Landslide; Lateral spread; Earthflow; Patagonia

Many of the volcanic plateau margins of the eastern, formerly glaciated, foreland of the Patagonian Andes are undermined by giant landslides (≥108 m3). One cluster of such landslides extends along the margin of the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires (MLBA) plateau that is formed mainly by Neogene-Quaternary basalts. The dry climate is at odds with numerous >2-km long earthflows nested within older and larger compound landslides. We present a hydrological analysis, a detailed geomorphic map, interpretations of exposed landslide interiors, and radiocarbon dating of the El Mirador landslide, which is one of the largest and morphologically most representative landslide. We find that the presence of lakes on top of the plateau, causing low infiltration rates, correlates negatively with the abundance of earthflows on compound landslides along the plateau margins. Field outcrops show that the pattern of compound landslides and earthflows is likely controlled by groundwater seepage at the contact between the basalts and underlying soft Miocene molasse. Numerous peat bogs store water and sediment and are more abundant in earthflow-affected areas than in their contributing catchment areas. Radiocarbon dates indicate that these earthflows displaced metre-thick layers of peat in the late Holocene (<2.5 ka). We conclude that earthflows of the MLBA plateau might be promising proxies of past hydroclimatic conditions in the Patagonian foreland, if strong earthquakes or gradual crustal stress changes due to glacioisostatic rebound can be ruled out.