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14-545: The Spaniards, upon their arrival, found the indigenous people referred to the area as "Chaj Nai--Paj", which means "green or fertile country of many rivers". The main attraction is Ischigualasto , a strange landscape, in what may have been one of the most interesting stages of the earth's history, the Triassic period, the place known as the Valley of the Moon, for the apparent resemblance to

28-582: A lunar landscape. It is a protected area for the preservation and study of strange geological formations, wildlife , flora and fossils . 30°40′S 67°26′W  /  30.667°S 67.433°W  / -30.667; -67.433 This article about a place in San Juan Province , Argentina is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ischigualasto Ischigualasto Provincial Park ( Spanish : Parque Provincial Ischigualasto ), also called Valle de la Luna ("Valley of

42-630: Is hot and dry at the low-lands, it is the main mechanism for snow precipitation at the high altitude chains, where it looks as viento blanco , reaching speeds sometimes over 200 km/h. Thus, instead of being a snow-eater, this wind is particularly important for this arid region, as it is connected to the buildup of the winter snow cover and accumulation over the scarce local glaciers . While this type of föhn wind may occur over most central parts of western Argentina, its effects are more impressive in La Rioja , San Juan , and northern Mendoza provinces, where

56-648: The Automobil Club Argentino . That year, Dr. Ángel Cabrera of University of La Plata described the traversodontid Exaeretodon —the first cynodont found in Ischigualasto—after samples sent by a geologist prospecting for coal on behalf of an Argentine mining company. Academic work and geological prospecting proceeded slowly until 1958, when Dr. Alfred Sherwood Romer, a Harvard University expert in ancient mammals , discovered several rich fossil beds which he described as "extraordinary". Most of

70-681: The Moon" or "Moon Valley"), due to its moon like appearance, is a provincial protected area in the north-east of San Juan Province , north-western Argentina , limiting to the north with the Talampaya National Park , in La Rioja Province . Both areas belong to the same geological formation, the Ischigualasto Formation (sometimes called the Ischigualasto-Talampaya Formation). Established on 3 November 1971,

84-497: The eastern slope of the Andes , in Argentina . The Zonda is a dry wind (often carrying dust) which comes from the polar maritime air, warmed by descent from the crest, which is approximately 6,000 m (20,000 ft) above sea level . It may exceed a velocity of 240 km/h (150 mph). The Zonda wind is produced by the northeastward movement of polar fronts, and although it

98-609: The mountain barrier (the Andes) is higher, while to the north the Puna plateau dissipates these winds. According to studies (conducted over the period 1967–1976), the Zonda wind most commonly starts during the afternoon (between 12 and 6 PM), and tends to last between 1 and 12 hours, though it may present itself intermittently for as long as 2 or 3 days. It is countered usually by the entrance of cold air masses moving northwestward ( viento sur ). In 90% of

112-401: The name "Ischigualasto" a Quechua origin, meaning "dead land", although some scholars have proposed Huarpe roots. The first paleontological description of Ischigualasto dates from 1930. In 1941 the area was studied in more detail, which led to the discovery of 70 species of fossil plants. The region received for the first time the name Valle de la Luna in 1943, in a publication edited by

126-607: The oldest known dinosaur remains, which are the world's foremost with regards to quality, number and importance. In the Carnian this area was a volcanically active floodplain dominated by rivers and had a strongly seasonal rainfall. Petrified tree trunks of Protojuniperoxylon ischigualastianus more than 40 m (130 ft) tall attest to a rich vegetation at that time. Fossil ferns and horsetails have also been found. Rhynchosaurs and cynodonts (especially rhynchosaur Hyperodapedon and cynodont Exaeretodon ) are by far

140-518: The park has an area of 60,370 ha (603.7 km ; 233.1 sq mi). In 2000, UNESCO included Ischigualasto and Talampaya National Park among its World Heritage Sites . The name Ischigualasto is derived from the extinct Cacán language , spoken by an indigenous group referred to as the Diaguita by the Spanish conquistadors and means "place where the moon alights". Another hypothesis gives

154-589: The park lies within the Valle Fértil Department , with a minor part in the Jachal Department of San Juan, at an altitude of about 1,300 m (4,300 ft) amsl . The park is part of the western border of the Central Sierras , and it features typical desert vegetation (bushes, cacti and some trees) which covers between 10 and 20% of the area. The climate is very dry, with rainfall mostly during

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168-486: The predominant findings among the tetrapod fossils in the park. A study from 1993 found dinosaur specimens to comprise only 6% of the total tetrapod sample; subsequent discoveries increased this number to approximately 11% of all findings. Carnivorous dinosaurs are the most common terrestrial carnivores of the Ischigualasto Formation, with herrerasaurids comprising 72% of all recovered terrestrial carnivores. Dinosaurs of Ischigualasto Formation include early samples of

182-425: The summer, and temperature extremes (minimum −10 °C or 14 °F, maximum 45 °C or 113 °F). There is a constant southern wind with a speed of 20–40 km/h (12–25 mph) after noon and until the evening, sometimes accompanied by the extremely strong Zonda wind . The Ischigualasto Formation contains Late Triassic ( Carnian ) deposits (231.4 -225.9 million years before the present ), with some of

196-486: The two major lineages of dinosaurs ( ornithischians and saurischians ). The carnivorous archosaur Herrerasaurus is the most numerous of these dinosaur fossils. Another important putative dinosaur with primitive characteristics is Eoraptor lunensis , found in Ischigualasto in the early 1990s. Zonda wind Zonda wind ( Spanish : viento zonda ) is a regional term for the foehn wind that often occurs on

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