Zone of Silence

The " Zona del Silencio" (Zone of Silence) is located between parallels 26 and 28 lalitude north merifhians 104 and 106 longltude west. It Is a seml-arid región encompassing part of the states oí Chihuahua . Coahuila and Durango , in |p Bolsón de Maplmí. It was dlscovered in 1966 by chemlcal^nglneer Augusto Harry de la Pena, who at the time worked for Petróleos Mexicanos. The regionals attracted scientists because of certain interesting characteristics such as the difficulty of hertz and radio wave transmission.

Also, among other things, it is target to many meteorites such as one which fell on the 8ht of February 1969 called "Meteorito Allende" (Allendes Meteorito), classified as carbon condrite and whose age has been estimated at 13.000 million years. This area is associated with the Big Bang, or birth of the universe. Another meteorite fell on the lO th of February 1970 close to the

nickel and was divided in to ...

recovered and is on exhibition at the Mining Institute in México

City. Many more are distinguished in the atmosphere and fall

like fine particles which San easily be collected these are called mlcro-meteorites and are also composed of iron and nikel.

there, are petrified fossils of marine life, some up to 60 million years oíd. as wo must remember the Bolsón do Mapimi was the bottom of an ancient sea. existinq durlnq two Lower Cetacean, primarily composed of iron oxide A qood quantitv of rocks can be found those can be identified because as you approach with compass,

On Saturday 1 th July 1970 at 3:15 p.m. . the last part of a 1 phase American missile. type Athena, fell to earth at the center of the region the missile had been launched by the Air Force Base and was expected to land in White Sands New México, However. the missile detoured more than 1000 km to fall on the Zona del Silencio. The rocket- head's energy consisted of a radioactive cobalt capsule, according to official Communications from the U.S. Air Force. Highly qualified staff of this country searched the terrain for 24 days by land and air until they found the missile, which was returned to the U.S. together with two freight cars full of soil samples. The whole operation ended on the 2th of August 1970 .

It has been proven that, due to the thinning of the ionosphere, produced by solar winds, UV and cosmic rays have intensified albeit not dangerously. This produces some luminous and magnetic alterations although these can only be detected with very sensitive equipment.

With the support of UNESCO and developing a program called "Man and Biosphere" work Is carried out since 1976 in the laboratory of the Biosphere Reserve. In this laboratory many mexican and foreign scientists have carried out important research of the flora and fauna of this area and whose work has benefited not just our country but the international community as a whole. According to statistics there are 300 sunny days per year in this area so this energy can be useful for many human activities. On moonless nights a gorgeous sky can be admired where stars and planets can be observed with singular clarity. An astronomical observatory is in operated by a local Incoming travel agency specializing in Eco-tourism.

In the words, the Zona del Silencio -is like an open book on nature to the advantage of students teachers scientist and. everyone who is interested in the world around us.

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