EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Mystery Crater of the Atacama

Atacama Desert, Chile

Explanation:  This image is real!  I shot this during a flight along the Atacama Desert region of Chile, South America, en route from Santiago north to Calama.  

What is this crater?  We previously viewed an open-pit mine along this same flight route, but that was clearly carved by people, with its many terraced layers.  

Could this be a meteor impact crater, such as the Monturaqui impact site, which does occur along this flight route in northern Chile?  

Or could it be the exposed dome from a volcanic eruption?

Or could it be a dried playa basin, with the many streamlets feeding into its center?

After a few brief tries, I've been unable to match the image to any shown in Google Earth and other geography image programs.  So for now, I simply view this as the ... Mystery Crater of the Atacama.