The Argentine pampas during the late Quaternary: sensitivity to climate change

<p dir="ltr">The Argentine pampas are a productive sector in southern South America where a large part of the grains consumed worldwide are produced. In the Utracan-Argentino Valley, this production occurs on sand dunes fixed by vegetation, affected by fluctuating periods of drought. Its recent history has shown that the combination of poor soil management and drought can cause the remobilization of these dunes and the loss of the superficial - and most fertile - layer of the soil profile. This work combines the quantification of the variations in the rain and wind in the area for the last seventy years, and the study of the processes forming the valley's aeolian landforms. The dunes were active in at least two periods during the late Quaternary: 5-4 ka and 2-0.8 ka as a result of changes in regional atmospheric circulation, lower precipitation and reduced vegetation cover. These results strengthen the knowledge of the geomorphological evolution of this productive region, the sensitivity of the dunes and the factors that cause it.</p>