INCAS BUILT MACHU PICCHU OVER TECTONIC FAULTS ON PURPOSE, POTENTIALLY SOLVING MYSTERY OF MONUMENT'S

[Judi Lynn]

INCAS BUILT MACHU PICCHU OVER TECTONIC FAULTS ON PURPOSE, POTENTIALLY SOLVING MYSTERY OF MONUMENT'S EXTREME LOCATION
BY ARISTOS GEORGIOU ON 9/24/19 AT 11:15 AM EDT

The Incas—a civilization that ruled over vast swathes of South America's Andean region in the 15th and 16th centuries—intentionally built Machu Picchu in a location where tectonic faults meet, research suggests.

One of the new Seven Wonders of the World, the majestic Incan citadel is located around 8,000 feet above sea level atop a narrow mountain ridge in the Andes. But the reasons why the Incas chose this remote and inaccessible location have long remained a mystery to experts.

Now, research presented by Rualdo Menegat, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America indicates that the decision may have had something to do with the location of tectonic faults—fracture zones between two blocks of rock in the Earth's crust, which can range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of miles.

For his research, Menegat used satellite imagery and field measurements to map the network of faults—some of which measure up to around 110 miles long—in the area beneath Machu Picchu.

More:
https://www.newsweek.com/incas-machu-picchu-tectonic-faults-mystery-extreme-location-1461035

[mopinko]

1. interesting. i bet there were mining opportunities, too.

hmm. now i have to dig through my memory banks about gems or metals from the period.

[RockRaven]

2. Incas... or, Aliens???

[getting old in mke]

3. This in the past

Has been a response I've personally used a lot for humor. I never felt uncomfortable with it until a some tweets from Kevin Gannon, which he wrapped up in a single one yesterday:

Link to tweet

?s=19

I don't mean this as a criticism, just sharing something that's made me rethink how I use this as humor and to share it for others consideration.

That said, I still laughed. I'm a work in process....