Argentina's Diverse Landscapes: Reliefs, Resources, and Ecoregions

Reliefs of Argentina

To the west, the mountain area presents new and older structures in central and eastern Argentina. Youthful structures in some high altitude regions have development exceeding 6000 meters. This structure forms the Cordillera de los Andes, and its ridges and mountains are oriented in a north-south direction. To the east, the height of these elevations is decreasing. To the south of Argentina, in the Patagonian forest ecoregion, the Andes begin to lose altitude and dive under the sea east of Tierra del Fuego. Toward the center and east of the country are older masifs or plateaus that reach 2500 meters in height. These structures are much older than the Cordillera of the Andes, so their slopes are less steep. Many of these masifs are covered by sedimentation formed by the remains of land animals and plants, including clay and sand. This area contains extensive areas called flat or gently rolling plains or sedimentation basins.

Geological Eras

4.6 billion years ago, our planet came into existence. During this long submerged process, reliefs formed in the deep ocean, and relief emerged that formed the continents. Due to continental drift, inland forests were changing and transforming. Tectonic plate movement over millions of years identifies the processes by which the continents have changed their position. 200 million years ago, there was only one supercontinent called Pangea, which separated, giving rise to the present continents. Masifs are very old, dating back to the time of Pangea.

The Andes were formed. Precambrian Tandil closures.

Argentina's Natural Resources

Argentine Space:

• Diversity of conditions:
• Natural framework of organization of society.
• Assessment of society for satisfying natural elements.

Natural Resources:

They are material and energy cycles valued by society.

Not all elements of nature are resources.

Social evaluation: changes over time, e.g., oil.

Classification of Natural Resources:

• Different perspectives:
• Economic
• Geological: which take time to regenerate.

Non-Renewable Resources:

• Through slow formation over geological time.
• They are called so because economic processes cannot adapt to the time of regeneration of the resource (millions of years).
• E.g., minerals, diamonds, metals, oil, gold, copper, iron, coal.

Renewable Resources:

• The elements of nature are renewed in a relatively short biological time.
• Can have them permanently but can be depleted by inappropriate use.
• E.g., soil, forests, jungles.

Perpetual Resources:

• Resources and power cycles on Earth permanently.
• E.g., wind, solar heat, wave forces: do not depend on geological and biological processes.

Ecoregions of Argentina

The Paranaense forest, jungle shungas, delta and islands of the Parana, the Patagonian forests, streams of free, fields and malesales, Humid Chaco, and the pampas.

Each of the ecoregions in the territory of Argentina has a distribution of character based on climate, relief, soil, flora, and fauna. Therefore, there is a fixed vegetation character in each ecoregion. They are highly endangered.

The means by which organisms can compete are:

Water, soil, light, nutrients, living space.