Gondwana Landscapes in southern South America

Springer Earth System Sciences

For further volumes:http://www.springer.com/series/10178

Jorge Rabassa • Cliff OllierEditors

Gondwana Landscapesin southern South America

Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil

123

EditorsJorge RabassaLaboratorio de Geomorfología y CuaternarioCADIC-CONICETUshuaia, Tierra del FuegoArgentina

Universidad Nacional de Tierra del FuegoUshuaia, Tierra del FuegoArgentina

Cliff OllierSchool of Earth and EnvironmentUniversity of Western AustraliaPerth, Australia

ISBN 978-94-007-7701-9 ISBN 978-94-007-7702-6 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7702-6Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014935868

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Jorge Rabassa and Cliff Ollier

Some Concepts on Gondwana Landscapes: Long-TermLandscape Evolution, Genesis, Distribution and Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Jorge Rabassa

Some Principles in the Study of Planation Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Cliff Ollier

Planation Surfaces of the Gondwana Continents: Synthesisand Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Cliff Ollier

A Brief Review of the Development of Gondwana LandscapeStudies in Africa, the Centrepiece of the Former Gondwana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Rodney R. Maud

Modeling the Atmospheric Circulation and ClimaticConditions over Southern South America During the LateHistory of the Gondwana Supercontinent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Rosa Hilda Compagnucci

Gondwana Paleosurfaces in the State of Rio Grande do Sul,Southern Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Francisco Sergio Bernardes Ladeira

Ancient Landscapes of Uruguay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Daniel Panario, Ofelia Gutiérrez, Leda Sánchez Bettucci,Elena Peel, Pedro Oyhantçabal, and Jorge Rabassa

A General Overview of Gondwana Landscapes in Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Jorge Rabassa, Claudio Carignano, and Marcela Cioccale

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vi Contents

Planation Surfaces on the Paraná Basaltic Plateau, South America . . . . . . . 247Daniela Kröhling, Ernesto Brunetto, Gabriel Galina,M. Cecilia Zalazar, and Martín Iriondo

Geomorphology of Paleosurfaces in the Sierras deComechingones, Central Pampean Ranges, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305M. Jimena Andreazzini and Susana B. Degiovanni

Gondwana Glacial Paleolandscape, Diamictite Recordof Carboniferous Valley Glaciation, and Preglacial Remnantsof an Ancient Weathering Front in Northwestern Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331Betty Socha, Claudio Carignano, Jorge Rabassa,and Dave Mickelson

Planation Surfaces of Central Western Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365Marcelo Zárate and Alicia Folguera

Erosion Surface and Granitic Morphology in the Sierra deLihuel Calel, Province of La Pampa, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393Emilia Y. Aguilera, Ana Maria Sato, Eduardo Llambías,and Hugo Tickyj

Paleo-landscapes of the Northern Patagonian Massif, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . 423Emilia Y. Aguilera, Jorge Rabassa, and Eugenio Aragón

The Rhyolitic Plateau of the Marifil Formation (Jurassic):A Gondwana Paleosurface in the Southeastern Portionof the Northern Patagonia Massif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447Oscar A. Martínez and Jorge Rabassa

Meso-Cenozoic Paleotopographies and Paleolandscapes in theDeseado Massif (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477F. Bétard, J.P. Peulvast, Jorge Rabassa, and Emilia Y. Aguilera

Pseudokarst and Speleothems in the Chihuido Granite,Province of Mendoza, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503Emilia Y. Aguilera, Silvina Carretero, and Jorge Rabassa

The Exhumation of the Northern Patagonian MassifGondwana Planation Surface Due to Uprising During the Oligocene . . . . . 517Eugenio Aragón, Emilia Y. Aguilera, Claudia E. Cavarozzi,and Alejandro Ribot

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

About the Authors

Emilia Y. Aguilera graduated as a geologist (1984) and obtained her doctorate inRemote Sensing and Geomorphology of Paleosurfaces (2006) from the Facultad deCiencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.She is a Professor of Igneous Petrology in the same college since 2009. She is alsoa senior specialist in Remote Sensing Techniques at the Dirección de Aplicaciónde Imágenes Satelitarias (DAIS), Ministry of Public Works, La Plata, Buenos Airesprovince. Her main fields of interest are remote sensing, geomorphology of largeareas, and paleosurfaces, especially those developed over igneous rocks. She isactive in several projects related to Patagonia and Western Argentina cratonic areas,igneous petrology, volcanology, and paleosurfaces.

vii

viii About the Authors

María Jimena Andreazzini, M.Sc. graduated as geologist at the UniversidadNacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC, 2002; Río Cuarto, Argentina) and as Master ofSciences in Geology at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil (2005). Sheis presently a doctoral candidate at UNRC, holding a doctoral scholarship fromCONICET, the National Research Council of Argentina, and she also teaches inthe Department of Geology, UNRC. Since 2009 she takes part in research projectsrelated to the geomorphology and hydrology of mountain and piedmont areas.She is a coauthor of 16 papers and has coedited 2 books. She has participated inthe organization of national and international scientific meetings. She is presentlysecretary of the Argentine Association of Geomorphology and Quaternary Studies.

Eugenio Aragón graduated as a geologist and obtained his doctorate in Petrology(1986) from the Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional deLa Plata, La Plata, Argentina.

He is presently a Professor of Petrology at the same university since 1992 anda permanent, senior researcher with CONICET, the National Research Councilof Argentina, at the Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), UniversidadNacional de La Plata Argentina.

He has participated for more than two decades as a senior researcher in CONICETand also as a Lecturer in the national universities of La Plata, Rio Cuarto and RíoNegro, in Argentina. He is responsible for several relevant research projects in thefield of Igneous Petrology and Crustal Evolution.

About the Authors ix

François Bétard is Associate Professor in Physical Geography and EnvironmentalScience at Paris-Diderot University, and a member of the research team CNRS UMR8586 PRODIG. His main research interests lie in the fields of geomorphology, soilscience and rock weathering, with a special focus on tropical and paleotropical envi-ronments. Involved in the study of paleolandforms and related paleoweatherings atvarious geological timescales, he worked extensively in South America, particularlyin Northeast Brazil and Southern Patagonia, but also in France (Armorican Massif,Paris and Aquitaine Basins). Ongoing studies include applied research in the fieldsof conservation and valorization of geological and geomorphological heritage intoprotected areas (natural parks and reserves, geoparks).

Leda Sánchez Bettucci is the Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences,part of the Facultad de Ciencias at the Universidad de la República in Uruguay.She completed her initial degree in Geology there before completing her Ph.D. in

x About the Authors

Geological Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in Argentina. Heracademic career began at the Departamento de Geología at the Universidad dela República, where she pursued research on tectonics and paleomagnetism. Shehas since been working on the tectonic evolution of Uruguay and paleogeographicreconstructions and has also contributed to our geological understanding of aspectsrelated to magnetic paleointensities and environmental magnetism. Over the last4 years, she has supervised the installation of the first geophysical observatory(for seismology and geomagnetism) in Uruguay. Her professional interests are intectonics and geophysics.

Ernesto Brunetto is a geologist (2003) and doctor in Geological Sciences (2008).He has worked in Quaternary Geology and Neotectonics in cratonic areas and largeplains of Argentina. His current position is Assistant Researcher and leads theLaboratory of Neogene-Quaternary Stratigraphy working in collaboration togetherwith paleontology colleagues.

Claudio A. Carignano graduated as a geologist at the School of Geology, Facultyof Physical and Natural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC),

About the Authors xi

Argentina, in 1990. After completing advanced studies in Geomorphology asPostgraduate Scholarship Holder (1992–1997) at the Argentine National ResearchCouncil (CONICET), he obtained in 1997 a Ph.D. (magna cum laude – maximumhonors) at UNC. After that, with a CONICET Postdoctoral Scholarship, he com-pleted postdoctoral studies on Quaternary Geology at UNC.

Trained in geomorphology and geomatics, he got several teaching positions:Assistant Professor of Photogeology and Remote Sensing (1990–1997) at theSchool of Geology UNC; Professor of Geomatics and Environmental InformationSystems, Soil Resources Management, and Pollution of Natural Resources (2001–2005) of the Environmental Management Department, Blas Pascal University;Professor of Remote Sensing (2005–2008) of the School of Biology, Sciencesand Technology Department of the Universidad Nacional de Chilecito (UNdeC);and Professor of Geomorphology and Remote Sensing (2008) of the GeologyDepartment at the Universidad del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca.

He was Director of the Mountain and Arid Regions Environments ResearchInstitute (IAMRA) of UNdeC (2006–2009). Since 2009, he is Assistant Professorof Tectonic Geology, School of Geology of UNC. His main research interests aregeomorphological hazards and the interaction between humans and the geologicalenvironment.

Silvina Carretero graduated in Geology (2006) and obtained her doctorate inNatural Sciences (Geology, 2011) at the Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo,Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. She has a permanent research positionwith CONICET, the National Research Council of Argentina, at the University ofLa Plata, where she also teaches Mineralogy and Igneous Rocks Petrology.

Her main field of interest is the hydrogeology of coastal aquifers, including mod-ifications in the coastal dune landscape due to urbanization and natural processes.She is also interested in paleosurfaces and pseudokarst landscapes.

xii About the Authors

Claudia E. Cavarozzi graduated as a geochemist (1990) from the Facultad deCiencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.She is presently a researcher with the Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG),Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and Full Professor of Geochemistry since 2010.She has participated since 1992 in geochemical and igneous petrology projects asmember of CONICET, the National Research Council of Argentina, and for morethan 20 years, she has been in charge of geochemistry facilities at the UniversidadNacional de La Plata. She has been part of many research projects in the field ofgeochemistry of igneous petrology.

Marcela A. Cioccale graduated as geologist at the School of Geology, Facultyof Physical and Natural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC),Argentina, in 1989. After completing advanced studies in geomorphology withan Argentine National Research Council (CONICET) Postgraduate Scholarship

About the Authors xiii

(1993–1998), she got a Ph.D. at the UNC in 1999. After that, she completedpostdoctoral studies of Environmental Geology at the UNC on a CONICETpostdoctoral fellowship.

Trained in geomorphology and environmental geology, she obtained severalteaching positions: Professor of Geomatics and Environmental Information Sys-tems, Soil Resources Management, and Pollution of Natural Resources (2004–2006), in the Environmental Management Department at Blas Pascal University,Córdoba; Professor of Physical Geography (2005–2008) at the School of Biology, inthe Sciences and Technology Department of the Universidad Nacional de Chilecito(UNdeC); Professor of Geomorphology and Remote Sensing (2009–2011), at theGeology Department of the Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca,Argentina; and Professor of Geomorphometry Postgraduate Courses at UNC,UNS, and the National Universities of San Juan (UNSJ) and Río Cuarto (UNRC)(2010–2013). She was also the Dean of Science and Technology of the UNdeC(2007–2009).

Since 1989 she is Assistant Professor of Rock Mechanics at the School ofGeology School, UNC. Her main research interests are the relationships betweengeomorphology and hydrogeochemistry of mountain streams.

Rosa Hilda Compagnucci is currently Full Professor of Climatology at theDepartment of Atmospheric and Oceans Sciences (DCAO), Faculty of Exactand Natural Sciences (FCEN), Buenos Aires University (UBA), Buenos Aires,Argentina. She holds a licenciada (1974) and a doctorate (1989) in MeteorologySciences. She is also a Principal Investigator with the National Research Councilof Argentina (CONICET). Her main fields of interest are synoptic climatology,paleoclimatology, and statistic applications in atmospheric sciences and climatechange. She participated as lead author in the Intergovernmental Panel for ClimateChange (IPCC), ARA 3, Working Group II. She has recently taken part as a reviewerof the TSU, ARA 5, Working Group I, IPCC.

xiv About the Authors

Susana B. Degiovanni graduated in Geology (1981), has a master’s degree inEnvironmental Geology (1999), and got her doctorate in Geology (2008), all degreesfrom the Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC, Córdoba, Argentina). Sheteaches at UNRC since 1981 and she is presently Associated Professor at theDepartment of Geology, UNRC. Since 1988 she has directed research projectson geomorphology and Quaternary sciences, particularly of surficial hydrologicalsystems and related geoenvironmental topics. She has published four books and76 scientific papers. She has participated in 46 national and international scientificmeetings. Since 2012, she is the President of the Argentine Association of Geomor-phology and Quaternary Studies.

Alicia Folguera is a geologist with the SEGEMAR, the Geological Survey ofArgentina, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

She got a Geology degree in 1997 and a doctorate in Geology in 2011, both at theUniversidad de Buenos Aires.

She is presently in charge of the regional geological mapping of central Argentinafor SEGEMAR. She has been working in the regional geology and the tectonicevolution of the Pampean plains since 2000.

About the Authors xv

Gabriel Galina is an advanced student of Cartography. He has developed methodsfor quantitative geomorphology for the fieldworks and mapping laboratory.

Ofelia Gutiérrez completed her degree in Geography and an M.Sc. in Environ-mental Sciences at the Facultad de Ciencias of the Universidad de la Repúblicain Uruguay; she also received a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) from theInternational University of Andalucía, Spain. She is currently an Assistant Professorat the Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales of the Facultad de Ciencias.She is a Visiting Scientist for the Engov Project (Environmental Governance)at the Gino Germani Research Institute, University of Buenos Aires, and hasauthored or coauthored more than 30 publications on GIS, environmental issues,physical geography, and environmental impacts assessment, including articles ininternational journals, books, and book chapters.

xvi About the Authors

Martín H. Iriondo is principal investigator of CONICET.Doctor of Geological Sciences with dedication to regional Quaternary of South

America and paleoclimates.At present, he is developing a program on Stratigraphic Correlation of the

Quaternary of the South American countries, which comprises the production ofseveral books (five of them are already published).

He was Vice-President of INQUA and Professor of Geomorphology at UNL(Argentina).

Professor Iriondo is the author of the book “Introducción a la Geología”(4 editions) and some 90 research papers.

Daniela M. Kröhling Associate Researcher of CONICET (National ResearchCouncil of Argentina) and Professor of Geomorphology at Facultad de Ingeniería yCiencias Hídricas (UNL – Universidad Nacional del Litoral), Santa Fe, Argentina.Daniela Kröhling (1967) is a geologist (1992) and a doctor in Geological Sciences(1998).

Her main fields of interest are Quaternary geology, stratigraphy, sedimentology,geomorphology, and palaeoclimatology, with main study areas in Argentina Chaco-Pampa plain and Mesopotamia region, Southern Brazil and Northeastern Argentinabasaltic meseta, and Southern Puna (Altiplano) plateau. She is currently the

About the Authors xvii

secretary and Webmaster of TERPRO Commission of INQUA, responsible for theSam-GeoQuat Group (INQUA IFG), and is in charge of national and internationalresearch projects.

Francisco Sergio Bernardes Ladeira works in the Department of Geography,Institute of Geosciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.

Francisco Ladeira (1965) is a geographer for Universidade Estadual Paulista(UNESP), Rio Claro (1989). He holds a master’s degree (1995) and a PhD (2002)in Physical Geography from the University of São Paulo (USP). Minister for 10years the discipline of Pedology and Structural Geomorphology for the courses ofGeography and Geology in UNICAMP and devotes himself to study the relationshipbetween paleosols and paleoenvironments and also old weathering profiles andgeomorphological evolution of long duration.

Eduardo Jorge Llambías obtained his doctorate in Geology (1964) from theUniversidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is presently an Emeritus Professorat the Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), School of Natural Sciences,Universidad Nacional de La Plata. His research interests lie in the transition from

xviii About the Authors

shallow plutons to volcanic rocks and the associated epithermal mineral deposits,focused on the Permian silicic magmatism of the Choiyoi plutono-volcanic provinceand the Miocene volcanic complex of Farallón Negro – La Alumbrera district,northern Argentina. He served as professor at different universities of Argentina andled a research group working in epizonal pluton emplacement at the UniversidadNacional de Río Cuarto, Argentina.

Oscar Alfredo Martínez graduated as a geologist from the School of NaturalSciences, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina, and obtained adoctoral degree in Glacial Geomorphology from the Universidad Nacional de laPatagonia-San Juan Bosco at Comodoro Rivadavia. He is presently Full Professorof Geology and Geomorphology at this same university but in the Esquel campus,at the foot of the Andes. He has done research in different regions of Patagonia andTierra del Fuego during more than 25 years. His main fields of interest are glacialgeology and extra-Andean geomorphology, with special focus in the “PatagonianGravels” (“Rodados Patagónicos”) and the development of endorheic depressions(“Bajos sin salida”).

Rodney R. Maud Retired Honorary Professor, School of Geological Sciences,formerly University of Natal, now University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, SouthAfrica.

About the Authors xix

Rodney Maud obtained his B.Sc. (1955) and Ph.D. (1962) degrees at the thenUniversity of Natal, concentrating on geology and geomorphology under that verywell known, if sometimes contentious, geomorphologist, Lester King. In 1964–1965he was awarded the Selby Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science andspent a year researching landscape evolution and soils in the area south of Adelaide(Australia), while at the then CSIRO Division of Soils. Never in full-time academicemployment, he became a consultant in the fields of geology, engineering geology,geomorphology, hydrogeology, and soil science, traveling widely for this reason inAfrica and elsewhere. He has published extensively in the above-mentioned subjectsin the form of numerous refereed journal and conference papers, as well as chaptersin books etc., this continuing till the present time. Jointly with his now sadly late,very good friend and colleague, Tim Partridge 1942–2009, for their seminal paperon the evolution of the landscape of Southern Africa (1987), he was awarded theJubilee Medal of the Geological Society of South Africa (1989). In 2003 he wasawarded the Gold Medal Award of the South African Institute for Engineering andEnvironmental Geologists. Rodney Maud is a Fellow of both the Geological Society(London) and the Geological Society of South Africa.

David M. Mickelson is Emeritus Professor of Geoscience, Geological Engineer-ing, and Water Resources Management at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Hereceived a B.A. from Clark University, an M.S. from the University of Maine, anda Ph.D. in 1971 from the Ohio State University and taught glacial geology, coastalgeomorphology, and other courses in University of Wisconsin from 1971 until hisretirement in 2005. He has done research on modern glaciers and glacial depositsin Sweden and Norway, Argentina, China, Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and otherparts of the USA. He is the first author of the book Geology of the Ice Age NationalScenic Trail published by the University of Wisconsin Press in late 2011.

xx About the Authors

Cliff Ollier Born in Manchester and educated at Bristol University (B.Sc, M.Sc.,D.Sc.), Cliff Ollier spent most of his life in Australia as a geologist andgeomorphologist. He is the author of ten books and over 400 scientific papers.He started as a demonstrator in Structural Geology at Bristol and worked as a soilscientist in England and Uganda. He has worked in many universities includingMelbourne, Australian National, Oxford, Papua New Guinea, New England, EastAnglia, and South Pacific and is currently at the University of Western Australia.His specialty has been applying geomorphology to large-scale tectonics throughstudies of planation surfaces, drainage, and great escarpments. He has travelled toover a 100 countries and lectured at over a 100 different universities.

Pedro Oyhantçabal is a Professor of Geology at the Universidad de la República(UDELAR, Uruguay) and a researcher at the PEDECIBA (Programme for theDevelopment of Basic Science) and SNI (National Researcher System), part ofthe ANII (National Research and Innovation Agency). He completed his initialdegree in 1982 and his Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen (Germany). He haspublished over 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has acted as coeditor ofspecial issues for the International Journal of Earth Sciences. His interests arein geochemistry and the isotope geology of magmas, geochronology, structuralgeology, and tectonics. At present, his work focuses on the evolution of theNeoproterozoic belts in Uruguay, Southern Brazil, and southwestern Africa.

About the Authors xxi

Daniel Panario is a Professor of Geomorphology, Director of the UNCIEP,Director of the Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, and Coordinator of theMaster of Environmental Sciences at the Facultad de Ciencias of the Universidadde la República in Uruguay. He is researcher at the SNI (National ResearcherSystem), part of the ANII (National Research and Innovation Agency). He hasalso authored or coauthored over 100 scientific publications including articlesin international journals, books and book chapters, and papers in national andinternational conference proceedings. His research interests include fields likeenvironmental issues, physical geography, natural resources, and soil sciences.

Elena Peel obtained her degree in Geology at the Facultad de Ciencias of theUniversidad de la República in Uruguay. She started her scientific career at theDepartamento de Geología of the Facultad de Ciencias (Uruguay), where sheworked in the fields of geochemistry and geochronology. She completed herdoctoral studies at the Instituto de Geociências of the Universidade de São Paulo,Brazil, receiving a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences with a specialty in Geochemistryand Geotectonics. Her professional interests are in geochemistry, isotopic geology,and the tectonics of Precambrian rocks. She has been the head of the Departamentode Geología of the Facultad de Ciencias (Uruguay) since 2010.

xxii About the Authors

Jean-Pierre Peulvast is Emeritus Professor of Geomorphology at the Universityof Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). He also teaches in the Master degree and Doctorateprogram at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. His principalfield of interest is in structural geomorphology and long term landform evolution,but he is also involved in programs of geoarcheology (Egypt) and in studies onnatural hazards and risks (Northeast Brazil). He has mainly worked and still workson passive margins around the Atlantic Ocean (Scandinavia, Greenland, Canada,Brazil, Argentina), but also on various regions of France, Mediterranean Europeand Central Asia, as well as on the planet Mars.

Jorge Rabassa obtained his Licenciado and Doctor degrees in Geology at theSchool of Natural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.He is a researcher with CONICET, the National Research Council of Argentina, atCADIC, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego,

About the Authors xxiii

since 1986. He is presently the director of CADIC, the southernmost, multi-disciplinary research center of the World with permanent scientific staff. He isalso adjunct Full Professor of Geology at the Universidad Nacional de Tierradel Fuego. He has been a lecturer in several Argentine universities and also thePresident of Comahue University, one of the Argentine Patagonian universities. Heis a member of the Argentine Academy of Sciences and a corresponding memberof the Catalonian Academy of Sciences. He has been a Visiting Professor inseveral universities of United States and Canada, as well as in various WesternEurope countries, the Republic of South Africa and China. His main researchinterests are geomorphology, ancient landscapes, long-term landscape evolution,and glacial and Quaternary studies. He has published over 150 scientific papersand book chapters, and edited 17 books and scientific journal special volumes.He has directed 15 doctoral dissertations and many graduation theses, and is amember of the editorial board of several international journals. He is presentlythe co-editor for South America of the Springer Brief Monography Earth SystemSciences series.

Alejandro Ribot is a Professor of Petrology at the Facultad de Ciencias Naturalesy Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, where he has done researchand teaching on Metamorphic Petrology for more than 20 years. He is also asenior geologist at the Laboratorio de Entrenamiento Multidisciplinario para laInvestigación Tecnológica (LEMIT), Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de laProvincia de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Province Research Council), where hisfield of interest is petrography studies applied to the characterization of concreteaggregates.

xxiv About the Authors

Ana María Sato graduated as geologist (1981) and obtained her doctorate inGeology (1989) from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is presentlya Professor of Argentine Regional Geology at the School of Natural Sciences,Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, as well as a permanent researcherwith CONICET, the National Scientific and Technological Research Council ofArgentina, at the Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), of the same uni-versity. Her main interests are the stratigraphy and geological events involved inthe assemblage and breakup of Gondwana. She has been in charge of a number ofresearch projects on the geological evolution of Sierras Pampeanas and northernPatagonia regions.

Betty J. Socha is a hydrogeologist and project manager in environmentalconsulting, working primarily in the investigation and remediation of contaminatedsoil and groundwater and in geological site characterization for facility develop-ment. Her main research interests are glacial sedimentology and stratigraphy andgeological mapping. She has master’s degrees in Environmental Monitoring andGeology (both 1984) and a Ph.D. in Geology (2007), all from the University ofWisconsin–Madison.

About the Authors xxv

Hugo Tickyj obtained his degree (1994) in Geology at the Universidad Nacionalde La Pampa and his doctorate (1999) in Natural Sciences (Geology) at the Schoolof Natural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina. Heis currently a Professor of Petrology at the Geology Department, UniversidadNacional de La Pampa, Santa Rosa, Argentina. His main interests are relatedto magmatic events developed in the proto-Andean margin of Gondwana. Heparticipated in several research projects on the geological evolution of the FrontalAndean Cordillera, the San Rafael Block, and the Chadileuvú Block in CentralArgentina.

María Cecilia Zalazar (1971) is a mathematician and has worked in techniques ofglobal optimization.

She also specialized in subjects of Geological Mathematics, developing tech-niques of digital mapping and numerical methods for geophysical and geomorpho-logical applications.

xxvi About the Authors

Marcelo Zárate is a geologist who obtained his doctoral degree at the Universityof La Plata, Argentina. At present he is a researcher of CONICET and Professorat the University of La Pampa at San Rosa, Argentina. He is currently involved inresearch activities on the geological history, geomorphology, and geoarchaeologyof southern South America with the focus on the Pampean plain and the Andespiedmont.