Morenas Coloradas Rockglacier
Contributing Station Information

The study area is situated in the Andean Cordillera of Mendoza, a region frequently referred to as Central Andes. It comprises the area between 31° and 35° S approximately. This region belongs to the southernmost part of the Dry Andes. The valley of Morenas Coloradas, in the Cordón del Plata, Cordillera Frontal, in the Argentine province of Mendoza was chosen as an outstanding and at the same time representative cryogenic example of the region.

The valley of Morenas Coloradas (SE) consists of a composed rockglacier, of the tongue-shaped type, with interrelated and superimposed frozen bodies consisting of cryogenic sediments derived from morainic till.

A tiny glacier remains at the tip of the valley but it continues with a covered glacier with a length of 2.5 km at a height of over 4200m. Moreover, the valley is occupied by a covered glacier, moraines with ice cores or islands of ice covered by till and one very small section of uncovered ice at the tip of the valley.

Dyakova G.S., Zyablitskaya A.G., Ostanin O.V., Trombotto D. “Comparative Characteristics Rock Glaciers of the Argentine Andes and Russian Altai”). Irkutsk, 19-21.

Kazuyuki Saito and Dario Trombotto. 2010. Snow and Ice Conference. Sendai, Japan. Past and present permafrost distribution in the Southern Hemisphere — comparison of the GCM-based mapping with the observations.

Trombotto, D. & Borzotta, E. 2009. “Indicators of present global warming through changes in active layer-thickness, estimation of thermal difussivity anf geomorphological observations in the Morenas Coloradas rock glacier, Central Andes of Mendoza, Dry Andes, Argentina”. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 55: 321-330. Elsevier, The Netherlands.


2007 (August): X International Symposium on Antarctic and Earth Sciences” (ISAES): “Active layer studies in the Central Andes of Mendoza, Argentina”, Santa Barbara, California, USA.

Trombotto Liaudat, D. “Profundización del tope de permafrost y tendencias en la dinámica criogénica, a partir de 1989, en el glaciar de escombros compuesto del valle de Morenas Coloradas, Mendoza, Argentina”. Boletín Geográfico, Año XXIX, Nr. 30: 71-83, Neuquén, 2007 ISSN 0326-1735. (http://fahu.uncoma.edu.ar/jornadas_calentamiento_global/Trombotto_50.pdf)

Dario Trombotto & Ana Lía Ahumada: „Los Fenómenos Periglaciales. Identificación, Determinación y Aplicación“. Opera Lilloana Nr. 45: 131 ps. Fundación „Miguel Lillo“, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, 2005. (ISBN: 950-668-010-8)

Trombotto, D. "Mapping of permafrost and the periglacial environment, Cordón del Plata, Argentina". 8th International Conference on Permafrost. Permafrost, Extended Abstracts, Reporting Current Research and New Information, Edited by W. Haeberli & D. Brandová: 161-162, Zürich, Suiza, 2003

Trombotto, D., Buk, E. & Hernández, 1999. J. "Rock glaciers in the Southern Central Andes (appr. 33? S.L.), Mendoza, Argentina: a review". Bamberger Geographische Schriften 19: 145-173, Selbstverlag des Faches Geographie an der Universität Bamberg, Alemania.

Trombotto, D., Buk., E. & Hernández, J. 1997. "Monitoring of Mountain Permafrost in the Central Andes, Argentina". Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 8: 123 –129, Wiley & Sons, Chichester, West Sussex, UK.

Dario Trombotto, 1991. "Untersuchungen zum periglazialen Formenschatz und zu periglazialen Sedimenten in der 'Lagunita del Plata', Mendoza, Argentinien". ("Investigaciones sobre geoformas y sedimentos periglaciales en la 'Lagunita del Plata', Mendoza, Argentina"). Heidelberger Geographische Arbeiten, Heft 90: 171 páginas, Heidelberg, Alemania (ver en www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de/ hga). (ISBN: 3-88570-090-5) .

Trombotto, D., Buk, E., Corvalán, J. & Hernández, J. "Present state of measurements of cryogenic processes in the 'Lagunita del Plata', Mendoza, Argentina, Report Nr.II". VIIth. International Conference on Permafrost, Yellowknife, Program, Abstracts and IPA Reports, Extended Abstracts: 200-201, Canadá, 1998