PERMAFROST DETECTION THROUGH THE USE OF GEOPHYSICAL METHODS IN THE BLANCO RIVER BASIN. SAN JUAN. ARGENTINA.

VILLARROEL, CRISTIAN DANIEL; FORTE, ANA PAULA; TAPIA BALDIS, CARLA CINTIA

Potsdam

Congreso; Eleventh International Conference on Permafrost funded by the International Permafrost Association (IPA). Session: New frontiers in mountain permafrost research.; 2016

This work aims to describe geophysical surveys in five rock glaciers. These surveys have been conducted in the Santa Cruz River and Frío River watersheds; both basins belong to the Blanco river basin, located in the south west of San Juan province (Figure N° 1). Blanco river basin is part of the Central Andes of Argentina, has an area of 4,860 km2 and a large number of landforms of periglacial environment (about 1000, among active and inactive rock glaciers and protalus).Geophysical prospection techniques aimed to determine the presence, depth and geometry of the base and top of the permafrost. These surveys also helped to establish the degree of activity (active or inactive) of the rock glaciers. These kind of prospections are indirect methods which do not produce perturbations in the environment. Vonder Mühll et al. (2001) and Hausmann et al. (2007) highlight the importance of these geophysical methods.