In outcrops around the university, there are spectacular examples of eroded surfaces. The red mudstones represent a point in time when the water current was slow, such as during a flood, and the clays normally suspended in the water were able to settle out and form muds. The coarser, wavy, bedded sandstones were deposited in faster moving streams that cut into the earlier deposits of muds.
Larger image 50Kb jpg.

The broad band of white rock is a thick layer of volcanic ash. To the north of Neuquén city, this ash layer is mined for its economic value as an abrasive -- toothpaste is an example. These are marine rocks exposed in the Valley of the Moon.
Larger image 77Kb jpg.

Burrowing Owls are fairly common desert animals, and were relatively unafraid and easy to photograph.
Larger image 54Kb jpg.

Small goat farms are scattered across the Patagonian desert.
Larger image 65Kb jpg.

The units of rock immediately above the Rio Colorado include sediments deposited in a marine environment. The stratification is clearly shown in this valley known locally as the Valley of the Moon.
Larger image 53Kb jpg.

The sea cliffs near Mar del Plata are covered by these succulent plants and their beautiful flowers.
Larger image 67Kb jpg.

The sediments above the burrowed, fossil-bearing horizons show beautiful cross-bedding and stratification. The sediments are rich in iron and other minerals that create many colours in the rocks. Here you can see a collapsed structure caused by solufluction.
Larger image 54Kb jpg.

Another excellent example of cross-bedding sandstones: the angled laminations of these ripples show that the stream or river was moving to the right. The lower units are planar-bedded and indicate a different velocity -- fast!
Larger image 78Kb jpg.

The Alpataco occasionally made room for some beautiful little plants with brilliant pink flowers.
Larger image 78Kb jpg.