He apenoooge0z662210060/4 64/8 27.08. 85_11:54 » 1 Boe and 22, Heft 1 (1986), 8. ZEITSCHRIFT FOR GLETSCHERKUNDE UND GLAZIALGEOLOGIE LUNGEN © hy Users Waser ess orm THE GLACIER DAM ON THE RIO PLOMO: A CYCLIC PHENOMENON? By Maria DEL ROSARIO PRIETO, Mondoza With 2 figures SUMMARY In 1934 and 1984 the Rio Plomo was dammed by the sudden advance ofa glacier situated SE ‘of the Cetra Nevado del Plomo in the Argentinean-Chilean Central Andes. Historical sources indicate a similar event in 1786, which suggests a periodicity of about 50 years. KEHRT DER STAU DES RIO PLOMO DURCH EINEN VORSTOSSENDEN GLETSCHER PERIODISCH WIEDER? ZUSAMMENFASSUNG In den Jahren 1934 vad 1984 wurde der Rio Plomo (stddstlich des Cerro Nevado del Plomo in den Zeniralien ea, 32°§) durch den ploutichen Vo gedit, Avs Fistorischen Quellen wird ein abnliches Eseignis far 17 pliehkeit einer je von $0 Jabren nahelegt. ‘The recent build up of an ice dam over the Rio del Plomo (fig. 1), caused by the sudden advance of a glacier located SE of the Cerro Nevado del Plomo in the Argenti nean-Chilean Central Andes has been studied by several members of the resear team of Instituto Argentino de Nivologia y Glaciologia (IANIGLA 1935). ‘That such sudden advances can take place at regular — though not perfectly iso. cronous intervals — may be detected from a study of the moraines formed by the dis placement of this kind of glacier, and also from historical records. It was therefore important to single out the existence of similar phenomena caused by the past centuries, to establish its periodicity, if any, and to forecast the occ Foture advances. To begin with, only two accurate dates for the fo Rio del Plomo were available: one corresponding (o the present surge and the 4 prior flooding th red in 1934, studied by Helbling in 1935 and recently con: tinued by Espizia (1984), who went deeper into the subject. It could be then presumed that a repetition of the phenomenon would happen approximately every $0 years ences could be expecied around the 1880's, 1830's and The Seareh carried out in historical records and old newspapers of Mendoza .e any clues regarding the formation or rupture of a nat- ck of information does0on090000z662210000/4 G4/e 27.08. 86.11:54 2 2 1 Bee Maria del Rosario Prieto aaa: x Sas Y mn! slau sr oe Fig. 1: Aesial photograph taken before the ruptute ofthe jee dam — March 6, 1985 2a (from “Los Andes", Newspaper) sont not imply the non-existence of a glacier advance in the given periods. The pheno tm mena could have happened without the catastrophic consequences that presently lea: aa to recording chis type of event in chronicles and newspapers. woos However in the 18th century, in 1788 to be precise, an episode was registered m2 whose characteristics suggest a likeness to that of 1934. On January 2, the road that ana linked the cities of Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza (fig. 1) was totally destroyed by 8 tm flood. Atthe same time, the Slaughter house and the town hall fo Mendoza were torn ts apart by an extraordinary water mass coming down along the main channel — the tas Zanjon channel — (ACM 1788). The mentioned road, as can be observed in the map tor of fig. 2, followed the course of the Rio Mendoza, like in present times. This channel toa that provided water to the village originated from the Rio Mendoza. No special tt sions existed then to control the water volume flowing into the channel, which was ore consequently proportional to the quantity of water in the river. These isolated data led wy to-anattel ssociate all three cataclysms and to search for future evidenBSzeRP2222R88RR FBR ‘o0eeen000zc62210060/4 64/0 27.08. 86 11:54 : Boo Jer dam on the Rio Plomo 3noens00002662210060/4 64/0 27, 08. 86 11:54 2 2 3 BESS 4 Maria del Rosario Prieto The Andes were always a barrier to the Spanish conquerors, ever since their arrival to the Mendoza territory. At that time the city of Mendoza was governed politically, administratively, judicially and religiously from Santiago, Chile. The montainous mas- sif and the reigning climatic conditions were among the main worries of that settle- ment, to which communications were cut off throughout most of the year. The road Known as “de Uspallata” or “de la Cumbre” was usually used to cross the “snowed llera”, but in the second half of the 18th century the authorities were concerned s could communicate more eas- ‘The road “Camino de Olivares-La Dehesa” was one of the explored access ways. ‘This route, as Miers said in 1826, started at Punta de Vacas “... and hence up the val- ley of Tupungato, and the auxiliary branch of the Rio de los Penitentes, it crosses the main ridge of the Cordillera, near the source of the river which lies to the northward of ‘Tupungato peak ..." (p. 352). Rio de ios Penitentes has been identified as the actual Rio Blanco, tributary to the Tupungato, so it ean be assumed that the “auxiliary branch” is the Rio del Plomo. Via one of its affluents, Rio Morado de las Toscas, the Paso del Morado (5070 m a...) ccan be reached, Once thera, itis possible to approach Cordén de Ia Dehesa, the moun tain range east of Santiago, ‘Another possible way further north alone that road is via the Paso Pircas. How- ever, this is not matter of discussion here. What is interesting is that the people com= missioned to explore the new route were able to observe from the summit that ‘muchisimas lagunitas de diferentes colores sus aguas, hallindose éstas encima de tunes altos de nieve..." (AGI, leg. 443, Chile) were scattered in the Tapungato north- ern foothills, evidently referring to the thermokarst phenomenon present in the north- ern flank of the mountain. When descending, th: members of the expedition discovered a large Jagoon at the bottom of the pass. Although che description is obscure and imprecise, it ca be assumed that a dam similar to that observed in 1985 existed in February 1786. Most probably they were not aware of the presence of the ice mass: this is not astonishing at all, as the advancing glacier is very often covered by a thick debris layer which disguises it. This fact would indicate that the natural dam which burst two years later, provoking the disaster, already existed in 1786: this could be a very important point, telling that lake outbursts can take place years after the surge and the formation of the dam. On January 22, monte wrote (AGI, leg, 443, Chile) that the communications between the Virreinatos of Rio de La Plata and Chile, were com- pletely interrupted because the river had swelled extraordinarily. The speculations about the phenomenon Were many and varied, but it is better to listen to those who acually lived through it, Tadeo Haenke asserts that the origin of the flood was tuna gran masa de agua contenida entre las cimas de los montes més altos ... que se abrié repentinamente un paso entre ellos..."® (Haenke 1943, p.24). Another Spanish writer specifies that *,. se desgajé una gran parte del cerro Tupungato.... cay esta =. many small lagoons sth waters coloured differently and they were above snow iret water mass contained within the crests o the highest peaks... which sud- deny bus teas ooaoneooenzec2210060/4 64/0 27.08. 86. 11:54 2 2 . BESS “The glacier dam on the Rio Plomo 5 mole sobre cl rio Mendoza y al mismo tiempo entraron en é las aguas de un lago que habia en fa falda del monte desplomado ...”' (Carvallo y Goyeneche 1889, p.79) Tt is perhaps necessary to interpret the preceeding paragraph, as the writer has erred substantially, probably due to his ignorance about the geography of the area, and also because the story was third or fourth hand. By Typungato mountain, we Should, in this case, understand the area of influence of this peak, which then consti- tuted the reference point of that Andean region. Darwin, when describing the zone speaks of "...@ mass of mountains called Tupungato ..." (Darwin 1916, p. 311). iAs for a chunk of the hill “breaking loose", someone with litle experience in gla cology could have easily misinterpreted the rupture of a debris-covered glacier barrier fo be a rock avalanche. Finally, the lake is undoubtedly the same mentioned in 1786. The deluge had witnesses: two travellers who where en route to Chile reported their experience to @ court in Santiago "... ef agua se elevaba més de cien varas sobre el plano de la catada en que corvia, precedida de un espantoso ruido.... en igual volumen » von el mismo raido se mantuvo hasta las cuatro de la tarde, 1 que empezé a descender, Haltindose al amanecer del tres, enteramente libre el eaiién por donde paso y el rio (Men- doza) en su éstado ordinario ..."* (Haenke 1943, p.24). They added that the water ran ‘por la Quebrada de Tupungato y el cajén de la parie de Mendoza ..."* (Haenke 1943, p. 24). Unfortunately, it is difficult to calculate the flow because there is one datum missing, the exact hour at which the flood began. ‘The damage caused by the event was not as dramatic as the above story would lead us to believe. Nevertheless, the “big flood” provoked “some harm in the outskirts of Mendoza” (Haenke 1943, p. 24) certainly in the area influenced by the river and to @ Tesser degree in the Zanjon channel, although according to the “Aetas Capitulares {record of the town hall proceedings) the slaughter house and town hall were affecte ‘Apparently, there were no deaths. ‘Obviously, the road to Chile suffered most under the water 1ass: there, bri were destroyed and the trail was blocked by landslides, especially in La Jaula area, Tendering it necessary to open “the Portillo road” to resume communications with San- bingo. The characteristics of the flood, particularly its abruptness, which suggests the sud den rupture of a barrier that constrained the water-flow, and the huge volume of the water (overlooking the exaggerations of an naive observer) would indicate the pres fence of a large water reservoir in the Tupungato valley area; the persistence and dura tion of the swelling, the noise accompanying it and the unexpected decrease also indi- cate the inforeseen drainage of the lake. Taking all this into consideration, together with the date of the flood, which coin- cides with the apparent periodicity of the surge of the Plomo glacier every 50 years, ‘would indicate that the 1788 event is most probably a phenomenon resembling those foceutring in 1934 and February 1985, 1 =, a great chunk of the Topungato mountain broke loose... this large mass fell over the rio Mendaza sr well asthe waters of 4 lake in one of the slopes of the collapsed montain rane water was higher than 4 hundred varas (Spanish linear measure equivalent to fséem) above the gulch where the river lowed, preceeded by a frightful noise... it maintained ican volume and similar noise ugtl 4 in the afternoon, when it began dwindling. and at dawn ‘Op ihe third (of lanuary) the canyon where i went through was foal free and the river (Men docs) was back 10 ts uswal state.” ran across the Quebrada Tupungato and in the ine of the MerBog gE soneoeooanzsc2210000/4 64/0 27.08. 86 11:54 2 2 s GHEE 6 Maria det Rosasio ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to Maria Elena Soler fir Alea and Wilfried Hocberl for the editing ing this paper into English, and to Pamela REFERENCES ACM, 1788: Actas Capitulares de Mendoza, enero 1788, Archivo Histérico de Mendora AGI: Tnforme de Don Martin Javregui sobre el camina de La Dehesa. Leg. 443, Chile. Archivo jeneral de Indias Carvalla'y Gayeneche, V. Col. Hist. de Chile. X, E] Merew Darwin, C., 1916: The vayage of the Beagle. J. M. Sons & Co,, London; E. P. Dutton & Co, New ‘York. Espizia, L, 1984: Fluctuations of the Rio del Plomo Glaciet. Geografiska Annaler Hacake, 7, 1943: Viaje por ef Vireeinata del Rio de la Plata, Col. Buen Ayres, Em: Aires. Helbling, R, 1935: The origin of the Rio Plomi iee-dam. The Geographical Journal, § (1): 41—89. TANIGLA, 1985: Riesgo de inundaciones provacados por dignes glaciaris en el atea del RIO Piomo, Mendoza, Argentina, Aynda Memoria, prepared by a Working group on the Rio Plomo glacier hazards, unpublished, 5 p Miets, 3, 1826: Traveis to Chile and La Plate. i, Buidwin ang Joy, London, ca del Reino de Chile a. pane, Benos Manuscript received 12 June 1986 Author's Rosario P est: Dra, Maria d Instituto de Nivologia y Glaciotosia Cas, Correo 330 55500 Mendoza, Argentina