The Sierra de la Ventana (also ''Sierras de Ventania'') is a mountain range in

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, and one of only two located within the Pampas ecosystem.

Overview

Bounded approximately by the Laguna del Monte,

Guaminí Guaminí is the capital of Guaminí Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. History The area was first occupied by Europeans during the Conquest of the Desert The Conquest of the Desert ( es, Conquista del desierto) was an Argentine mil ...

at its northwestern end and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to its southwest, the Sierra de la Ventana lies on a

precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

base formed around 2.2 billion years ago, and is interspersed with

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

granodiorite Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gr ...

, and

amphibole Amphibole () is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is ...

deposits. Characterized by its

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

s, this orography prevented the deposit of significant amounts of

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeoli ...

, and made the area the least propitious for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

within the Pampas;

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), ...

fields are common along the foot of the range. Its soils feature an A-AC-C horizonation, not unlike those found along the

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, C ...

n range. Its climate is somewhat colder and drier than that prevailing in the surrounding

Humid Pampas The Humid Pampas ( es, Pampa Húmeda) is an extensive ecoregion of flat, fertile grassland of loessic origin in Argentina. It has a precipitation average of 900 mm per year, in contrast with the Dry Pampas to the west, which average less than ...

, though the range receives more rainfall than the

Semi-arid Pampas The Semi-arid Pampas, also known as the Dry Pampas, is a temperate grassland ecoregion of central Argentina. Setting The Semi-arid Pampas cover an area of , including western Buenos Aires Province, southern Cordoba and San Luis Provinces and m ...

located to the west. Sizable extensions of

lacebark pines ''Pinus bungeana'' (English: Bunge's pine or lacebark pine or white-barked pine; Chinese: 白皮松 Japanese: シロマツ, ) is a pine tree native to northeastern and central China. It is a slow-growing tree that can grow to heights of 15– ...

grow along the range, possibly introduced from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Peppered by caves and grottoes, the range is relatively modest in height and extension, and exceeds 1000 m (3280 ft) at only six points. These peaks are: *Cura Malal Chico (1000 m) *Cura Malal Grande (1037 m) *Napostá Grande (1108 m) *La Ventana (1184 m) *Destierro Primero (1172 m) *Tres Picos (1239 m) British naturalist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

described his ascent of the Sierra de la Ventana range in the sixth chapter of his work The Voyage of the Beagle. The region's breezes and mild climate made it a tourist attraction beginning in the early part of the 20th century, and its principal early promoter was Ernesto Tornquist, a prominent rancher, banker and developer. The extension of the

Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGS) ( es, Ferrocarril del Sud) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company was founded by Edward Lumb in 1862 ...

past the area led to the construction of the

Club Hotel de la Ventana Club Hotel de la Ventana was a large, luxurious hotel resort, built by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway and opened in 1911 near Villa Ventana, 17 km from the town of Sierra de La Ventana, in the southeast of the Province of Buenos Ai ...

, a luxury casino and hotel, and the outpost of Villa Ventana, a resort community developed by the Sociedad de Compañías de Tierras y Hoteles de Sierra de la Ventana. The hotel closed after President

Hipólito Yrigoyen Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen (; 12 July 1852 – 3 July 1933) was an Argentine politician of the Radical Civic Union and two-time President of Argentina, who served his first term from 1916 to 1922 and his second ...

's 1918 edict banning

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

, and development of the area's tourism resources remained below their potential in subsequent decades.Villa Ventana
/ref> Sierra_Ventana_vista_desde_el_mirador.jpg, "La Ventana" (The Window) landmark Cerro Tres Picos.jpg, Cerro Tres Picos Vista desde el Cerro Ceferino (Cerro del Amor) - Sierra de la Ventana.jpg, View from the Cerro Ceferino (Cerro del Amor) - Sierra de la Ventana

References

External links

Sierra de la Ventana Sierra de la Ventana. Un lugar único por naturaleza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventana, Sierra de la Mountain ranges of Argentina Landforms of Buenos Aires Province