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

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, and one of only two located within the

Pampas The Pampas (; from Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all o ...

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 () was an Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, ...

at its northwestern end and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

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

precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, 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 t ...

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

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

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 gra ...

, 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. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

s, this orography prevented the deposit of significant amounts of

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, 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 loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

, and made the area the least propitious for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

within the Pampas;

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

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 geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

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

Humid Pampas The Humid Pampas () 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 700 mm. Set ...

, though the range receives more rainfall than the Semi-arid Pampas located to the west. Sizable extensions of

lacebark pines ''Pinus bungeana'' (; Japanese: シロマツ; ), also known by the common names Bunge's pine, lacebark pine and white-barked pine, is a pine tree native to northeastern and central China. It is a slow-growing tree that can grow to heights of ...

grow along the range, possibly introduced from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. 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 Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

described his ascent of the Sierra de la Ventana range in the sixth chapter of his work

The Voyage of the Beagle ''The Voyage of the Beagle'' is the title most commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his ''Journal and Remarks'', bringing him considerable fame and respect. This was the third volume of ''The Narrative ...

. 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 Ernesto Carlos Tornquist (31 December 1842 – 17 June 1908) was an Argentine entrepreneur and businessman, considered to be one of the most important entrepreneurs in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. The diversified business empire he ...

, a prominent rancher, banker and developer. The extension of the

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

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 A ...

, 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 who served as President of Argentina from 1916 to 1922 and again from 1928 until his overthrow in ...

's 1918 edict banning

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, and development of the area's tourism resources remained below their potential in subsequent decades.Villa Ventana
/ref> Cerro_Tres_Picos.jpg, Aerial view of Cerro Tres Picos. Cnel_Suaréz,_Buenos_Aires,_Argentina_-_panoramio_(3).jpg, Surroundings of

Coronel Suárez Coronel Suárez is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative centre for Coronel Suárez Partido. Coronel Suárez has a population of 23,621 inhabitants (2010) and its main economic activities are related to agriculture ...

. Sierra de la ventana nevada . - panoramio.jpg, "La Ventana" (The Window) landmark. Pque_Torquinst_-_Entrana_cerro_ventana.JPG, Ernesto Tornquist Provincial Park

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