Geodynamic Processes in the Andes of Central Chile and Argentina. Geological Society, London,

ZARATE, M.; MEHL, A.; PERUCCA, L.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SPECIAL PUBLICATION

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

Año: 2014

0305-8719

The piedmont of Cordillera Frontal between c. 338 and 348S (Mendoza, Argentina) is ahighly populated area deeply modified by human activities, known as Valle de Uco. It is situatedwithin the borderland region of the geological provinces of Cordillera Frontal and Cuyo basin. Thelandscape is dominantly composed of both erosional and depositional landforms made of fluvioaeoliandeposits fractured and folded by tectonic processes together with some landforms of volcanicorigin. Alluvial fans, related to several aggradational cycles of Quaternary age, are the mostremarkable geomorphological units. Several tectonic features are present giving rise to conspicuousmorphological features. Some of the streams are structurally controlled by faults while severaldrainage anomalies that indicate active tectonic processes have been identified. The Late Quaternaryalluvial sequences, dominantly comprising sandy and silty deposits of volcaniclastic compositionand secondarily metamorphic rocks, represent the fine-grained sedimentary facies of thefluvial systems accumulated in a distal fan environment. The alluvial deposits have been incisedby several episodes of erosion since Pleistocene time.