Abstract

Historical documents have reported that a huge airburst took place above the Chiloé and Chonos Archipelagos in the 18th century. A rst description of the event is given by the Concepción Synod in 1744 [1] and refers to a reball in 1737 in Southern Chile that burnt down a deserted island of Chiloé. Another testimony in 1767 refers to a reball in 1738 above the Castro region that would have fallen on the Vielaiguai Island and generated huge res [2,3]. Another account indicates that on the 30th of December 1737 a huge cloud of re would have passed above the Chiloé Archipelago from the North and landed on the Guaitecas Islands, terrorizing the population and generating huge res [4]. According to [5], the affected islands were the Chelat, Joesón, Jechica, Choros islands and smaller islands of the Guaitecas Archipelago. Only Vielaiguai (now known as Elvira [6]) and Jechica, which has kept its name, have been clearly identi ed. The main objective of this work, which is part of an undergraduate thesis, is to further investigate this potential airburst and a possible later meteorite fall. At the congress, we will present the preliminary results obtained using three approaches: 1) Study of additional historical materials and scienti c literature to constrain the likelihood of both a meteoritic airburst and impact; 2) Geomorphological study of the Guaitecas Archipelago using high-resolution (12m) digital elevation model to detect potential impact structures; 3) Fieldwork in selected Guaitecas islands to search for materials or structures that might indicate an airburst and/or an impact. Sampling of peat soil will be attempted to search for possible meteoritic contaminants and/or re evidence preserved at super cial levels; 4) Laboratory analysis of the collected materials. References: [1] Catholic Church (1984). Sínodo de Concepción, Chile, 1744. CSIC, Madrid. [2] García J. (1889). Anuario Hidrográ co de la Marina de Chile XIV. Imprenta Nacional, Santiago. [3] Enrich F. (1891). Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en Chile. Francisco Rosales, Barcelona. [4] González de Agüeros P. (1791). Descripción historial de la provincia y archipiélago de Chiloé, en el Reyno de Chile, y obispado de la Concepción. Imprenta de Don Benito Cano, Madrid. [5] Maldonado R. (1897). Estudios geográ cos e hidrográ cos sobre Chiloé. Establ. Poligrá co Roma, Santiago de Chile. [6] Risopatrón L. (1924). Diccionario Jeográ co de Chile. Imprenta Universitaria, Santiago.