap the time of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the most severe and catastrophic mass extinction events in Earth's history. The event caused the extinction of 57% of biological families, 62% of genera and 81% of marine species. The impact punched through Paleozoic sedimentary units belonging to the Paraná Basin formations, and exposed the underlying Ordovician granite basement rocks. It is estimated that the crater was initially 24 kilometres (15 mi) wide and 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) deep, which then widened to 40 kilometres (25 mi) as its walls subsided inwards.