Evolution and geomorphological dynamics of the Amarillo River basin, Famatina system (La Rioja, Argentina)

Abstract

The analysis of the different features that characterize a landscape is an essential requirement to know the geomorphological evolution, having a great impact on the productive development of a region, knowing the positive and negative aspects that can affect or enhance them. For this, it is necessary to recognize, characterize and classify the morphologies present, which account for the factors and processes that acted in their formation, and contribute to the interpretation and reconstruction of the evolution of the relief at various scales. The Amarillo river basin is located in the Sierra de Famatina, which is located in the center-north of the province of La Rioja, in northwestern Argentina. Office and field tasks were carried out in order to analyze, recognize and identify the main geomorphological features present, and establish their spatial arrangement. In the highest sectors of the basin, geoforms associated with glacial, periglacial and gravitational processes stand out, caused by low temperatures, steep slopes and lack of vegetation. Fluvial forms, both accumulation and erosion, were identified throughout the analysed area, while lacustrine deposits are described where it is interpreted that their formation was associated with the global arid event defined as the Meghalayan Stage. This distribution and typology of geoforms, conditioned by tectonics and exogenous processes, led to a complex geomorphological evolution in the Quaternary of the Amarillo river basin.