The Carancas impact event refers to the fall of the ''Carancas'' chondritic

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object ...

on September 15, 2007, near the village of Carancas in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, close to the

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

n border and

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

.Planetario Max Schreie
"Meteorito por el Desaguadreo"
, September 24, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service, Budapest, Hungary
"Cosmic Event - South-America"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Teresa Cespedes, Reuters
"Peruvians get sick from apparent meteorite crater"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Ed Sutherland, All Headline News
"Experts Confirm Peru Meteorite Site"
, September 20, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. The impact created a small crater in the clay soil and scorched earth around its location.Rory Carroll, The Guardian UK

September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. A local official, Marco Limache, said that "boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby", as "fetid, noxious" gases spewed from the crater.NBC News
"Villagers fall ill after fireball hits Peru"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.BBC News
"Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Surface impact occurred above . After the impact, villagers who had approached the impact site grew sick from a then-unexplained illness, with a wide array of symptoms.Lester Haines, The Register
"Peruvian 'meteorite' strike provokes noxious gas attack"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Australian Broadcasting Corporation

September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Doctors Aid in Rising Number of Illnesses after Meteorite Crash"
September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Two days later, Peruvian scientists confirmed that there had indeed been a meteorite strike, quieting widespread speculation that it may have been a geophysical rather than a celestial event. At that point, no further information on the cause of the mystery illness was known.Ed Sutherland. The

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

in the local area is known to contain

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...

compounds, and the illness is now believed to have been caused by

arsenic poisoning Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...

incurred when residents of the area inhaled the

vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (British English and Canadian English; see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R. H. Petrucci, W. S. Harwood, and F. G. Her ...

of the boiling arsenic-contaminated water.José Orozco, National Geographic News
"Meteor Crash in Peru Caused Mysterious Illness"
September 21, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.

The impact event

At 11:40:14 local time (16:40:14 GMT) on 15 September 2007, a chondritic

crashed near the village of Carancas in the Puno Region,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, near the

n border and

(see map box on right). The impact created a crater larger than deep, wide, with visibly scorched earth around the impact site. A local official, Marco Limache, said that "boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby", as "fetid, noxious" gases spewed from the crater. The crater size was given as , with its greatest dimensions in an east–west direction. The fireball had been observed by the locals as strongly luminous with a smoky tail, and seen from just above the ground. The object moved in a direction toward N030E. The small seismic shock of the impact shattered the windows of the local health center away. A smoke column was formed at the site that lasted several minutes, and gas was seen bubbling up in the water in the crater. One villager was as close as from the impact site. He fell from his bicycle but was not injured. A small building from the impact site did not suffer much either besides roof damage from flying debris. Soon after the impact, more than 600 villagers visited the site and some began to fall ill from unexplained causes, including symptoms of dermal injuries,

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of th ...

headaches Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a resu ...

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

and

vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenter ...

. On 20 September, Peruvian scientists confirmed that there had been a meteorite strike, but no further information on the cause of the illnesses was known.Ed Sutherland.

Impact crater An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...

specialists have called the impact unusual, and have stated that the meteorite was at least in diameter before breaking up. The

in the area is known to contain

compounds, and the illness was believed to have been caused by

incurred when residents of the area inhaled the

of the boiling arsenic-contaminated water. However, further investigations have led to the conclusion that the arsenic content in the groundwater did not differ from that of the local drinking supply, and that the illness reported was likely caused by the vaporization of

troilite Troilite is a rare iron sulfide mineral with the simple formula of FeS. It is the iron-rich endmember of the pyrrhotite group. Pyrrhotite has the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2) which is iron deficient. As troilite lacks the iron deficiency whic ...

, a sulfur-bearing compound present within the meteorite in large amounts, which would have melted at relatively low temperatures and high pressures created by such an impact. According to cosmochemist Larry Grossman of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, the aerial lights and explosions reported were consistent with extraterrestrial material.Andrea Thompson, Space.com
"Scientists Doubt Meteorite Sickened Peruvians "
19 September 2007. Retrieved 10 October, 2007. The loud noise and explosive impact originally led Peruvians to think that

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

had launched an attack.Liubomir Fernandez and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
"Meteorite causes a stir in Peru"
21 September 2007 ''(registration is required)''. Retrieved 10 October 2007.

Nature of the object

A report from three geologists at Peru's Geophysics Institute was released on Thursday 20 September. Astrophysicist Jose Ishitsuka confirmed that there had been a meteorite strike.Ed Sutherland.Monty Hayes, Associated Press/Google. On 20 September, the X-Ray Laboratory at the Faculty of Geological Sciences, Mayor de San Andres University,

La Paz, Bolivia La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bol ...

, published a report of their analysis of a small sample of material recovered from the impact site. They detected iron,

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow t ...

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

, and traces of

iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density o ...

— elements characteristic of the elemental composition of meteorites. The quantitative proportions of

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ...

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmos ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...

are incompatible with rocks that are normally found at the surface of the Earth. INGEMMET (''Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico'') of Peru released internally a report on the Carancas meteorite fall on September 21. The release of the document to the public was delayed for one week. The researchers found that the fragments from the crater zone had a chondritic texture and the following mineral composition:

pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe I ...

(1) 40%,

olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers qui ...

20%,

feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) felds ...

10%,

(2) 10%; kamacite 15%,

5%, and traces of

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can ...

and

native copper Native copper is an uncombined form of copper that occurs as a natural mineral. Copper is one of the few metallic elements to occur in native form, although it most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements. Native coppe ...

. Kamacite occurs naturally only in

meteorites A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object ...

. The official classification of the Carancas meteorite, accepted by the

Meteoritical Society The Meteoritical Society is a non-profit scholarly organization founded in 1933 to promote research and education in planetary science with emphasis on studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further our understanding of the ...

, was done by a team of scientists working at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

. The meteorite is an

ordinary chondrite The ordinary chondrites (sometimes called the O chondrites) are a class of stony chondritic meteorites. They are by far the most numerous group, comprising 87% of all finds. Hence, they have been dubbed "ordinary". The ordinary chondrites are t ...

, an

H chondrite The H type ordinary chondrites are the most common type of meteorite, accounting for approximately 40% of all those catalogued, 46% of the ordinary chondrites, and 44% of all chondrites. The ordinary chondrites are thought to have originated from ...

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of ...

, containing clasts of petrologic types 4 to 5. The formal classification is H4-5. The meteoroid had experienced a considerable amount of

shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...

before its ultimate encounter with Earth. Further data were expected from

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

, along with British and Japanese researchers, who intended on looking into the matter.Luisa Macedo F. & José Macharé O., INGEMMET
"The Carancas Meteorite Fall, 15 September 2007"
21 September 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.

Illness complaints

Afterwards, local townspeople went to see what happened, and 100 to 200 people who got near to the meteorite crater soon reported feeling sick. First responding police officers arriving to investigate the scene also fell ill.Agence France Presse
"Peruvian scientists probe fumes from meteorite crater"
, September 18, 2007 ''(first published report of event)''. Retrieved October 10, 2007. After the initial event of September 15, the number of people falling ill increased, requiring physicians to establish auxiliary medical tents for the Carancas health center. Patients were treated for dermal injuries, nausea, headaches, diarrhea and vomiting. The death of nearby livestock was also reported.CBC News
"600 sick in Peru after 'meteorite' crashes"
September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Locals made the decision to stop drinking from nearby water sources for fear of contamination and authorities considered declaring a state of emergency. Four days after the meteorite impact and the unexplained illness, most villagers reported having recovered.José Orozco. Reported details about the event, such as water boiling in the muddy crater for ten minutes from the heat of the impact, presented a problem for experts. Because the impact site is at a high altitude of more than , the meteoroid may not have been slowed down as much as it ordinarily would have been by passage through the Earth's denser lower atmosphere, and kinetic energy at impact may have been unusually high for a terrestrial impact of an object of this size and mass. Most larger meteorites are cold in their bulk mass when they land on Earth, since their heated outer layers

ablate Ablation ( la, ablatio – removal) is removal or destruction of something from an object by vaporization, chipping, erosive processes or by other means. Examples of ablative materials are described below, and include spacecraft material for ...

from the objects before impacting. It was later confirmed that the meteorite contained a large amount of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and possessed magnetic properties common to similar metallic objects, which contributed to its capacity to retain heat during

atmospheric entry Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the en ...

.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Astrophysicist in Peru Identifies Properties in Meteorite"
, September 21, 2007, 17:00. Retrieved October 10, 2007.

Government response

In contrast with other international media reports, Peruvian health officials downplayed the incident. Jorge López Tejada, the Regional Health Director for Puno, Peru, denied any serious medical situation existed. However, a health brigade arrived with personnel and medication to the site on 18 September, reporting that the odors rising from the crater were causing medical issues.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Regional Health Director Reports on Health Near Meteorite Crash Site"
, 18 September 2007, 15:00. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Earlier, Tejada had stated that the officers were dizzy, nauseous and some were vomiting.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Police Officers Hospitalized After Collecting Meteorite Samples in Peru"
, 18 September 2007, 11:00. Retrieved 10 October 2007. On 19 September, Andina, Peru's official government news agency, reported that the sick villagers appeared to be recovering.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Peru's Geophysicists Test for Radiation, Meteorite Sickness Caused by Toxic Gases"
, 16:00 19 September 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007. "They are recovering, there aren't any critical cases. A total of 200 people with different symptoms have been seen," stated López Tejada.Living in Peru, LIP-ir. Government officials also specifically asked people to avoid the "glowing object that fell from the sky."Living in Peru, LIP-ir. The mayor, Maximiliano Trujillo, assumed a psychosomatic reason behind the reports but decided to ask a local shaman to prepare a cleaning ritual in order to calm the population.Joshau Bearman, Allison Keeley
The Mad Scramble to Claim the World's Most Coveted Meteorite
In: Wired, 12.17.18

Suspected cause

Scientists initially ruled out

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

as the cause of the illness. Renan Ramirez of the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute stated that the medical conditions could have been caused by

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

or other toxins that may have melted in the extreme heat produced by the meteorite strike.Agence France Presse
"Peru meteor illness deepens"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Some unnamed Peruvian sources stated soon after the event occurred that it was indeed a meteorite.Teresa Cespedes, Reuters.Associated Press
" Peru Links Illness to Supposed Meteorite"
, September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Later on 18 September, a Peruvian

vulcanologist A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, c ...

stated that the impact was caused by a

chondrite A chondrite is a stony (non-metallic) meteorite that has not been modified, by either melting or differentiation of the parent body. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar System accreted to form pr ...

meteorite arrival.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Scientist Confirms Meteorite in Puno, Peru is a Chondrite"
, 19 September 2007, 18:30. Retrieved 10 October 2007. Some reports indicated initial suspicions that the illnesses may have been

psychosomatic A somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a somatoform disorder,(2013) dsm5.org. Retrieved April 8, 2014. is any mental disorder that manifests as physical symptoms that suggest illness or injury, but cannot be explained fully by a general ...

in nature. Don Yeomans, head of the

Near Earth Object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...

Program at

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

, said, "Statistically, it's far more likely to have come from below than from above. The noxious fumes that have supposedly sickened curious locals who went to examine the crater would seem to indicate

hydrothermal Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water (Ancient Greek ὕδωρ, ''water'',Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with th ...

activity, such as a local gas explosion, because meteorites don't give off odors." By 21 September, it was believed that the illness was caused by

. Luisa Macedo of Peru's Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology Institute said gases were created when the meteorite's hot surface reacted with an underground water supply tainted with arsenic. Natural arsenic deposits in ground water are not uncommon in southern Peru. José Ishitsuka of the Peruvian Geophysics Institute said, "If the meteorite arrives incandescent and at a high temperature because of

ram pressure Ram pressure is a pressure exerted on a body moving through a fluid medium, caused by relative bulk motion of the fluid rather than random thermal motion. It causes a drag force to be exerted on the body. Ram pressure is given in tensor form as ...

, hitting water can create a column of steam." Meteorites, however, often impact the earth at low temperatures, making this an unusual event.

References

External links

Brief account on the impact event and photos of Carancas meteorite fragments

Brown Scientist Answers How Peruvian Meteorite Made It to Earth
{{good article Arsenic Impact craters of Peru Holocene impact craters Modern Earth impact events Health in Peru 2007 in Peru 2007 in science September 2007 events in South America