Gondwana Landscapes in southern South America: Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil (Springer Earth System Sciences)

This book presents extensive and new information on the geomorphology of cratonic areas of southern South America. It includes valuable data relating to recurrent controversies in general geomorphology beyond the boundaries of South America and reveals the great need to integrate many different aspects of geomorphology in regional studies. With the focus on ancient landscapes and especially on planation surfaces it addresses the question of what processes could form such huge features, and how they can be preserved for so long. Many of the papers include maps of planation surfaces or other geomorphic units. The volume brings together an up-to-date, state-of-the-art collection of information on South American geomorphology, and shows beyond doubt that geomorphology is on the same time scale as global tectonics, biological evolution and major climate change. Some of the papers describe ancient geomorphological features of areas that have never been studied or published before, while others describe regions which are totally unknown to the public. The scope of the book extends from tropical latitudes north of the Tropic of Capricorn, south to freezing Patagonia in the “roaring fifties”, more than 3,500 km from north to south. Including over one thousand citations from geological and geomorphological literature, this volume will serve as a starting point for a whole new phase of studies of the fascinating landscape history of southern South America. Front Matter....Pages i-xxvi Introduction....Pages 1-7 Some Concepts on Gondwana Landscapes: Long-Term Landscape Evolution, Genesis, Distribution and Age....Pages 9-46 Some Principles in the Study of Planation Surfaces....Pages 47-59 Planation Surfaces of the Gondwana Continents: Synthesis and Problems....Pages 61-96 A Brief Review of the Development of Gondwana Landscape Studies in Africa, the Centrepiece of the Former Gondwana....Pages 97-112 Modeling the Atmospheric Circulation and Climatic Conditions over Southern South America During the Late History of the Gondwana Supercontinent....Pages 113-134 Gondwana Paleosurfaces in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil....Pages 135-159 Ancient Landscapes of Uruguay....Pages 161-199 A General Overview of Gondwana Landscapes in Argentina....Pages 201-245 Planation Surfaces on the Paraná Basaltic Plateau, South America....Pages 247-303 Geomorphology of Paleosurfaces in the Sierras de Comechingones, Central Pampean Ranges, Argentina....Pages 305-330 Gondwana Glacial Paleolandscape, Diamictite Record of Carboniferous Valley Glaciation, and Preglacial Remnants of an Ancient Weathering Front in Northwestern Argentina....Pages 331-363 Planation Surfaces of Central Western Argentina....Pages 365-392 Erosion Surface and Granitic Morphology in the Sierra de Lihuel Calel, Province of La Pampa, Argentina....Pages 393-422 Paleo-landscapes of the Northern Patagonian Massif, Argentina....Pages 423-445 The Rhyolitic Plateau of the Marifil Formation (Jurassic): A Gondwana Paleosurface in the Southeastern Portion of the Northern Patagonia Massif....Pages 447-476 Meso-Cenozoic Paleotopographies and Paleolandscapes in the Deseado Massif (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina)....Pages 477-501 Pseudokarst and Speleothems in the Chihuido Granite, Province of Mendoza, Argentina....Pages 503-515 The Exhumation of the Northern Patagonian Massif Gondwana Planation Surface Due to Uprising During the Oligocene....Pages 517-525 Back Matter....Pages 527-545