Meso-Cenozoic paleotopographies and paleolandscapes in the Deseado Massif (Santa Cruz province, Argentina)

• Main Authors: Bétard, François, Peulvast, Jean-Pierre, Rabassa, Jorge, Aguilera, Emilia
• Other Authors: Pôle de recherche pour l'organisation et la diffusion de l'information géographique (PRODIG), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris-Sorbonne (UP4)-AgroParisTech-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas Ushuaia (CADIC), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Buenos Aires (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de la Plata Argentine (UNLP)
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: denudation; paleolandscapes; volcanism; Patagonia; uplift history; [SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Argentina; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01081842

International audience The Deseado Massif is the southernmost part of a continent, outside of Antarctica, where Gondwana Landscapes may be observed and investigated. This paper present preliminary observations and field data about the Gondwana Landscapes of this cratonic area of Southern Argentina, one of the most remote, isolated and less populated places on Earth. Under extreme cold-arid climate conditions, the region presents very scarce vegetation cover, which further enables the geomorphological observations. Remnants of planation surfaces of undisputable Late Mesozoic age, developed on Jurassic volcanic units and covered by Late Cretaceous and Paleogene sedimentary rocks, are exposed along tens of thousands square kilometres of this cratonic unit. In those remote times, the climate of this portion of Patagonia was very wet and warm, responsible for the development of extensive chemical weathering. Volcanic and sedimentary paleosurfaces of younger ages were also recognized in the regional landscape, allowing a reconstruction of uplift and denudation histories since the Late Mesozoic.