Víctor Alberto Ramos (born 1945) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

who has contributed to the

paleogeography Palaeogeography (or paleogeography) is the study of historical geography, generally physical landscapes. Palaeogeography can also include the study of human or cultural environments. When the focus is specifically on landforms, the term pale ...

and

plate tectonics Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. He has been a member of the Chilean Academy of Science since 2001 and won in 2013 the

Premio México de Ciencia y Tecnología Premio México de Ciencia y Tecnología is an award bestowed in by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico), CONACYT to Ibero-American (Latin America plus the Iberian Peninsula) scholars in recognition of advances in science and/or t ...

. Ramos was the first to recognize the existence of Chilenia and the former sea that separated it from the rest of South America (then part of

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

). At the time of the discovery in the 1980s it was considered to be speculative. In a 1988 conference in Chile the discovery of Chilenia was not well received and a payador at the conference ridiculed him. As the existence of Chilenia was recognized, he was made a member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences. Together with other researchers Ramos has proposed to change the age of 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 143.1 Mya. ...

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

boundary from 145 Ma to 140 Ma making the Jurassic longer. This proposal derives from a 2014 study based on

biostratigraphy Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. "Biostratigraphy." ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Biology ...

and

radiometric dating Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to Chronological dating, date materials such as Rock (geology), rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurity, impurities were selectively incorporat ...

of ash in the Vaca Muerta Formation in Neuquén Basin, Argentina. In Ramos' words the study would serve as a "first step" toward formally changing the age in the

International Union of Geological Sciences The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to global cooperation in the field of geology. As of 2023, it represents more than 1 million geoscientists around the world. About Fo ...

. Ramos has proposed that the

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

n landmass originated as an allochthonous

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its d ...

that separated from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

and docked in

250 to 270 Ma in the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

period. A 2014 study by Robert John Pankhurst and co-workers reject the idea of a far-travelled Patagonia claiming it is likely of parautochthonous (nearby) origin. Víctor Ramos has been a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

at: *

Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

, Brazil *

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, United States *

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

, Chile * Universidad Nacional de Salta, Argentina * Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Argentina * Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina * Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

, Brazil * Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina * Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina *

Universidad Nacional de Asunción The Universidad Nacional de Asunción or Mbo'ehaovusu Tetãgua Paraguaygua, abbreviated UNA, anglicized as, The National University of Asuncion, is a public university founded in San Lorenzo, Paraguay. Founded in 1889, it is the oldest and most ...

, Paraguay * Universidad de la República, Uruguay

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos, Victor Alberto Living people 1945 births Argentine geologists Tectonicists University of Buenos Aires alumni Academic staff of the University of Buenos Aires Cornell University faculty Academic staff of the University of Chile Fellows of the Geological Society of America Members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences Members of the Chilean Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Servicio Geológico Minero personnel