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

Science:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122866014

[tblue37]

2. K&R & thanks. nt

[Buzz cook]

3. And how did the Incas know?

Plate tectonics was first theorized in 1912. It wasn't formalized untill the 1950s and later.
https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-tectonics.html

Machu Picchu is just North of Cusco which is inland from the edge of the Coast and it is North of the Altiplano plate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_Plate#/media/File:SouthAmericanPlate.png


Perhaps the article meant fault lines? Once again how would the Incas know? The area does have earthquakes. Not as many earthquakes as the coast though.

[ArizonaLib]

4. It does not appear as though the Incas knew them as fault lines

but rather locations of opportunity. The article describes that region as uninhabitable in most places except where specialized construction can take place. The rock along the fault lines fractures in ways which create pieces in shaped which can minimize cutting. Because settlements require water sources, the rock in those areas which are split because of the fault lines, provide opportunity for directing and sourcing water. I would think due to the remote locations that the same types of earthquakes that created access to water sources could just as easily and unpredictably cause them to be cut off and render the settlements or civilizations uninhabitable instantly.