Touristic impact on monogenetic volacanoes of the southern Puna

PETRINOVIC, I. ; BOLTHAUSER, B.; GUZMÁN, S.

Olot

Congreso; 1st International Congress on Management and Awareness in protected volcanic landscapes; 2012

Park Natural de la Zona Volcanica de la Garrotxa

A group of Quaternary monogenetic volcanoes in the Argentinean Puna are having an enhanced tourism impact. In the Puna plateau, south of 24ºS about 500 monogenetic volcanoes spread across the Puna plateau. In every case, small edifices of 50-300 m height are well preserved. Deposits in cone slopes are unstable and crumbly, as they are composed of lapilli sized fragments of scoriae and fluidal fragments of molten lava ejected from the vents. In spite of the arid climate of the Puna, erosion crevasses built in the flanks of the cones vary from10 to 20 m depth. The country rocks slope at the base of each monogenetic edifice are 5º to 10º and the morphological characteristics of each cone, are ruled by their physical properties (and the chemical composition). Characteristic slopes of cones change from 30 to 35º. Often, the crater rims have elliptic shape with NW and NE trending longer axis; usually the cones are horse-shaped due to westward breaching. The most fluid lavas streamed as far as 9km and the maximum volume calculated for single eruptions is 0.7 km3. The friable nature of the cones plus the increasing touristic potential of the surroundings (Llullaillaco volcano mostly known for its mummies, future roads, salt-lakes, culture, etc) would result in a potential anthropic degradation of the cones (quarries, 4x4 circuits, trekking ways, etc) and several litoglifos preserved in their lavas and scoriae and other pre-hispanic records of the ancient cultures (Aymara-Diaguita-Calchaquí) will be destroyed. In order to gain into the geological and archeological preservation, the protection of these areas becomes imperative.