The Carbajal Valley (
Spanish: Valle Carbajal) is a valley in the Fuegian
Andes of southern
Tierra del Fuego Province,
Argentina. The Carbajal
valley is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) long, running west to east, between the Alvear mountain range to the north and the Vinciguerra range to the south.[1][2][3] Andes
peak heights in the region are generally less than 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) above sea level.[1]
Argentine Route 3 runs diagonally through
Ushuaia (SW-NE) along the Río Olivia past the west base of Mount Olivia and around the northwestern and northern base of Monte Cinco Hermanos.
Topography
During the
Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), approximately 20,000 years ago,[4][nb 1] a
valley glacier carved the Carbajal-Tierra Mayor valley (described as the "glaciation axis of the Fuegian Andes")[7] from northwest to southeast, with an
ice tongue forking south along the Valle Río Olivia into the
Beagle Channel immediately to the east of Ushuaia.[8] Based on the geological study of the erosion patterns, the Carbajal glacier’s ice thickness was 600–800 metres (2,000–2,600 ft).[8] Several existing glaciers (e.g., Ojos de Albino, Vinciguerra) were
tributaries of the Carbajal glacier.[9]
In the early
Holocene period (11,700–8,200 years ago),[10] by 10,300 years ago, ice had receded from the valley walls and vegetation was growing.[8] By the middle Holocene period (8,200–4,200 years ago),[11] forest growth was expanding.[8]
^Research suggests that the
LGM occurred 19–23
kaBP.[5][6]
Sources
Borromei, Ana Marıa; Coronato, Andrea; Quattrocchio, Mirta;
Rabassa, Jorge; Grill, Silvia; Roig, Claudio (2007), "Late Pleistocene–Holocene environments in Valle Carbajal, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina", Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 23 (4): 321–335,
doi:
10.1016/j.jsames.2007.02.008
Cook, K.H.; Vizy, E.K. (2006), "South American climate during the Last Glacial Maximum: Delayed onset of the South American monsoon", Journal of Geophysical Research, 111 (D2): 1–21,
Bibcode:
2006JGRD..111.2110C,
doi:10.1029/2005JD005980
Walker, M.J.C.; Berkelhammer, M.;
Björck, S.; Cwynar, L.C.; Fisher, D.A.; Long, A.J.; Lowe, J.J.; Newnham, R.M.; Rasmussen, S.O.; Weiss, H. (2012), "Formal subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch: a Discussion Paper by a Working Group of INTIMATE (Integration of ice-core, marine and terrestrial records) and the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (International Commission on Stratigraphy)", Journal of Quaternary Science, 27 (7): 649–659,
doi:10.1002/jqs.2565,
S2CID41814349