Travertinos fósiles de la terma Los Hornos, Puna Austral de Catamarca

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Anabel Jorgelina Piersigilli Iturra
Agustin Mors
Ricardo A Astini
Fernando J Gómez

Resumen

La terma Los Hornos es un sistema hidrotermal activo ubicado en el extremo sur de la Puna, noroeste de Argentina, en el marco del cual se desarrolla un registro estratigráfico travertínico. El mismo desarrolla una morfología tabular aterrazada que solapa basamento y unidades sefíticas mio-pliocenas. Dentro del mismo se diferencian dos secciones, una inferior de color rojizo con morfologías domales localizadas y una superior de color marrón y mayor continuidad areal, ambas separadas por una paleosuperficie representada por un calcrete de reducido espesor. El análisis morfológico y de facies permitió interpretar cuatro subambientes deposicionales: 1) surgencias y piletones proximales, 2) pendiente proximal, 3) planicie distal y 4) exposición y alteración. Esta división en subambientes es de carácter cualitativo, dado el grado de superposición observado entre elementos geomorfológicos, litofacies y microfacies del sistema travertínico. En base a la comparación geomorfológica, textural, composicional y mineralógica del sistema fósil con el que actualmente se desarrolla, se establecieron una serie de similitudes y diferencias: 1) ambos presentan un talud proximal compuesto principalmente por una variedad de texturas arbustivas, 2) las geoformas de surgencia son diferentes, 3) la sección inferior de la meseta travertínica presenta mayores contenidos de óxidos/hidróxidos de hierro y 4) la sección superior marrón de la meseta travertínica presenta cristales fibrosos y columnares de aragonita que no se forman en el sistema activo. El análisis de facies y arquitectural realizado permitió reconstruir la historia evolutiva de la meseta travertínica fósil compuesta por etapas constructivas separadas por un intervalo destructivo.

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Piersigilli Iturra, A. J., Mors, A., Astini, R. A., & Gómez, F. J. (2020). Travertinos fósiles de la terma Los Hornos, Puna Austral de Catamarca. Revista De La Asociación Geológica Argentina, 77(4), 571-590. Recuperado a partir de https://revista.geologica.org.ar/raga/article/view/229
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