Aggregates in Tierra del Fuego: morphogenesis and distribution

JUAN FEDERICO PONCE; ANDREA CORONATO; DIEGO QUIROGA; ALEJANDRO MONTES; LUIS DÍAZ BALOCCHI; MARIANA VARGAS

Geological resources of Tierra del Fuego

Springer International Publishers

Lugar: Cham; Año: 2021; p. 59 - 73

This chapter presents a morphogenetic characterization and a distributionmap of the main Quaternary sedimentary deposits in the argentine sector of Tierradel Fuego with potential for the exploitation of aggregates, classified according tolarge morphogenetic units. These deposits result from the intense glacial and glaciofluvialactivity developed in a large part of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego duringthe different Pleistocene glaciations and the coastal processes developed during thePleistocene and Holocene interglacial periods. The morphogenetic units identifiedwith potential for the extraction of aggregates are glaciofluvial plains and terraces,glaciofluvial fans, kame terraces and kame hills, kame deltas and sandy gravel beachridges. Most of these deposits are concentrated in the northern part of the island,between the Lake Fagnano and San Sebastián Bay. This is due to the great developmentof the glaciofluvial systems during each of the glacial events and due to themorphodynamic characteristics of this sector of theAtlantic coast, which allowed theformation of a large number of sandy gravel beach ridge plains during the interglacialevents.