Quebrada Rupasca, San Antonio de los Cobres, Los Andes department, Salta Province, Argentinai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Quebrada Rupasca | Valley |
| San Antonio de los Cobres | Municipality |
| Los Andes department | Department |
| Salta Province | Province |
| Argentina | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
24° 26' 22'' South , 66° 29' 3'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
241549
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:241549:2
GUID (UUID V4):
51048e34-99bf-487a-8785-63e4a0ab19bd
Obsidian-Perlite Deposit and Mining Exploitation.
Quebrada Rupasca, Los Andes Department, Province of Salta.
Elevation: 4,458 m. above sea level, with the other known Obsidian deposits of the region: Ramadas, Tocomar and Quirón.
The District of Rupasca is located 50 km south of San Antonio de los Cobres in a volcanic complex located to the West of the Cerro Acay and is accessed by a road, currently little travelled.
There are the quarries Betina, Cristina, Argentina, Delfina, Yanina, Carolina and Martina. These deposits are associated with fronts of cast domicas that descend towards the quebrada Rupasca westward from unrecognized emission centers at present. The beads, observable in the front of the lava flows located in the quebrada Rupasca have different characteristics, among the variety of grey colour and silky appearance, texture, solid and perlitic structure.
Since Obsidian is metastable at the surface of the Earth (over time, the glass becomes crystals, fine-grained minerals), Obsidian has not been found older than Cenozoic (70 million years ago). This deterioration of the Obsidian accelerates in the presence of water.
The Obsidian has low water content when it is fresh, typically less than 1%, but is hydrating progressively when it is exposed to groundwater or meteoric water.
Thus, as time goes on, the Obsidian is ageing and becoming a pearlitic structure, causing the decomposition of the rock in small spheres and fragments of mm size of cracks of irregular contraction. Starting at the cracks and tiny bubbles (the small spheres) starts the devitrification. First microscopic crystals are formed by Quartz, cristobalite and feldspar and maybe an orderly growth of crystals in radial fibres (spherulites) form.
Obsidian characterized by the spherulites is called Perlite.
Rock Types Recorded
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Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities
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Localities in this Region
- Salta Province
- Los Andes department
- San Antonio de los Cobres
- Los Andes department
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Argentina
- Pampean Pegmatite ProvinceMineral Province
South AmericaContinent
- AndesMountain Range
South America PlateTectonic Plate
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