[johnbryanpeters]

A friend and I have been discussing going to Machu Picchu next year, combined MTB and gaping turista exercise.

For traveling in the United States, I generally use the ExpertGPS application to look at terrain prior to a major trip. Unfortunately, it only provides topographic data for the United States.

In looking with Google Maps, I happened to notice terrain ring structures 40-60 miles north of Machu Picchu which have piqued my curiosity. I think they might be indicative of a big meteor strike way back.

Can anyone recommend an affordable tool that'll let me view currently available global topographic data? ArcGIS is out...

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Might have answered my own question, just found QGIS.

 

[StiHacka]

A friend and I have been discussing going to Machu Picchu next year

Are you ready for big crowds & the triumph of commerce over culture?

 

[Rockland]

https://mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=-13.163401,-72.544793&z=15&t=t7

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Are you ready for big crowds & the triumph of commerce over culture?

I started researching this morning and it sounds like a clusterfuck. Not sure what to make of it, need to discuss with my companion.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

https://mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=-13.163401,-72.544793&z=15&t=t7

Thanks! If you're curious, zoom out to about 20 KM scale and look up by La Convencion.

 

[Rockland]

Another super-nerd tip. You can use that web tool to view your own .gpx or .kml track overlaid on whatever base map you want. Just host your file @ an accessible URL and enter the address into the link below.

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=(URL Of Hosted Data Goes Here)&t=t4

 

[Westy]

Some friends of mine went to Machu Pichu back in April. I was originally supposed to go with them but the more I read about it, the less I wanted to go and eventually bailed out.

Everyone on their trip suffered violent diarrhea. They were perplexed because they claimed they always filtered/treated their water. They had no response when I asked them if they ever saw their guide/cook wash his hands.

 

[Montana rider]

A friend and I have been discussing going to Machu Picchu next year

We spend 3 months traveling in Peru and Bolivia when the wife finished grad school in 2000.

Machu Picchu was cool and all that, but there was (at that point) tons of other Incan ruins/trails that were pretty neat without all the hype.

In fact, I enjoyed our 1 month in Bolivia as much as our 2 months in Peru...

Everyone on their trip suffered violent diarrhea.

You sure it wasn't the Chicha -- oral fermentation FTW. When we were scouting tour guides, there was one "known" for having good veggie food, and we brought our OWN filter. Far too many of those little cock rings (err, I mean water bottle cap retainers) on the trail for my taste.

 

[StiHacka]

You sure it wasn't the Chicha -- oral fermentation FTW.

 

[jdcamb]

A friend and I have been discussing going to Machu Picchu next year, combined MTB and gaping turista exercise.

For traveling in the United States, I generally use the ExpertGPS application to look at terrain prior to a major trip. Unfortunately, it only provides topographic data for the United States.

In looking with Google Maps, I happened to notice terrain ring structures 40-60 miles north of Machu Picchu which have piqued my curiosity. I think they might be indicative of a big meteor strike way back.

Can anyone recommend an affordable tool that'll let me view currently available global topographic data? ArcGIS is out...

Cordillera Vilcabamba is quite fascinating.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Madre de Dios:

Reflection seismic shows that thin-skinned deformation and substantial structural shortening is developed only in the Madre de Dios ranges of southeast Peru (MdD in Figure 11). The Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt consists of northward-verging, stacked thrust sheets (Hermoza, 2000). The western margin of the thrust belt is rotated into an arcuate string of faults against which it abuts. This arcuate string of structures is locally expressed in the northward-oriented Cordillera Vilcabamba that has a discordant relationship to the overall tectonic fabric of Peru, and continues northward to form the eastern sidewall or termination of the Acre basin, and finally appears to link the Acre and Solimoes basins of Brazil. Like the Madre de Dios, the Solimoes basin also suffered structural inversion at this time.

Geometric relationships show that the northward-verging Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt was rotated into this Vilcabamba fault system, suggesting a left-lateral sense of displacement and lateral-ramp affinities. The Cenozoic granitoids that form the Vilcabamba Cordillera are attributed to transtensional dilation along this shear zone. This Vilcabamba shear zone accommodated structural shortening, and relayed the compressional stresses into the Solimoes basin as well. In this context, the faulted Fitzcarrald anticline (Figure 11) was formed as a lateral fold associated with transcurrent displacement along the principal Vilcabamba shear zone. The Fitzcarrald anticline owes its prominence essentially to the fact that it forms a drainage divide, and to the legendary Fitzcarrald expedition and its attempt to transport the river steamer over the divide early in the last century.

There are structures within the Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt that are rhomboid-shaped piggy-back basins. The Candamo depository (PERUPETRO proprietary reports) is interpreted as a small intermontane pull-apart basin formed by synthetic left-lateral slip along the grain of the thrust belt.

The Madre de Dios forms the northern recurved margin of the Bolivian fold-thrust belt. Since the Maastrichtian, the Andean ranges of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia have reflected the oblique, flat-plate subduction of the Pacific plate. The architecture of these ranges incorporates eastward verging, high-angle thrusts and prominent N- to NNE-oriented strike-slip faults (Tankard, 2000). Oblique subduction has driven right-lateral displacement on strike-slip faults such as the Aconquija fault of NW Argentina where transpression has resulted in many thousands of metres of structural relief. In this interpretation, terranes such as the Precordillera have been displaced northwards. The progressive northward displacement of the Precordillera and the Eastern Cordillera and Western Cordillera has been cumulative, and was ultimately accommodated by compressional shortening and northward vergence of the Madre de Dios and, on a depleted smaller scale, structural inversion of the Solimoes basin. Thus, the discordant relationships of the Vilcabamba shear zone and the Madre de Dios range with respect to the tectonic framework of Peru are intimately linked to N-NNE right-lateral displacement along the Chile-Argentina and Bolivian Andes that was driven by oblique subduction."

http://www.perupetro.com.pe/wps/wcm/connect/8b3305bb-6720-411b-91d3-0bd24d1d6255/Tectonic+Framework+of+Peruvian+Basins,+A+Tankard+2002.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

 

[StiHacka]

Madre de Dios:

Reflection seismic shows that thin-skinned deformation and substantial structural shortening is developed only in the Madre de Dios ranges of southeast Peru (MdD in Figure 11). The Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt consists of northward-verging, stacked thrust sheets (Hermoza, 2000). The western margin of the thrust belt is rotated into an arcuate string of faults against which it abuts. This arcuate string of structures is locally expressed in the northward-oriented Cordillera Vilcabamba that has a discordant relationship to the overall tectonic fabric of Peru, and continues northward to form the eastern sidewall or termination of the Acre basin, and finally appears to link the Acre and Solimoes basins of Brazil. Like the Madre de Dios, the Solimoes basin also suffered structural inversion at this time.

Geometric relationships show that the northward-verging Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt was rotated into this Vilcabamba fault system, suggesting a left-lateral sense of displacement and lateral-ramp affinities. The Cenozoic granitoids that form the Vilcabamba Cordillera are attributed to transtensional dilation along this shear zone. This Vilcabamba shear zone accommodated structural shortening, and relayed the compressional stresses into the Solimoes basin as well. In this context, the faulted Fitzcarrald anticline (Figure 11) was formed as a lateral fold associated with transcurrent displacement along the principal Vilcabamba shear zone. The Fitzcarrald anticline owes its prominence essentially to the fact that it forms a drainage divide, and to the legendary Fitzcarrald expedition and its attempt to transport the river steamer over the divide early in the last century.

There are structures within the Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt that are rhomboid-shaped piggy-back basins. The Candamo depository (PERUPETRO proprietary reports) is interpreted as a small intermontane pull-apart basin formed by synthetic left-lateral slip along the grain of the thrust belt.

The Madre de Dios forms the northern recurved margin of the Bolivian fold-thrust belt. Since the Maastrichtian, the Andean ranges of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia have reflected the oblique, flat-plate subduction of the Pacific plate. The architecture of these ranges incorporates eastward verging, high-angle thrusts and prominent N- to NNE-oriented strike-slip faults (Tankard, 2000). Oblique subduction has driven right-lateral displacement on strike-slip faults such as the Aconquija fault of NW Argentina where transpression has resulted in many thousands of metres of structural relief. In this interpretation, terranes such as the Precordillera have been displaced northwards. The progressive northward displacement of the Precordillera and the Eastern Cordillera and Western Cordillera has been cumulative, and was ultimately accommodated by compressional shortening and northward vergence of the Madre de Dios and, on a depleted smaller scale, structural inversion of the Solimoes basin. Thus, the discordant relationships of the Vilcabamba shear zone and the Madre de Dios range with respect to the tectonic framework of Peru are intimately linked to N-NNE right-lateral displacement along the Chile-Argentina and Bolivian Andes that was driven by oblique subduction."

http://www.perupetro.com.pe/wps/wcm/connect/8b3305bb-6720-411b-91d3-0bd24d1d6255/Tectonic+Framework+of+Peruvian+Basins,+A+Tankard+2002.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

TL;DR; :

 

[DaveW]

You had me at "Madre de Dios fold-thrust belt was rotated into this Vilcabamba".......