Geoheritage
DOI 10.1007/s12371-014-0121-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Colnia Impact Crater: Geological Heritage
and Natural Patrimony in the Southern Metropolitan Region
of So Paulo, Brazil
Victor F. Velzquez & Julianna Colonna & Aletha E. Martins Sallun &
Jos Maria Azevedo Sobrinho & William Sallun Filho & Paulo C. A. Paiva Jr.
Received: 16 May 2013 / Accepted: 16 May 2014
# The European Association for Conservation of the Geological Heritage 2014
Abstract The Parelheiros district, located at the extreme
southern end of the So Paulo metropolitan region, is histor-
ically famous for the occurrence of an unusual circular de-
pression, denominated in the geological literature as Colnia
Crater. This prominent geomorphological structure, with a
3.6-km diameter, formed by impact cratering, represents one
of the few records of a violent and devastating geological
process that shaped the Earths surface in the past. The crater
lies within an environmental protection area and displays a
remarkable landscape, as well as a rich and singular fauna and
flora. With a wide geological and biological diversity, the
Colnia impact crater is an extraordinary natural heritage
and must be rigorously preserved to: (a) conserve its excep-
tional natural wealth in order to provide continuity to various
scientific researches, (b) implement suitable land use and
occupation programmes to maintain the crater as an environ-
mental preservation area and (c) encourage the local
communitys participation in the development of sustainable
tourism in the region.
Keywords Colnia impact crater . Geodiversity .
Geoconservation . Geotourism . Preservation and
conservation
V. F. Velzquez (*) : J. Colonna : P. C. A. Paiva Jr.
Escola de Artes, Cincias e Humanidades, Universidade de So
Paulo, Av. Arlindo Bttio, 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, So
Paulo 02838-000, Brazil
e-mail: vvf@usp.br
A. E. M. Sallun : J. M. Azevedo Sobrinho : W. Sallun Filho
Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente, Instituto Geolgico, Av.
Miguel Estefano, 3900, So Paulo, So Paulo 04301-903, Brazil
A. E. M. Sallun
e-mail: aletheamartins@hotmail.com
Introduction
Since the early 1990s, the United Nations Educational, Scien-
tific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Interna-
tional Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) have promoted
an integrated search to catalogue geological sites with multi-
ple functions in different areas: scientific, academic, cultural
and socioeconomic. This initiative has increasingly motivated
the nature preservation and over the past two decades has
gained a notable acceptance in society.
I n B r a z i l , g e o d i v e r s i t y, g e o l o g i c a l h e r i t a g e ,
geoconservation and geotourism (Brilha 2005; Newsome
and Dowling 2010; Farsani et al. 2012) are terms restricted
to a small group of professionals that dedicate their research to
the geosciences field. Despite the notable progress in nature
conservation, environmental preservation policy is poorly
acknowledged by governmental authorities (Alcarde 2010;
Paiva Junior 2012). In fact, the legal precepts of preservation
and conservation give often priority to biodiversity.
With the current tendency of global population growth,
sustainable development has become indispensable to our
livelihood. Geological heritage sites should play an important
role in society, even as cultural and archaeological heritages.
However, the use of rock formations in cultural and recrea-
tional activities is quite limited. This reality is due in part to the
lack of a comprehensive database on the various benefits that
these natural resources can provide.
The Colnia impact crater is a prominent geomorphologi-
cal feature that has been the focus of several scientific
studies, especially for its intriguing circular shape. Al-
though its origin has long been attributed to impact cratering
(Kollert et al. 1961), the evidence that confirms this hypoth-
esis has recently been documented by Velzquez et al. (2010,
2013), which allowed to include it on the Earth Impact data-
base (PASCC 2013).

The crater region was designated in 2005 a 'Geological
Site' by the Brazilian Committee of Geological and Paleonto-
logical Sites (SIGEP) (Riccomini et al. 2005). Four years later,
it was named a 'Geological Monument' by the Council of
Geological Monuments of the So Paulo State (CoMGeo-
SP) in 2009. The Colnia impact crater is favoured by the
following two outer laws: (1) the state law of Environmental
Protection Area of Capivari-Monos, which was enacted in
2001 and (2) the Defence Council of the Historical, Archae-
ological, Artistic and Tourism of the So Paulo State
(CONDEPHAAT) in 2003, which promulgated the legal pro-
tection of the region that is occupied by the crater. More
recently, a small portion of the southern sector of the crater
was declared 'Municipal Natural Park of the Colnia Crater'
(SMVMA 2012).
Despite these incentives and other initiatives for preserva-
tion and conservation, specific studies have not been conduct-
ed to consolidate the crater region as a geoconservation and
geotourism site. Within this context, the present paper has as
main goals to catalogue the geological and geomorphological
elements occurring in the Colnia impact crater, thereby
emphasising its importance as a thematic park and as a possi-
ble site for the development of geotourism.
The Colnia Impact Crater
Geographical Location
The Colnia impact crater is located 40 km off the zero
referential landmark of So Paulo, centred at 23 52' 27" S
and 46 42' 36" W, in Parelheiros (Fig. 1). The name is due to a
small village called Colnia, near the NE rim of the structure.
The crater is within the conservation unit of the Environmen-
tal Protection Area of Capivari-Monos and the Billings
hydrographical basin, two natural reserves of vital importance
to the maintenance of the biodiversity and of the geological
water cycle in the region. The ring-like depression, an out-
standing geomorphological feature, easily seen on satellite
imaging as a circular structure of 3.6 km in diameter, is formed
by several flattened hills that configure a smooth bowl shape,
with a gentle slope of the inner walls, and a 120-m difference
in relief between the rim and the floor of the crater (Velzquez
et al. 2013). The area can be accessed year-round through the
highways of Parelheiros or Colnia.
Geological Setting
Since the earliest geological surveys, the So Paulo metropol-
itan region and, especially, the area encompassing the Billings
hydrographical basin were systematically mapped as part of a
complex Neoproterozoic orogenic zone denominated by
Hasui et al. (1975) the Ribeira Fold Belt, which extends for
Geoheritage
approximately 1,500 km, contouring the southeastern coast of
Brazil. Among several lithostratigraphical nomenclature pro-
posals available in the literature, Tassinari et al. (2004) distin-
guish three major geological domains for the Ribeira Fold Belt
in the So Paulo State: Costeiro, Embu and So Roque. The
dominant unit in the study area corresponds to the Embu
Domain (Sadowski 1974), which is largely composed of
metamorphic and igneous rocks of the crystalline basement
(Fig. 2). The most comprehensive geological documentation
of the region was performed by Coutinho (1972). According
to this author, the Colnia impact crater region is within the
Embu Domain and consists mainly of mica schist, gneiss,
quartzite, migmatite, diorite and quartz diorite.
Deposits of tertiary sediments of the So Paulo Basin,
correlates with the Resende Formation (Riccomini et al.
1992), are exposed discontinuously in the southwest portion
of the Billings hydrographical basin. These deposits also
outcrop inside the crater as narrow strips, circumscribing the
southern rim (Riccomini et al. 2005).
Another aspect that should be highlighted is the significant
thickness of the crater-fill deposits, estimated by Riccomini
et al. (2011) to be at about 275 m. According to Velzquez
et al. (2013), four different lithological associations may be
recognized in these deposits (Fig. 3): (a) unshocked crystalline
basement rocks, formed mostly by mica schist, gneiss, quartz-
ite and granite, (b) fractured/brecciated basement rocks with a
remarkable deformation: the brittle and ductile structures are
so much more intense and pervasive than those exposed along
the outer margin of the crater, (c) allochthonous crater-fill
deposits, including a complex mixture of lithic fragments
and mineral clasts that are derived from crystalline basement
rocks and, more rarely, from older sedimentary rocks and (d)
post-impact deposits that consist of very poorly sorted fine- to
coarse-grained siliciclastic sediments, including some interca-
lations of organo-pelitic materials. In order of abundance, the
terrigenous sediments include disaggregated clasts of quartz,
K-feldspar, mica, tourmaline and clay minerals. Other smaller
constituents are zircon, epidote, biotite, corundum,
plagioclase, apatite, anatase and rutile, as well as lithic
fragments of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Excluding the alluvial deposits, several superimposed
structures occur in the crystalline basement and sedimentary
rocks. The deformations include a wide range of faults and
fractures that exhibit a pattern of unusual orientation, a signif-
icant variation of the palaeostress field and fluids percolation
along the planes (Velzquez et al. 2013).
Multidisciplinary Function
In the literal sense of the word, the term 'impact cratering'
denotes the formation of a circular depression by the high-
Geoheritage

Fig. 1 Digital elevation model displaying the circular shape of the Colnia impact crater within the Billings hydrographical basin (white dotted line)

velocity impact of an extraterrestrial body. Nevertheless, from operates on a range of spatial-temporal scales, from the
a geological viewpoint, the structure is not simply a topo- micro-scale shock deformation of individual minerals to the
graphical expression. According to Collins et al. (2012), 'im- mega-scale disruption and perturbation of planetary bodies'.
pact cratering is a complex and dynamic process that This type of event, depending on the magnitude, can put the

Fig. 2 Major lithological units in the Colnia impact crater region (Coutinho, 1980). The white dotted line indicates the boundaries of the Billings
hydrographical basin

Fig. 3 Schematic representation
of the main types of deposits that
fill the crater, based on the
geophysical data from Motta and
Flexor (1991), Neves (1998),
Riccomini et al. (2011) and the
geological cross-section from
Velzquez et al. (2013)
whole life of the planet in danger of extinction (Pierazzo and
Artemieva 2012). Since the beginning of Earths history,
several records of hypervelocity impact are well known. Per-
haps the most widely cited example in the literature is the
event that occurred in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
(Alvarez et al. 1980; Schulte et al. 2010), which could have
caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is currently known
that only large asteroids (>10 km in diameter) represent a
potential mass extinction. However, the impact of a midsize
asteroid can trigger a sudden large decline of a set of services
and basic infrastructures which are essential to sustain our
civilization.
Impact structures can also be sources of economic natural
resource deposits. The Sudbury and Vredefort structures in
Canada and South Africa, respectively, are the two best ex-
amples of mineral exploration associated with terrestrial im-
pact structures (Reimold et al. 2005). How much the explora-
tion of mineral resources arising from an impact crater is
yielding for the worldwide economy is unknown. However,
the annual North American and South African revenues are
estimated to be approximately 5 and 7 billion dollars (Grieve
and Masaitis 1994; Grieve 2005).
A large number of the studies on the Colnia impact crater
have mainly been addressed to elucidate the origin of the
structure, while only a few (cf. Velzquez et al. 2006;
Velzquez et al.2008; Valderrama 2011; Colonna and
Velzquez 2012) have looked to its multidisciplinary function.
The following sections consider some of these aspects.
Scientific Relevance
There are two types of impact cratering: small simple crater
and large complex crater (Grieve 1991). A simple crater
displays a bowl-shaped depression and usually does not ex-
ceed 4 km in diameter (French 1998). Therefore, the Colnia
impact crater, with 3.6 km in diameter, is a relatively small
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simple crater. The uplifted external ring is sustained by meta-
morphic and igneous rocks while internally the crater is
slightly rippled and partly covered by swamp vegetation.
The flooded area gradually increases towards the centre,
where landscape of swamps is dominant. Seismic-reflection
data suggest that the maximum depth of the crater floor in the
crystalline basement is around 275 m (Riccomini et al. 2011),
which is far superior to the elevation of the external rim with a
maximum height of 120 m (cf. Fig 3).
The sedimentary succession within the crater is a well-
preserved deposit of impactite and post-impact sediments. A
careful petrographic examination conducted by Velzquez
et al. (2010, 2013) on borehole samples has revealed a set of
shock metamorphism effects, with particular emphasis to the
granular texture in zircon and the ballen texture in quartz.
These two features, formed by shock-induced thermal trans-
formations, were reported for the first time in the Brazilian
impact crater. Although those discoveries are important, ques-
tions related to the extraterrestrial components in impactites
and the crater age continue to remain unresolved. On the
former, one of the techniques most commonly applied is the
identification of positive anomalies of highly siderophile ele-
ments (e.g. Re, Os, Ir, Ru, Pt and Pd abundance) in suevite
brecchia (Morgan et al. 1979; Tagle and Hecht 2006). On the
latter, the radiometric dating has been widely used to deter-
mine the age of an impact structure, chiefly the conventional
U-Pb and 40Ar-39Ar isotopic systems (Deutsch and Schrer
1994; Jourdan et al. 2012). There are studies in progress for
these purposes on borehole samples currently collected. The
results arising from the research should enable a comparison
with similar structures and make inferences on the negative
effects of the regional environmental changes.
Cratering by hypervelocity impact is usually considered the
most devastating geological event (Chapman and Morrison
1994). However, hypervelocity impacts were one of the most
important processes in driving the creation of the planets and
Geoheritage
were responsible for the origin and evolution of the life on
Earth (Clark et al. 1999). The roughly circular or elliptical
basin provoked by a hypervelocity impact has a tectonic
regime and sedimentation history that are different from its
immediate surroundings. The majority of the crater-fill deposit
reveals a continuous sedimentation record, beginning imme-
diately after the catastrophic event. The preliminary correla-
tion of borehole cross sections and the geological and geo-
physical data available in the literature indicates that the
Colnia impact crater has the characteristics of an isolated
endorheic basin. A multidisciplinary stratigraphic research on
the impactite and post-impact deposits should provide a better
understanding of the following points: (a) the spatial arrange-
ment of the sedimentary layers and their significance in the
context of the crater formation, (b) the local and regional
climate changes over the last 3 Ma, (c) the occurrence of
microbial ecology associated with intense hydrothermal ac-
tivities, (d) an accurate calibration of the thermodynamic
conditions at the impact time based on systematic mineralogy
analysis and (e) the implications for the transfer of biomole-
cules from the planetary geology point of view and its impor-
tance in the origin of the primitive life on Earth.
Academic and Cultural Potentialities
The ensemble of geological features of the Colnia impact
crater region has a high scientific interest for academic works
like on the following: (a) structural and metamorphic geology,
(b) geomorphology, (c) quaternary geology and (d) ecological
and environmental sciences.
The lithological units that outcrop in the region include
metamorphic and igneous rocks, and represent a sequence of
crustal growth episodes on Western Gondwana in the
Neoproterozoic Brasiliano Orogenic Cycle Belts of Southeast
Brazil (Brito Neves and Cordani 1991; Cordani et al. 2002).
The outcrops provide an exceptional opportunity to learn the
basic concepts and the connection between the structural and
metamorphic geology. The field observations may help in
understanding the transformation of minerals and rocks fabric
by metamorphic processes caused by physical and chemical
changes in response to the dynamics of a large-scale geolog-
ical event. Furthermore, the students will have opportunities to
observe and compare the most common regional deformation
patterns provoked by the hypervelocity impact of an asteroid.
Although commonly quoted as the 'Ice Age', it was during
the Quaternary that mammals and, in particular, the human
species appeared. Likewise, alongside the countless glacia-
tions that have taken place during this recent period of Earths
history, important palaeoclimatic changes were fundamental
factors for the diversification of flora and fauna in some
regions of the Earths surface (Dawson 1992). While geolog-
ical evidence is often well-preserved over the Quaternary,
extensive deposits with continuous records of sedimentation
are relatively rare. This is precisely the most singular aspect of
the sediments that fill the Colnia impact crater. Preliminary
studies on palaeoclimate performed by Ledru et al. (2005,
2009) on samples collected from the shallow drill core of the
upper part of the section revealed important events of
palaeoenvironmental changes over the last 100,000 years,
which may extend to more than 3 Ma. These sediments were
partially generated from the exhumation of the units compris-
ing the structure rim during the transitional phase of the crater
shape change (Velzquez et al. 2012). Thus, geological re-
cords present in the sediments of the crater should provide
valuable information to compare with the global climate
change data and to establish more accurate inferences on
possible extreme climate variations in the future.
Biological diversity conservation has traditionally been a
major topic of international conferences on the environment.
However, natural areas near large urban centres, including the
Colnia impact crater, have received very little attention.
Despite the various problems that result from land use for
agricultural, livestock and urban purposes, the crater still
preserves an expressive variety of fauna and flora. The frag-
ments of the vegetation that occur in the crater are some of the
best examples illustrating the influence of the geological
conditions on the natural environment. The crater displays a
continuous change of vegetation cover spanning from the
erosion areas, through the rim, to the deposition areas in the
centre. The difference is markedly noticeable by the predom-
inance of tall, dense trees along the slopes of the crater, where
animals, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles are
abundant (Maron 2009). A gradual change occurs towards
the crater centre, where a mosaic of peatland and swamp forest
is observed (Velzquez et al. 2006). Better understanding the
multiple factors that control the complex dynamic behaviour
of this ecosystem is a common goal for palaeontologists,
biologists and geoscientists. However, due to the continuous
anthropic pressure, the region requires special action: con-
serve the existing natural resources and, as much as possible,
retrieve the areas that have been most severely affected
(Fig. 4).
Potential Economic Benefits
Among the socioeconomic models that have the sustainable
development as a priority, ecotourism has proven to be a
successful strategy to encourage the democratic participation
of the local community in the prevention and solution of
environmental problems. Educational trails are a new tourism
segment that seeks to safeguard nature by offering economic
development opportunities to the surrounding community.
The Colnia crater, with its 3.6 km diameter, offers a large
space for leisure (Fig. 5). The main attraction is its fascinating
circular shape, which can be appreciated from the transmis-
sion station of the Vargem Grande Community Radio, while
 Geoheritage

Fig. 4 Circular aspect of the

Colnia impact crater from an
oblique view (Velzquez et al.
2013). The yellow dotted line
delimits the rim of the structure.
Image from Google Earth TM
Mapping Service

the most fearless visitors will have the opportunities to ob-
serve across the trails a wide variety of native species of fauna
and flora.
Remarks and Final Considerations
The Colnia impact crater is an inexhaustible source of infor-
mation for the Earth sciences. The minerals derived from the
basement rocks display a set of shock metamorphism effects,
which document extreme P-T conditions. The upper section of
the unconsolidated deposits present in the inner crater, which
were formed by the erosion of the rim basement rocks, pre-
serves records of different stages of palaeoclimatic evolution.
This record may help to elucidate the geological processes that
occurred in the past and to comprehend the current natural
phenomena that affect humanity.
Besides the opportunity to learn about specific themes, the
crater is an important reference point for general knowledge
acquisition. The abiotic and biotic elements provide peculiar
conditions that can serve as examples to various scientific

Fig. 5 Some tourist attractions in

the Colnia impact crater. a Easily
accessible and pleasant trail to
observe various types of
vegetation. b Bromelia species
with flowers on a tree trunk. c
Trail with high biodiversity. d
Fracture spring at the end of the
trail. e Fiddleheads unwinding on
a young fern
Geoheritage
methods usually employed on biological and geological stud-
ies. As previously mentioned by some authors (Silva et al.
2008; Souza and Velzquez 2008; Martin and Velzquez
2008), the crater offers an enormous possibility for a holistic
approach of the diverse segments that comprise the environ-
ment: ecosystem and biodiversity, anthropic activities and
environmental degradation, urban land planning and manage-
ment optimisation of natural heritage.
The crater also has an extensive leisure area. The trails
provide a closer view of its scenic beauty and require approx-
imately 60 min of walking, during which visitors will have the
opportunity to enjoy observing a diverse array of flora and
fauna.
Its geographical location, extraordinary beauty, resources
like water and soil, geological and biological wealth make the
crater an invaluable heritage. From this perspective, the
Colnia impact crater offers the necessary conditions for the
undertaking of ecotourism in its area, thereby combining a
profitable activity with quality of life and nature conservation.
This scenery should likely lead to the engagement of the local
population in developing strategies to solve environmental
problems and strengthen the programmes of sustainable tour-
ism in the region.
Acknowledgments We are particularly grateful to Sebastio Carmo
Silva for his excellent technical assistance during the execution of the
fieldwork. Fruitful grammatical revision and the helpful comments given
by Dr. Vagner Maringolo improved substantially this paper. We extend
our thanks to the anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. A. E.
M. Sallun and W. Sallun Filho are researchers with Productivity Grants of
CNPq, Brazil. This study has been supported by the FAPESP foundation,
Proc. No. 2006/59046-6, 2011/50987-0, 2011/22597-0 and 2012/50042-
9.
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