# Craters on Santa Maria Azores **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961 "2021-12-31T02:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/1 "2021-12-31T02:38:15Z")
I was looking at Santa Maria island in the Azores on Google Maps. Mostly on the western flat side of the island there appears to be many small craters? I tried searching craters and pockmarks on Santa Maria, with no success. Are these volcanic, meteor or man made things? Many are dry. Some water filled. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/2 "2021-12-31T05:55:41Z")
I’d guess man-made, as some of them are square. [https://goo.gl/maps/bWEu3ghaLYMUTcuz7](https://goo.gl/maps/bWEu3ghaLYMUTcuz7) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/3 "2021-12-31T06:17:23Z")
The airport just north of there was an important American air base during WWII, and later a support and fueling base for transatlantic air carriers like the Concorde. I wonder if those are the footprints of since-demolished fuel tanks. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/4 "2021-12-31T06:22:29Z")
Hmmm. Maybe the area was bombed in WW2? ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/5 "2021-12-31T06:24:21Z")
Interesting. I didn’t notice that a few of them have had square berms built round them. But most seem old and some natural sort of formation. Even the ones enclosed in squares. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/6 "2021-12-31T06:25:54Z")
The only Germans in that part of the ocean were on u-boats. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/7 "2021-12-31T06:33:42Z")
Salt ponds? [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa\_Maria\_salt\_ponds](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_salt_ponds) ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/8 "2021-12-31T07:24:52Z")
Are you taking about the water- filled ponds like [these](https://earth.app.goo.gl/?apn=com.google.earth&isi=293622097&ius=googleearth&link=https%3a%2f%2fearth.google.com%2fweb%2fsearch%2fSanta%2bMaria%2bIsland,%2bPortugal%2f%4036.99195573,-25.1621212,64.26865564a,1241.7960682d,35y,347.93666743h,0t,0r%2fdata%3dCoYBGlwSVgokMHhiNjc5MGJlYWUxYmZkZjc6MHhkZWM4NGJmMDQ1Y2FmMTVkGVHoBlRJfUJAIUR4xZ0cGznAKhxTYW50YSBNYXJpYSBJc2xhbmQsIFBvcnR1Z2FsGAEgASImCiQJ2BLfe289TUARtE-7i9M8TUAZB8aaNCKDCMAhfC7UX-eSCMA)? Or the earthen rings that @abcdefghij linked to? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/9 "2021-12-31T07:26:07Z")
It’s been two million years since Santa Maria has seen volcanic activity, small craters would have been eroded away by now. They’re man-made. Either related to the base or some farming activity (some look to be filled with water.) Another possibility is old clay pits from when that was a major industry on the island. > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Salt ponds? Wrong Santa Maria. And salt ponds [look very different](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sal/@16.6109932,-22.910353,1714m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x94ca0969d2d0897:0x8acd1f48627d87ea!8m2!3d16.7266152!4d-22.9297109). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/10 "2021-12-31T07:37:23Z")
The square ones are definitely old tank platforms, since they’re identical to the one that still has a tank on it right next to them. Probably the cluster of round ones to the SW of that is, as well (some look to be just raised round platforms, not rings). But the ones further north, filled with water, look different. They don’t seem to have roads near them like the tanks/tank scars do, but do seem to often lie on or near water channels. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/11 "2021-12-31T17:21:11Z")
> [@Kedikat](#): > > Maybe the area was bombed in WW2? Bomb craters are much more irregular. See here: > **[World War II bombing craters in Escalles, France (Google Maps)](https://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/world-war-ii-bombing-craters/view/google/)** > > World War II bombing craters (Google Maps). Explore World War II bombing craters in Escalles, France as it appears on Google Maps as well as pictures, stories and other notable nearby locations on VirtualGlobetrotting.com. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craters-on-santa-maria-azores/956961/12 "2022-01-02T22:01:49Z")
Have to agree that those large ones in the south end are old storage tank areas. Thanks for the info. Still find the smaller more irregular ones interesting. A few look like they may be man made for water storage? But so many are just randomly spotted and in what appear to be inconvenient spots.