Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Machu Picchu: 15th Century Incan Sanctuary Purposely Built on Faults




     "The ancient Incan sanctuary of Machu Picchu constructed in the mid to late 15th century, is considered one of humanity's greatest architectural achievements. Built in a remote Andean setting atop a narrow ridge high above a precipitous river canyon, the site is renowned for its perfect integration with the spectacular landscape. Yet the sanctuary's location has long puzzled scientists -- Why did the Incas build their masterpiece in such an inaccessible place? Research suggests the answer may be related to the geological faults that lie beneath the site."(Wow, ancient ecoarchitects meet ancient Scientific Stephs ;-)).

       "On September 23, 2019, at the Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual meeting Dr. Rualdo Menegat, a geologist at Brazil's Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul,  presented the results of a detailed geoarchaeological analysis that suggests the Incas intentionally built Machu Picchu -- as well as some of their cities -- in locations where tectonic faults meet. "Machu Pichu's location is not a coincidence," says Dr. Menegat. "It would be impossible to build such a site in the high mountains if the substrate was not fractured."


    " Using a combination of satellite imagery and field measurements, Menegat mapped a dense web of intersecting fractures and faults beneath the UNESCO World Heritage Site. His analysis indicates these features vary widely in scale, from tiny fractures visible in individual stones to major, 175-kilometer-long lineaments that control the orientation of some of the region's river valleys."


     "Dr. Menegat found that these faults and fractures occur in several sets, some of which correspond to the major fault zones responsible for uplifting the Central Andes Mountains during the past eight million years. Because some of these faults are oriented northeast-southwest and others trend northwest-southeast, they collectively create an "X" shape where they intersect beneath Machu Picchu. X marks the Machu Picchu spot.



     "Dr. Menegat's mapping suggests that the sanctuary's urban sectors and the surrounding agricultural fields, as well as individual buildings and stairs, are all oriented along the trends of these major faults. "The layout clearly reflects the fracture matrix underlying the site," says Dr. Menegat. Other ancient Incan cities, including Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Cusco, are also located at the intersection of faults, says Menegat. "Each is precisely the expression of the main directions of the site's geological faults."



     Dr. Menegat's results indicate the underlying fault-and-fracture network is as integral to Machu Picchu's construction as its legendary stonework (as above). This mortar-free masonry features stones so perfectly fitted together that it's impossible to slide a credit card between them. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits of this building style, there are engineering advantages. Peru is a seismically unstable country; both Lima and Cusco have been leveled by earthquakes. When an earthquake occurs, the stones in an Inca building are said to “dance;” that is, they bounce through the tremors and then fall back into place. Without this building method, many of the best known buildings at Machu Picchu would have collapsed long ago.




       "As master stoneworkers, the Incas took advantage of the abundant building materials in the fault zone, says Dr. Menegat. "The intense fracturing there predisposed the rocks to breaking along these same planes of weakness, which greatly reduced the energy needed to carve them."





     "In addition to helping shape individual stones, the fault network at Machu Picchu likely offered the Incas other advantages, according to Dr. Menegat. Chief among these was a ready source of water. "The area's tectonic faults channeled meltwater and rainwater straight to the site," he says. Construction of the sanctuary in such a high perch also had the benefit of isolating the site from avalanches and landslides, all-too-common hazards in this alpine environment, Dr. Menegat explains."




     "The faults and fractures underlying Machu Picchu also helped drain the site during the intense rainstorms prevalent in the region. "About two-thirds of the effort to build the sanctuary involved constructing subsurface drainages," says Dr. Menegat. "The preexisting fractures aided this process and help account for its remarkable preservation," he says. "Machu Picchu clearly shows us that the Incan civilization was an built on well-fractured rocks. 

Have any PEOTS folks visited Machu Picchu? How was the experience?

And Happy 6 year anniversary to PEOTS! 


  • We had a Japanese cardiologist stay with us in March 2008. He took the leftover Colorado trail GORP with him to his next stop at MP and sent this image. So it's almost like I've been there...and it looks deserted.




82 comments:

  1. Not much evidence of those fault lines in satellite photos of the area, unlike certain other lines. It's only a couple hundred miles from Machu Picchu to Nazca as the condor flies. Some other Peruvian rifts being exposed this week, too.

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    1. jan, it took me awhile to realize you were talking about the Nazca Lines, not the Nazca tectonic plate.

      Indeed, lots of rifts around the world this week!

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  2. At first it sounded like the ancients might have been conscious that they were building at the intersections of the faults, which seems unlikely. But I'd accept the more practical reasons, water, broken rocks, etc. I wonder if there were also political reasons, or safety reasons, for the location - there are theories that its remoteness was as a sanctuary in turbulent times. It's been too long since I pulled out my MP books.

    I always thought the orientation of the buildings had to do with the general shape of the hill, but maybe that's too practical. There's strong evidence that Chaco Canyon is oriented towards significant solar events - winter and summer solstice sunrise and sunset. Doesn't seem as strong here, though I notice that the main plazas are oriented close to perpendicular to the setting sun of the December solstice (their summer, about 24° south of west). One of the temples is very much aligned with solar angles, I can't remember the details...

    But I can see rather rather daunting crowds there, kind of takes the fun out of it.

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  3. PS: Congratulations on 6 years of blogging, keep them coming. But I'm not yet convinced I like the comments in a pop-up window. I'm glad you removed the need for administrative approval, but clicking the "I'm not a robot" box stresses my circuits, I'm programmed to not prevaricate.

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  4. I changed the pop-up window setting. See how that goes, R2D2.

    I know, the crowds make it look so unappealing.

    You don't think the ancients had ancient Landsat images ;-)?!

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    1. I messed with the settings as I was having issues posting from my iPad. That issue seems to have resolved.

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    2. Much better, things are back to normal. Can you go to DC now?

      I do think the ancients had a much better understanding of the impacts of the world around them, they probably had to. Their lack of technology was compensated by breadth and depth of observation, much of which is lost to us.

      I had an intern who traveled to Machu Picchu, as impressive as the site was, he was even more impressed by the stonework at Cusco and Ollantaytambo. The former's most famous feature might be the twelve angled stone. In addition to limited mechanical technology, they also had limited work animals, no oxen or horses. Llamas can work to a certain degree, but they aren't very reliable.

      Of course that contributes to the decimation of the peoples of this continent, but that's another story.

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    3. Oh, were it that easy, eh?

      That stone is quite amazing.

      I didn't know llamas are unreliable. The spitting image of ?

      I just added a photo of a deserted-looking Machu Picchu, taken by our guest, a Japanese cardiologist, who took the leftover Colorado trail GORP with him and sent us this image. So, it's almost like I've been there, right?

      I think the number of tourists/pilgrims to MP have increased exponentially in the past decade or so...

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    4. We met folks on a CO trail who, when our Japanese friend said he was going to Machu Picchu next, said "Oh, I've been there in Japan." When I asked him why he didn't correct the speaker, he said "Oh, I've learned most Americans are just terrible at geography."

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    5. I was never a big fan of Jay Leno, but did enjoy his "ask questions of people on the street." It's not just geography that strains Americans.

      I'd never seen MP from the angle your cardiologist took, quite a shot. Must have a healthy heart to make that climb.

      I also recommend this book. Gorgeous photography (mostly black and white) interspersed with Pablo Neruda's poem "Heights of Machu Picchu" in both Spanish and English. It's more a book of dreams than a book of facts, but there's also some great shots of llamas (alpacas!).

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    6. It is a great shot. He was a super hiker.

      Thanks for the book recommendation, eco. It looks stunning.

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  5. It's time:

    http://earth.nautil.us/feature/452/geology-makes-you-time-literate

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  6. Replies
    1. Lidar is a great tool. Thanks for the article!

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  7. Until they showed up as today's featured article on Wikipedia, I'd never heard of megabats. Is the collective noun for a bunch of them a "gigabat"?

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    1. I'd never heard the term megabat either. And yes to gigabat!

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    2. As twilight waned I left my office last night, and in the last glimmers of the western light I saw bats at the start of their nightly rounds. They were insect bats, not fruit bats, and definitely not mega. Excellent flyers, I remember mega bats as a feature of some 1950's movie - Bridge Over the River Kwai, The African Queen? - and their flight was a bit sluggish.

      Would the collection of bats around the world be a ter(r)abat?

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    3. I used to see a lot more bats in NJ that I have more recently, before I moved. I think white-nose syndrome really decimated them. Many years ago, I remember playing tennis after dark on a lighted court, watching moths in the plane of the lights, and bats above and among them.

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  8. Word Woman, as our resident geologist and Coloradan, maybe you can weigh in on the validity of last night's Final Jeopardy!. The category was U.S. CITIES: Named for the ore once mined there, this city at an altitude of 10,152 feet is home to the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum. The correct response: What is Leadville? I say lead isn't an ore, and they ought to give all 3 players another chance. You?

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    1. I see your point. Lead is in the ore (typically galena) so strictly speaking, we should have Galenaville, according to the J! clue. Yes, I'd give them another go.

      Delete
  9. If they'd had the app, the Incans might not have needed that legendary stonework.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I have felt the P wave separate from the S wave. I suspect cats and dogs have a stronger sense of P, and that's why they react before we do. Not sure about a Rayleigh wave or a Love wave.

      But I prefer New Wave. Do Love waves only happen in Loveland?

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    2. Another xkcd comic for the win!

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    3. My dog has a very strong sense of P(ee) for sure.

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  10. Exciting fossil news in Colorado:

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/10/new-fossils-show-mammals-growth-spurt-after-dinosaurs-died-corral-bluffs/

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    1. The Corral Bluffs site is just west and south of the Paint Mines we discussed here:

      https://wordwomanpartialellipsisofthesun.blogspot.com/2016/01/hoo-doo-hoo-doo-you-think-youre-fooling.html

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    2. Logical that mammals would prosper once the big lugs got out of the way, nature does that, and 100,000 - 700,000 years is a pretty long time.

      Makes me want to reread Alan Weisman's "The World Without Us."

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    3. I'll put that one on my reading list, now, too.

      In a similar vein, This op-ed, from Wednesday got me looking at other work from the author, including this cheery title, also on my list now.

      The climate may be warming, but the mood seems to be, Winter Is Coming....

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    4. Both books are now on my list. Winter is, indeed, coming.

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    5. Ostriches don't stick their heads in the sand, but the band did play on while the Titanic sank.

      Delete
  11. Very sad and sickened to see this happening at my alma mater:

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/10/25/swastikas-found-drawn-walls-academic-buildings-smith-college/lI1qWQXr9fNH1Cv2jFY4MP/story.html

    Smith's President and the Smith community rallied swiftly to denounce the acts and support the Jewish community. Support was available last evening until after midnight. I've written a few e-mails of support also.

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    1. Did you think we'd go gentle into that (not so) good night?

      Unfortunately it was just as likely to be some lunkhead thinking they were funny. Women can also be lunkheads, but you aren't as good at it as us guys.

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    2. Lunkhead or not, I'm surprised there aren't cameras everywhere to record the deeds. Maybe there are. . .

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  12. Pure irony:

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/14/europe/veneto-council-climate-change-floods-trnd-intl-scli/index.html

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  13. A black and white murmuration:

    https://youtu.be/F0RYPc0Dek0

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    1. It would be so cool to stand on the shore holding a model plane radio transmitter, pretending to control the flock, to the amazement of passers-by.

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    2. Years ago I saw a large flock of white birds doing a similar dance, though much higher in the air and not at the shore, maybe 3 miles in from SF Bay (as the crow flies).

      I thought they might be white pelicans riding a thermal - which would be a likely phenomenon in this location, but the birds were not simply rising vertically, they were moving in complicated patterns. Unfortunately they were too far away to tell, and seemed to move faster than I've ever seen pelicans, though not as fast as the sandpipers. Any ideas?

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    3. Maybe you answered your own question in "as the crow flies" >>>

      http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/whitecrows.htm

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    4. I've never seen a white crow, seems to be an unusual phenomenon. Do ornithologists hope to see a large group? I'm dreaming of a white crows' mass...

      I'm trying to think of birds that are typically white. Seagulls come to mind first, I don't know if they provide that pattern of flocking. Is it too early for Christmas puns? Egrets? But these were definitely not egrets, apparent even at a distance.

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    5. I once saw an all-white hawk while biking. Learned they're not all that rare. <a href="https://www.theonion.com/ornithologists-awarded-10-million-grant-to-research-wh-1839952670>Maybe a topic for future research.</a>

      The other day, I opened my front door to take out some trash, and a very large hawk (red tail?) swooped past me in our condo courtyard and landed about 12 feet away. She stood there, looking around for a minute or so, before flying off, with what I think was a mouse in her talons.

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    6. A white hawk was biking? That's cool. Remember your close " mark....

      The red tail hawks around here are not terribly shy, I saw one do a slalom fly between people's heads on a fairly crowded sidewalk, then land and watch us from a bush in the Bank of America parking lot. This is across the street from Chez Panisse, in case you need to research - why would you?

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  14. Replies
    1. Mars is certainly NOT boring!

      Thanks for the links, Jan.

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  15. Sandstone chess piece?

    https://www.sciencenews.org/article/carved-rock-found-jordan-may-be-oldest-known-chess-piece

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  16. So people have been getting rooked for 1300 years?

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  17. The TI calculator:

    https://gen.medium.com/big-calculator-how-texas-instruments-monopolized-math-class-67ee165045dc

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    1. I never had a graphing calculator, but I do remember the mid 1970's struggles about whether to allow calculators in math classes. In 1972 or thereabouts the big TI calculators were >$100 (about 60 hours @ minimum wage), the red lines discourage.

      By 1974 or '75 LED calculators were available for around $12 (6 hours of labor), and they decided that was in a reasonable range. I think I was among the last to be taught to use a slide rule; I still have mine around somewhere. Somewhere. I don't miss it.

      Glad I learned without a calculator, I rang up $26.38 at the grocery (I don't really say that) the other day, gave the cashier $31.38, and had to wait while she struggled to replace the receipt tape so she could figure out how much to give me as change.

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    2. We got my son a TI-84 at a pawn shop near his high school. They did a booming business in TIs. My daughter used the same one; it was little changed.

      Wow, surprising she could not figure out $5.00 in change. She wouldn't take your word for it? I'm more impressed that you carry 38 cents in change. . .

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    3. I still have a couple of slide rules, though my wife only gave me permission to move with one. And that doesn't count my circular aviation slide rule, of course. Or the paper one I made when my son was learning logarithms one summer in elementary school. They're handy things, though spending the first two weeks of freshman chem learning to use one seems a waste now.

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  18. Replies
    1. Seems pretty sophisticated for folks stealing sand.

      I'd put my money on the big money, or a state actor. Author mentions Russia, what about North Korea? US? Israel?

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    2. Those folks are quite sandsy, after all.

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  19. Replies
    1. CBC had an interview with him Wednesday evening. Its a shame to see these curmudgeon's disappear.

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    2. ITS (sic--punc) definitely a shame!

      Do you think sic-punc will catch on?

      And thanks for being stalwart PEOTS fans, jan and eco!

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  20. Partial Ellipsis of the Sun quietly passed 200,000 views some time this month! Thank for stopping by!

    This milestone calls for a new post sometime this week!

    My new profile picture was taken yesterday at a local observatory during the Golden Hour, those 60 minutes of liquid light before sundown.

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    1. Congratulations on reaching 200k! A cyber stone.

      Speaking of the Golden Hour, have you ever seen the Green Flash? I've seen it 3 or 4 times over the Pacific Ocean, including once when it spectacularly (or spectrally) seemed to reflect on the underside of some clouds perfectly placed "above" the sun.

      Until 5 minutes ago I thought this was only visible over water, but once again I was wrong.

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    2. Related: just now coined a new phrase related to my non-profit, which is having trouble with our Salesforce account (I know nothing of these things).

      After consulting the ancient Oracle (sorry Duckduckgo, I used Google) I found we probably can fix the issue by changing one of the options they give. Which leads to the modern-day phrase (not yet on Google):

      "The fault is not in our stars but in our settings"

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    3. eco, thanks for the good wishes and the green flash video. Very easy to miss that green flash, eh?

      I know nothing of the Salesforce account either. What is the mission of your non-profit?

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    4. The Salesforce is irrelevant, it was part of the too long build-up to the punch line, which suddenly seemed strangely apropos.

      It is easy to miss the green flash, it's only there for a second or two, and most of the time it's subtle. A bit of a misnomer to call it a flash. The only exception for me was one time when it actually did flash around the sun, maybe 3 diameters. I understand those are pretty rare.

      It helps if you can get to a higher point than the horizon, makes sense as the green is just the bending of light in the atmosphere, the higher you are the more atmosphere. You'd probably want to go to the top of the Rockies, and view it over the lower peaks to the west. Or east if you're an early riser.

      The best ones I've seen were from the Marin Headlands, several hundred feet up with a great view of the Pacific. I should try Mount Tamalpais, around 2700'. King Peak near the Lost Coast (>4000') would be great but the horizon is rarely clear.

      The non-profit is Rebuilding Together, used to be Christmas in April. We are part of a national organization that provides free home repairs for low income seniors, vets, and disabled folk. Keeps me off the streets.

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    5. It's The Flash!

      Rebuilding Together is a wonderful mission, though Christmas in April is a bit more memorable. Glad to see you have a Wikipedia page and everything!

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    6. You're not alone in the sentiments about Christmas; they used to do all the projects in April (very stressful, not as useful to those who tell us about an emergency in May), and the Christian association drew mixed reviews.

      I wish the org could think of a flashier name. Suggestions from a Woman of Words are welcome.

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    7. Chrishanukwanza in SpriSumFallWin?

      Building All The Time

      Building: Winter Solstice meets Spring Solstice

      Christmas in April was so memorable...

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    8. If marketing hadn't become so evil I might have sympathy for how hard it is.

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  21. I thought I'd get to a post this week but our Salida/Buena Vista trip pushed that time back.

    For now, enjoy this hoofprint story since we've been talking large mammmals:

    https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/65110/footwear-helped-moonshiners-evade-police

    I want to add them to my footwear collection. . .

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    Replies
    1. Before clicking on the link I thought of "The Adventure of the Priory School," the only time I recall Holmes asking for money.

      And in Elkville, here's one for the girls, though she doesn't have much of a rack.

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  22. Planting trees in SQUARE holes

    So a round peg in a square hole sometimes works if growth is your ultimate outcome. That sounds deep...or maybe I've been working with roots too much.

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  23. New post on "Trash Talking Early: Plastic "Continents" of Trash" is now up.

    ReplyDelete

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