Abstract :

The environmental history of the Exploradores Valley, which is subject to the progressive effects of recent anthropisation, is still poorly understood. The first attempts at reconstruction based on the exploratory analysis of the sediments of the Laguna Aislada have demonstrated both the historical potential that they hold and the difficulties that exist in establishing a reliable chronology on sediments disturbed by the regular influx of glacial or seasonal floods which generate disturbances of the sedimentary horizons. On the basis of this experience, we believe that it is now necessary to use sedimentary archives collected in lake contexts that are not impacted by seasonal hydrological phenomena and that are more favourable for a detailed palaeoenvironmental study. The project aims to reconstruct the dynamics and consequences of the main manifestations of anthropisation in this sector (development of a pioneer agrarian front, fires, contamination and consequences of the introduction of an invasive species) from the comparative study of three sedimentary archives collected in different contexts and distributed over a gradient of anthropisation ranging from the highly anthropised (Puerto Rio Tranquilo) to the very weakly or even non-anthropised (an isolated lagoon at altitude).

Translated abstract :

The environmental history of the Exploradores Valley, which is subject to the progressive effects of recent anthropisation, is still poorly understood. The first attempts at reconstruction based on the exploratory analysis of the sediments of the Laguna Aislada have demonstrated both the historical potential that they hold and the difficulties that exist in establishing a reliable chronology on sediments disturbed by the regular influx of glacial or seasonal floods which generate disturbances of the sedimentary horizons. On the basis of this experience, we believe that it is now necessary to use sedimentary archives collected in lake contexts that are not impacted by seasonal hydrological phenomena and that are more favourable for a detailed palaeoenvironmental study. The project aims to reconstruct the dynamics and consequences of the main manifestations of anthropisation in this sector (development of a pioneer agrarian front, fires, contamination and consequences of the introduction of an invasive species) from the comparative study of three sedimentary archives collected in different contexts and distributed over a gradient of anthropisation ranging from the highly anthropised (Puerto Rio Tranquilo) to the very weakly or even non-anthropised (an isolated lagoon at altitude).