IADIZA   20886
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Ion and Isotope Chemistry as indicators of different geographic regions contributions to flow in the Mendoza River Basin, Central Andes of Argentina
Autor/es:
CRESPO, S; GOMEZ, L; ARANIBAR, J.; VILLALBA, R.; BRUETSCH, S.
Lugar:
Uspallata
Reunión:
Otro; IAI CRN 2047B Science meeting. Documenting, understanding and projecting changes in the hydrological cycle in the American Cordillera.; 2013
Resumen:
Water from the Mendoza River, in the north of Mendoza province (Argentina) provides waterfor domestic use, irrigation, industry and hydroelectric energy generation. This water supply isdependent on snow and ice melt. We propose that precipitation systems, and also geology andaltitude differences in recharge areas, provide chemical and isotope signatures to the water fromdifferent basin areas, allowing the identification of the geographic and geologic origin of riverwater. In these latitudes (~33ºS), the Andes consist of two main mountain ranges with a North-South direction, the Cordillera Frontal and Cordillera Principal. These receive differing relativecontributions of precipitation from Atlantic and Pacific moisture sources from east to west. Thisstudy will allow us to identify the differing contribution of precipitation from the CordilleraPrincipal and Cordillera Frontal to the streams of the Mendoza river basin. We expected to find acharacteristic stable isotope composition of the water originating in these geographic regions;based on their differences in altitude, temperatures and moisture sources (Atlantic and/or Pacificoceans) for precipitation.