Resumen de Acumulaciones eólicas en los valles fluviales de la Sierra de Culampajá, Catamarca, Argentina: características y significado sedimentológico
Ferrán Colombo Piñol, Claudia M. Muruaga, M. Mazzoni
The Eastern flank of the Culampajá - Altohuasi range shows thick eolian dune deposits in river valleys, which can be seen from a distance of several km. These sandy bodies present a NW-SE general elongation, covering basement rocks constituted by orthogneises o f the Chango Real Formation, the granitic Altohuasi and the Loma Corral Formation metasediments. The thick sandy accumulations are concentrated in valleys whose heights vary from 1,500 m (Jasipunco, North of Corral Quemado, and South of the Cajón valley), to 3,500 m (Callejón de Altohuasi).Old sandy accumulations are covered by vegetation. The general transportation mechanism canbe interpreted as corresponding to eolian currents which produced large sandy accumulationsin the upper part o f the fluvial valleys. After avalanching episodes the sandy materials were reworked by small ravines (such as the tributaries o f the Rio Corral Quemado from the Culampajáhigh). These last processes, combined with strong falling (katabatic) winds account for thedownvalley sand redistribution resulting in the current geoforms.
