Deformación cuaternaria en el piedemonte mendocino (32º 50´ S), Argentina

Quaternary deformation in the Mendozan piedmont (32° 50’ S), Argentina

Stella M. Moreiras^1,2,*, Rafael Toural Dapoza³, Sebastián Junquera Torrado¹, Laura Gomez⁴,

Pablo Euillades ⁵, Luis Lenzano⁶

¹ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), Av. A. Ruíz Leal s/n, Parque General San Martín, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina.

² Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Almirante Brown 500, Chacras de Coria - Luján de Cuyo, CPA M5528AHB, Mendoza, Argentina.

³ Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. de Séneca, 2 Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, España.

⁴ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), IADIZA, Av. A. Ruíz Leal s/n, Parque General San Martín, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina.

⁵Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Instituto Cediac, Facultad de Ingeniería, Ciudad Universitaria, Mendoza 5500, Argentina.

⁶ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), ICES, Argentina.

* Corresponding author: (S. M. Moreiras) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to cite this article:

Moreiras, S.M., Toural Dapoza, R., Junquera Torrado, S., Gomez, L., Euillades, P., Lenzano, L., 2021, Deformación cuaternaria en el piedemonte mendocino (32º 50´ S), Argentina: Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, 73(2), A160221. http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2021v73n2a160221

ABSTRACT

Mendoza’s foothills (32º 50’S) are located in the Andean active orogenic front where the largest Quaternary deformation of the country is concentrated. Particularly, this region presents unique conditions for neotectonic studies of intraplate seismicity. This region is located within the Pampean Flat Slab segment and associated with the subduction of the Juan Fernández Ridge, which causes the absence of volcanism in this segment. Furthermore, tectonically, this sector reflects a change in the deformation style where the morphostructural unit of the Southern Precordillera disappears at this latitude. This active front involves N-S reverse faults affecting Late Pleistocene alluvial surfaces. According to morphometric parameters of these faults, the maximum magnitudes of the possible earthquakes were estimated. Different morphometric indices allow establishing the greatest deformation areas that were validated with complementary indirect methods of interferometry by means of radar images (DINSAR technique). This work summarizes all the studies carried out up to date to understand the active deformation style of the Mendozan foothills.

Keywords: Andean orogenic front, morphometric indexes, DINSAR, blind faults, seismic hazard.