Pantasma
Key facts
- Country
- Nicaragua
- Diameter
- 14 km
- Age
- about 804,000 years
- Location
- 13.37° N, 85.95° W
A broad, round valley about 14 km across in the mountains of Jinotega, northern Nicaragua, with farms and villages on its floor and a steep rim.
Pantasma is an impact crater about 14 km across in the mountains of the department of Jinotega, northern Nicaragua. It is the first impact crater confirmed in Central America.
What it hit. The impactor struck a thick pile of volcanic rocks, ash and lava flows erupted over millions of years. The crater forms a round valley with a steep rim, and its floor is now farmland with several villages.
Proof of impact. The round valley had long been thought to be a volcanic caldera, a hollow formed when a volcano collapses. In the 2010s a team of geologists, working with local people, studied rocks from the crater and found pieces of impact glass, rock melted by the impact, together with shocked minerals that only an impact can produce. The results were published in 2019.
Age. Dating of the impact glass gave an age of about 804,000 years, give or take about 9,000, making Pantasma one of the youngest large craters on Earth.
Glass in Belize. In 2021 scientists showed that natural glass found in Belize, about 530 km away, matches the Pantasma glass in age and chemistry. These are tektites, drops of melt thrown far from the crater, which makes Pantasma the source of a previously unknown tektite field.
Why it matters. Pantasma shows that even large, young craters can be overlooked, especially in volcanic regions where round hollows are common. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The valley is inhabited farmland. Respect private property and local communities.
Did you know?
Pantasma was the first impact crater confirmed in Central America, in 2019.
It was long thought to be a volcanic caldera.
Natural glass found in Belize, about 530 km away, was thrown out by the Pantasma impact.