Abstract
The río Mendoza valley at 33° S latitude has been repeatedly invaded by glaciers during the Late Pleistocene. Relative-age criteria, U-series ages and thermoluminescence, permitted the glacial deposits to be separated into three mappable units, each less extensive than its predecessor. Interstadial sediments in the upper río Mendoza valley were dated in order to constrain the ages of the drifts. The moraine sequence is compared with those studied by Espizua (1998) along the río Grande valley in the southwestern Mendoza Province at 35° S latitude.
In the río Valenzuela valley located at 35° S latitude, in the upper río Grande basin, the Holocene glacier variations were recognized in the El Azufre and El Peñón valleys. A first Neoglacial advance occurred at ca. 5700–4400 yr B.P. A second Neoglacial advance occurred at ca. 2500–2200 yr B.P. A third Neoglacial advance, identified as the Little Ice Age, culminated at ca. 400 yr B.P. (ca. 1435–1660 cal AD yr).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aniya, M., 1995, Holocene glacial chronology in Patagonia: Tyndall and Upsala Glaciers, Arctic and Alpine Research, 27(4):311–322.
Aniya, M., and Sato, H., 1995, Holocene glacial chronology of Upsala Glacier at Península Herminita, Southern Patagonia Icefield. Glacier Research in Patagonia. Bulletin of Glacier Research 13:83–96.
Bengochea, L. E., Porter, S. C., and Schwarcz, H. P., 1987, Pleistocene glaciation across the high Andes of Chile and Argentina, in: Abstracts of the International Union of Quaternary Research INQUA, XIIth International Congress, Ottawa, Canada.
Clapperton, C. M., and Sugden, D. E., 1988, Holocene glacier fluctuations in South America and Antarctica, Quaternary Science Reviews,7:185–198.
D’Antoni, H. L., 1980, Los últimos 30 mil años en el sur de Mendoza, Argentina, III Coloquio Sobre Paleobotánica y Palinología, Memorias del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, pp. 83–102 (in Spanish).
Espizua, L. E., 1986, Fluctuations of the río del Plomo Glaciers, Geografiska Annaler, 68A(4), 317–327.
Espizua, L. E., 1989, Glaciaciones Pleistocénicas en la Quebrada de los Horcones y Río de las Cuevas, Mendoza, República Argentina, Doctoral Thesis, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan, Argentina, pp. 226 (in Spanish).
Espizua, L. E., 1993, Quaternary glaciations in the río Mendoza valley, Argentine Andes, Quaternary Research,40: 150–162.
Espizua, L. E., 1998, Secuencia glacial del Pleistoceno Tardío en el valle del río Grande, Mendoza, Argentina, Bamberger Geographische Schriften, Bd. 15S:85–99, Bamberg, (in Spanish).
Espizua, L. E., 1999, Chronology of Late Pleistocene glacier advances in the río Mendoza Valley, Argentina, Global and Planetary Change, 22:193–200.
Grosjean, M., Geyh, M. A., Messerli, B. Schreier, H. and Veit, H. 1998, A late-Holocene (<2600 B.P.) glacial advance in the south-central Andes (29°S), northern Chile, The Holocene, 8(4):473–479.
Markgraf, V., and Bradbury, P., 1982, Holocene climatic history of South America, Striae, 16:40–45.
Markgraf, V., 1983, Late and postglacial vegetational and paleoclimatic changes in subantarctic, temperate and arid environments in Argentina, Palynology, 7:43–70.
Markgraf, V., Bradbury, J. P., and Fernandez, J. 1986, Bajada de Rahue, Province of Neuquén, Argentina: an interstadial deposit in northern Patagonia, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology,56:251–258.
Mercer, J. H., 1976, Glacial history of southernmost South America, Quaternary Research, 6: 125–166
Mercer, J. H., 1982, Holocene glacier variations in southern South America, Striae, 18:35–40.
Naranjo, J. A., and Haller, M., 1997, Actividad explosiva postglacial del complejo volcánico Planchón-Peteroa, 35°15’ S, Universidad Católica del Norte. Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, VIII Congreso Geológico Chileno, Actas, I(2):357–360 (in Spanish).
Rabassa, J., Brandani, A. A., Boninsegna, J. A., and Cobos, D. R., 1984, Cronología de la Pequeña Edad de Hielo en los glaciares Río Manso y Castatño Overo, cerro Tronador, Provincia de Río Negro, IX Congreso Geológico Argentino, Actas, 3:624–639 (in Spanish).
Rothlisberger, F., 1986, 10,000 Jahre Gletschergeschichte der Erde,Verlag Sauerländer Aarau. Frankfurt am Main, Salzburg, pp. 187–416 (in German).
Stingl, H., and Garleff, K., 1985, Glacier variations and climate of the Late Quaternary in the subtropical and mid-latitude Andes of Argentina, Zeitscrift für Gletscherkunde and Glazialgeologie, Bd. 21S:225–228.
Villalba, R., Leiva, J. C., Rubulls, S., Suarez, J., and Lenzano, L., 1990, Climate, tree-ring, and glacial fluctuations in the Río Frias valley, Rio Negro, Argentina, Arctic and Alpine Research, 22(3):215–232.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Espizua, L.E. (2002). Late Pleistocene and Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in the Mendoza Andes, Argentina. In: Casassa, G., Sepúlveda, F.V., Sinclair, R.M. (eds) The Patagonian Icefields. Series of the Centro de Estudios Científicos. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0645-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0645-4_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5174-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0645-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive