Sedimentación en los salares de la Puna argentina

RICARDO N. ALONSO, TERESITA DEL V. RUIZ Y ALICIA G. QUIROGA

XIII Reunión Argentina de Sedimentología, Relatorio

SCS Publisher

Lugar: Salta; Año: 2012; p. 17 - 24

ABSTRACT The Puna region is part of the Central Andes and the Altiplano-Puna High Plateau. Several closed basins, surrounded by volcanoes or tectonic blocks contain salar deposit in their interiors. Puna salars are complex sedimentary systems developed in a geological setting defined as intra-arc/intra-plateau basins. The origin of salars is related with volcanism, thermal activity, and closed basins and arid to semi-arid climate. Salar environments are zoned in clastic and evaporitic facies. Clastic facies occur in the alluvial-fan (gravels), sand-flat and mud-flat (silt, clay). Basin depocenters contains the salt-flat (evapoflat), zoned like a gross «bull-eye» pattern and are composed, from the edge to the center, by carbonates, sulphates, borates and chlorides. Salars contains evaporites (ulexite, borax, halite, mirabilite, etc.) and brines (Li, K, Mg, B, etc.) of economic importance.