The Pinturas River Canyon () is a

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

located 160 km from the town of Perito Moreno in Santa Cruz,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It is home to the

Pinturas River The Pinturas River (, Spanish for Painted River or River of Paintings) is a river in Patagonia, Argentina, running through the Pinturas River Canyon, near the Cueva de las Manos archeological site. The river's main tributary is the Ecker River. Th ...

, which carved the canyon through eroding the

Chon Aike Formation The Chon Aike Formation is an extensive geological formation, present in the Deseado Massif in north-central Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina. It covers an area of approximately and consists of rhyolitic volcanic rocks, particularly ig ...

. Native populations inhabited the region, painting many works of

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

, some of which can still be seen today. The most famous of these rock art sites is the

Cueva de las Manos Cueva de las Manos (Spanish for Cave of the Hands or Cave of Hands) is a cave and complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, south of the town of Perito Moreno. It is named for the hundreds of paintings of hands ste ...

, a cave site with ancient art whose creation dates back up to 13,000 years ago. This rock art, and Cueva de las Manos in particular, brings lots of tourism to the canyon.

Geology

The canyon is made of

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...

, among other volcanic rocks formed during the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

period. It was created through the erosion caused by the

, which cut into the

to form the canyon. The Pinturas River runs through the canyon at a height of 240

meters above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The com ...

. The canyon is 270 meters deep and 480 meters wide. The walls of the canyon are nearly vertical, and are formed of low reliefs as well as slopes that are made up of landfall debris and sand.

Climate

During the time of the Paleo-Indians, around the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

to early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

geological period The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronol ...

s, the areas between 400 and 500 meters above sea level formed a

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

in which the canyon was home to

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natural ...

hospitable to the animals that lived in it. This microclimate included the ''

schinus molle ''Schinus molle'' (Peruvian pepper, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, rosé pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, (Archived bWebCite peppercorn tree, California pepper tree, pirul (in Mexican Spanish s ...

'' plant, which was useful to native inhabitants for its ability to form resins and adhesives, as well as its use as a source of firewood. The climate was also home to edible vegetables and plants that could be used for medicine;

tubers Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing s ...

, such as the rush root; and numerous fruits, such as that of the ''

berberis ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout Temperateness, temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in S ...

'' plant. The current climate of the area of the canyon around

is cold and dry, with very low humidity; the area receives a total annual precipitation of less than per year. The topography of the canyon prevents the strong westward winds that are natural to the region, making winters in the canyon less severe.

Native settlement

The Pinturas River running through the canyon provided water for herds of

guanacos The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The guanaco g ...

, making the area attractive to Paleoindians. In In ancient times, people accessed the canyon through

ravines A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.gorges in the East and West, typically from higher elevations around 600 to 700 meters above sea level.. Natives hunted in the area of the canyon because of these plentiful guanaco, which they depended on for their own survival.

References

Bibliography

* Landforms of Argentina Landforms of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina {{SantaCruzAR-geo-stub Canyons and gorges of South America

Geology

Climate

Native settlement

See also

References

Bibliography