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42-629: This range plays an important place in the history of Latin America. In 1818 General Don Jose de San Martin crossed these mountains during war with the Spanish Empire eventually securing independence for Chile by his daring raid. The summit of the mountain Aconcagua , the tallest mount in the Andes range, was considered unattainable for many years until January 14, 1897, when Matthias Zurbriggen ,

84-603: A karst terrain , a collapse breccia may form due to collapse of rock into a sinkhole or in cave development. Collapse breccias also form by dissolution of underlying evaporite beds. Fault or tectonic breccia results from the grinding action of two fault blocks as they slide past each other. Subsequent cementation of these broken fragments may occur by means of the introduction of mineral matter in groundwater . Igneous clastic rocks can be divided into two classes: Volcanic pyroclastic rocks are formed by explosive eruption of lava and any rocks which are entrained within

126-578: A known impact crater, and/or an association with other products of impact cratering such as shatter cones , impact glass, shocked minerals , and chemical and isotopic evidence of contamination with extraterrestrial material (e.g., iridium and osmium anomalies). An example of an impact breccia is the Neugrund breccia , which was formed in the Neugrund impact . Hydrothermal breccias usually form at shallow crustal levels (<1 km) between 150 and 350 °C, when seismic or volcanic activity causes

168-557: A member of the FitzGerald expedition, finally reached it. Since then many climbers made the same ascent to the top. Needless to say it is a dangerous endeavor that requires stamina and experience. Some of the more visited attractions that draw tourists all year long besides Mount Aconcagua are Horcones Lagoon and Plaza de Mulas or Plaza Francia. 32°45′50″S 69°47′45″W  /  32.763889°S 69.795833°W  / -32.763889; -69.795833 This article about

210-734: A meter in size and which form layers in the caldera floor. Some clasts of caldera megabreccias can be over a kilometer in length. Within the volcanic conduits of explosive volcanoes the volcanic breccia environment merges into the intrusive breccia environment. There the upwelling lava tends to solidify during quiescent intervals only to be shattered by ensuing eruptions. This produces an alloclastic volcanic breccia. Clastic rocks are also commonly found in shallow subvolcanic intrusions such as porphyry stocks, granites and kimberlite pipes, where they are transitional with volcanic breccias. Intrusive rocks can become brecciated in appearance by multiple stages of intrusion, especially if fresh magma

252-564: A payment before using these toilets. Some large organisers will charge up to US$  100 , while smaller ones may charge US$   5 per day or US$  10 for the entire stay; thus, many independent mountaineers choose to defecate on the mountainside. For the Incas , Aconcagua was a sacred mountain. As on other mountains (e.g. Ampato ), places of worship were built here and sacrifices, including human sacrifices , were made. The sites discovered in 1985 at an elevation of 5167 m are among

294-645: A place in Mendoza Province , Argentina is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Aconcagua Aconcagua ( Spanish pronunciation: [akoŋˈkaɣwa] ) is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range , in Mendoza Province , Argentina . It is the highest mountain in the Americas , the highest outside Asia , and the highest in both

336-426: A time of 11 hours 52 minutes, nearly an hour faster than Kilian Jornet. In 2016, Fernanda Maciel  [ fr ] set the first women record for climbing and descending Aconcagua from Horcones in 22 hours, 52 minutes. The current women's record is held by Ecuadorean Daniela Sandoval at 20 hours, 17 minutes. On 25 September 2019, an Airbus Helicopters H145 landed on the very peak of Mount Aconcagua. This

378-404: A void to open along a fault deep underground. The void draws in hot water, and as pressure in the cavity drops, the water violently boils. In addition, the sudden opening of a cavity causes rock at the sides of the fault to destabilise and implode inwards, and the broken rock gets caught up in a churning mixture of rock, steam and boiling water. Rock fragments collide with each other and the sides of

420-559: A volcano. However, volcanism has been present in this region for as long as this basin was around and volcanic deposits interfinger with marine deposits throughout the sequence. The colorful greenish, bluish and grey deposits seen in the Horcones Valley and south of Puente Del Inca, are carbonates, limestones, turbidites and evaporates that filled this basin. The red-colored rocks are intrusions, cinder deposits and conglomerates of volcanic origin. In mountaineering terms, Aconcagua

462-426: Is a breccia composed of very large rock fragments, sometimes kilometers across, which can be formed by landslides , impact events , or caldera collapse. Breccia is composed of coarse rock fragments held together by cement or a fine-grained matrix. Like conglomerate , breccia contains at least 30 percent of gravel -sized particles (particles over 2mm in size), but it is distinguished from conglomerate because

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504-458: Is a breccia containing very large rock fragments, from at least a meter in size to greater than 400 meters. In some cases, the clasts are so large that the brecciated nature of the rock is not obvious. Megabreccias can be formed by landslides , impact events , or caldera collapse. Breccias are further classified by their mechanism of formation. Sedimentary breccia is breccia formed by sedimentary processes. For example, scree deposited at

546-490: Is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix . The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of different origins, as indicated by the named types including sedimentary breccia, fault or tectonic breccia, igneous breccia, impact breccia, and hydrothermal breccia. A megabreccia

588-489: Is intruded into partly consolidated or solidified magma. This may be seen in many granite intrusions where later aplite veins form a late-stage stockwork through earlier phases of the granite mass. When particularly intense, the rock may appear as a chaotic breccia. Clastic rocks in mafic and ultramafic intrusions have been found and form via several processes: Impact breccias are thought to be diagnostic of an impact event such as an asteroid or comet striking

630-406: Is less common in the mesothermal regime, as the formational event is brief. If boiling occurs, methane and hydrogen sulfide may be lost to the steam phase, and ore may precipitate. Mesothermal deposits are often mined for gold. For thousands of years, the striking visual appearance of breccias has made them a popular sculptural and architectural material. Breccia was used for column bases in

672-678: Is now known as the Polish Glacier . A route over the Southwest Ridge was pioneered over seven days in January 1953 by the Swiss-Argentine team of Frederico and Dorly Marmillod, Francisco Ibanez and Fernando Grajales. The famously difficult South Face was conquered by a French team led by René Ferlet  [ fr ] . Pierre Lesueur, Adrien Dagory, Robert Paragot, Edmond Denis, Lucien Berardini and Guy Poulet reached

714-703: Is one of the Seven Summits of the seven continents . Aconcagua is bounded by the Valle de las Vacas to the north and east and the Valle de los Horcones Inferior to the west and south. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park . The mountain has a number of glaciers . The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 km (6 mi) long, which descends from

756-457: Is technically an easy mountain if approached from the north, via the normal route . Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins. Although the effects of altitude are severe (atmospheric pressure is 40% of sea level at the summit), the use of supplemental oxygen is not common. Altitude sickness will affect most climbers to some extent, depending on

798-460: Is the first time in history a twin-engine helicopter has landed at this altitude. It took a total of 45 minutes for the entire trip, 30 minutes from Mendoza and another 15 from the base camp up to the peak. Temperatures were reported as low as −22 °C (−8 °F), with wind gusts up to 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph). This is not the highest a helicopter has landed before, as a single-engine Airbus Helicopters H125 landed on Mount Everest,

840-899: The Aconcagua River and means "comes from the other side"; the Quechua Ackon Cahuak , meaning "Sentinel of Stone"; the Quechua Anco Cahuac , meaning "White Sentinel"; or the Aymara Janq'u Q'awa , meaning "White Ravine". The mountain was created by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate . Aconcagua used to be an active stratovolcano (from the Late Cretaceous or Early Paleocene through

882-696: The Miocene ) and consisted of several volcanic complexes on the edge of a basin with a shallow sea. However, sometime in the Miocene, about 8 to 10 million years ago, the subduction angle started to decrease, resulting in a stop of the melting and more horizontal stresses between the oceanic plate and the continent, causing the thrust faults that lifted Aconcagua off its volcanic root. The rocks on Aconcagua's flanks are all volcanic and consist of lavas, breccias and pyroclastics . The shallow marine basin had already formed earlier (Triassic), even before Aconcagua arose as

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924-582: The Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere with a summit elevation of 6,961 metres (22,838 ft). Despite its impressive size and stature, it is only the 189th highest mountain in the world . It lies 112 kilometres (70 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, the city of Mendoza , about five kilometres (three miles) from San Juan Province , and 15 km (9 mi) from Argentina's border with Chile . The mountain

966-490: The Earth and are normally found at impact craters . Impact breccia, a type of impactite , forms during the process of impact cratering when large meteorites or comets impact with the Earth or other rocky planets or asteroids . Breccia of this type may be present on or beneath the floor of the crater, in the rim, or in the ejecta expelled beyond the crater. Impact breccia may be identified by its occurrence in or around

1008-578: The Polish Glacier Traverse Route, and the remaining 3% on other routes. The campsites on the normal route are listed below (elevations are approximate). Summit attempts are usually made from a high camp at either Berlín or Colera, or from the lower camp at Nido de Cóndores. The first attempt to summit Aconcagua by Europeans was made in 1883 by a party led by the German geologist and explorer Paul Güssfeldt . Bribing porters with

1050-404: The base of a cliff may become cemented to form a talus breccia without ever experiencing transport that might round the rock fragments. Thick sequences of sedimentary ( colluvial ) breccia are generally formed next to fault scarps in grabens . Sedimentary breccia may be formed by submarine debris flows . Turbidites occur as fine-grained peripheral deposits to sedimentary breccia flows. In

1092-419: The degree of acclimatization . Although the normal climb is technically easy, multiple casualties occur every year on this mountain (in January 2009 alone, five climbers died). This is due to the large numbers of climbers who attempt and because many climbers underestimate the objective risks of the elevation and of cold weather, which is the real challenge on this mountain. Given the weather conditions close to

1134-427: The eruptive column. This may include rocks plucked off the wall of the magma conduit, or physically picked up by the ensuing pyroclastic surge . Lavas, especially rhyolite and dacite flows, tend to form clastic volcanic rocks by a process known as autobrecciation . This occurs when the thick, nearly solid lava breaks up into blocks and these blocks are then reincorporated into the lava flow again and mixed in with

1176-1360: The highest in the world and are the most difficult of all Inca sites to reach. Here, the remains of a child bedded on grass, cloth and feathers were found inside stone walls ( Aconcagua mummy ). The clothing indicates that the child was a member of the highest social class. Other offerings found included figures and coca leaves . 1: Aconcagua (6.962 m) - Mendoza 2: Ojos del Salado (6.893 m) - Catamarca 3: Monte Pissis (6.793 m) - La Rioja 4: Cerro Bonete (6.759 m) - La Rioja 5: Tres Cruces (6.748 m) - Catamarca 6: Llullaillaco (6.739 m) - Salta 7: Mercedario (6.710 m) - San Juan 8: Tipas (6.670 m) - Catamarca 9: Incahuasi (6.621 m) - Catamarca 10: Tupungato (6.570 m) - Mendoza 11: El Muerto (6.510 m) - Catamarca 12: Nacimiento (6.460 m) - Catamarca 13: Veladero (6.436 m) - La Rioja 14: El Cóndor (6.414 m) - Catamarca 15: Antofalla (6.409 m) - Catamarca 16: Ramada (6.384 m) - San Juan 17: Cachi (6.380 m) - Salta 18: Reclus (6.335 m) - La Rioja 19: La Majadita (6.280 m) - San Juan 20: Los Patos (6.239 m) - Catamarca Breccia Breccia ( / ˈ b r ɛ tʃ i ə / BRETCH -ee-ə or / ˈ b r ɛ ʃ i ə / BRESH -ee-ə , Italian: [ˈbrettʃa] ; Italian for 'breach')

1218-498: The highest mountain in the world. At nearly 7,000 m (23,000 ft), Aconcagua is the highest peak outside of Asia. It is believed to have the highest death rate of any mountain in South America   —   around three a year   —   which has earned it the nickname "Mountain of Death". More than 100 people have died on Aconcagua since records began. Due to the improper disposal of human waste in

1260-403: The mesothermal regime, at much greater depths, fluids under lithostatic pressure can be released during seismic activity associated with mountain building. The pressurised fluids ascend towards shallower crustal levels that are under lower hydrostatic pressure. On their journey, high-pressure fluids crack rock by hydrofracturing , forming an angular in situ breccia. Rounding of rock fragments

1302-614: The mountain environment there are significant health hazards that pose a threat to both animals and human beings. Only boiled or chemically treated water is accepted for drinking. Additionally, ecofriendly toilets are available only to members of an organised expedition, meaning climbers have to "be contracted to a toilet service" at the base camp and similar camps along the route. As of 2015, from two base camps (Plaza de Mulas and Plaza Argentina), over 120 barrels of waste (approx. 22,500 kg (49,600 lb)) are flown out by helicopter each season. In addition, individual mountaineers must make

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1344-428: The overpressure of pore fluid within sedimentary basins . Hydrothermal breccias are usually formed by hydrofracturing of rocks by highly pressured hydrothermal fluids. They are typical of the epithermal ore environment and are intimately associated with intrusive-related ore deposits such as skarns , greisens and porphyry -related mineralisation. Epithermal deposits are mined for copper, silver and gold. In

1386-407: The remaining liquid magma. The resulting breccia is uniform in rock type and chemical composition. Caldera collapse leads to the formation of megabreccias, which are sometimes mistaken for outcrops of the caldera floor. These are instead blocks of precaldera rock, often coming from the unstable oversteepened rim of the caldera. They are distinguished from mesobreccias whose clasts are less than

1428-444: The rock fragments have sharp edges that have not been worn down. These indicate that the gravel was deposited very close to its source area, since otherwise the edges would have been rounded during transport. Most of the rounding of rock fragments takes place within the first few kilometers of transport, though complete rounding of pebbles of very hard rock may take up to 300 kilometers (190 mi) of river transport. A megabreccia

1470-630: The south face to about 3,600 m (11,800 ft) in elevation near the Confluencia camp. Two other large glacier systems are the Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur and Glaciar Este/Ventisquero Relinchos system at about 5 km (3 mi) long. The best known is the northeastern or Polish Glacier , as it is a common route of ascent. The origin of the name is uncertain. It may be from the Mapudungun Aconca-Hue , which refers to

1512-531: The story of treasure on the mountain, he approached the mountain via the Rio Volcan, making two attempts on the peak by the northwest ridge and reaching an elevation of 6,500 metres (21,300 ft). The route that he prospected is now the standard route up the mountain. The first recorded ascent was in 1897 by a European expedition led by the British mountaineer Edward FitzGerald . FitzGerald failed to reach

1554-400: The summit after a month of effort on 25 February 1954. As of 2020 the youngest person to reach the summit of Aconcagua is Tyler Armstrong of California. He was nine years old when he reached the summit on 24 December 2013. Kaamya Karthikeyan of India at an age of 12 became the youngest girl to reach the summit on 1 February 2020. The oldest person to climb it was Scott Lewis, who reached

1596-557: The summit himself over eight attempts between December 1896 and February 1897, but the (Swiss) guide of the expedition, Matthias Zurbriggen reached the summit on 14 January. On the final attempt a month later, two other expedition members, Stuart Vines and Nicola Lanti, reached the summit on 13 February. The east side of Aconcagua was first scaled by a Polish expedition , with Konstanty Narkiewicz-Jodko , Stefan Daszyński  [ pl ] , Wiktor Ostrowski  [ pl ] and Stefan Osiecki summiting on 8 March 1934, over what

1638-519: The summit on 26 November 2007, when he was 87 years old. In the base camp Plaza de Mulas (at 4,300 m (14,100 ft) above sea level) there is the highest contemporary art gallery tent called "Nautilus" of the Argentine painter Miguel Doura . In 2014, Kilian Jornet set a record for climbing and descending Aconcagua from Horcones in 12 hours and 49 minutes. The record was broken less than two months later by Ecuadorian-Swiss Karl Egloff , in

1680-531: The summit, cold weather injuries are very common. The routes to the peak from the south and south-west ridges are more demanding and the south face climb is considered quite difficult. The Polish Glacier Traverse route, also known as the "Falso de los Polacos" route, crosses through the Vacas valley, ascends to the base of the Polish Glacier, then traverses across to the normal route for the final ascent to

1722-582: The summit. The third most popular route is by the Polish Glacier itself. Provincial Park rangers do not maintain records of successful summits but estimates suggest a summit rate of 30–40%. About 75% of climbers are foreigners and 25% are Argentinean. Among foreigners, the United States leads in the number of climbers, followed by Germany and the UK. About 54% of climbers ascend the Normal Route, 43% up

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1764-581: The void, and the angular fragments become more rounded. Volatile gases are lost to the steam phase as boiling continues, in particular carbon dioxide . As a result, the chemistry of the fluids changes and ore minerals rapidly precipitate . Breccia-hosted ore deposits are quite common. The morphology of breccias associated with ore deposits varies from tabular sheeted veins and clastic dikes associated with overpressured sedimentary strata, to large-scale intrusive diatreme breccias ( breccia pipes ), or even some synsedimentary diatremes formed solely by

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