Perito Moreno, Santa Cruz
Perito Moreno is a town in the northwest of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, 25 km east of Lake Buenos Aires. It should not be confused with the Perito Moreno National Park over 300 km south by road, or the Perito Moreno Glacier near El Calafate. The town is the capital of the Lago Buenos Aires Department. It lies on the RN43, a paved road which links Caleta Olivia on the Atlantic coast to Los Antiguos and the Chilean frontier 60 km west, and Ruta 40, running north and south.
Perito Moreno | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Perito Moreno Location in Argentina | |
| Coordinates: 46°35′19″S 70°55′27″W | |
| Country |  Argentina |
| Province | Santa Cruz |
| Department | Lago Buenos Aires |
| Elevation | 517 m (1,696 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 4,617 |
| Area code | +54 |
| Climate | BWk |
The town is a centre of cattle ranches and smallholdings producing fruit and vegetables. Tourism is also an important industry. Perito Moreno is the closest town to Cueva de las Manos, 170 km south by road, and Parque Laguna.
In the 2010 census the town had a population of 4,617.[1]
History
The town was founded in 1910, as a rest stop for travellers by the springs which give rise to the Rio Deseado. The place was called Pari-Aike (meaning "place of reeds") by the Tehuelche, but the town was officially called Nacimiento in 1927. The name was changed in 1944 to Lago Buenos Aires, and in 1952 to Perito Moreno, after the explorer Francisco Moreno.[lower-alpha 1][2]
Climate
Perito Moreno has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk), bordering on a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWk).
| Climate data for Perito Moreno (1999–2014, extremes 1937–present)[lower-alpha 2] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 37.8 (100.0) |
38.2 (100.8) |
32.0 (89.6) |
27.8 (82.0) |
21.0 (69.8) |
17.0 (62.6) |
16.1 (61.0) |
17.3 (63.1) |
22.2 (72.0) |
25.5 (77.9) |
31.1 (88.0) |
32.2 (90.0) |
38.2 (100.8) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 21.8 (71.2) |
20.9 (69.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
14.5 (58.1) |
9.7 (49.5) |
6.7 (44.1) |
6.7 (44.1) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.7 (53.1) |
14.8 (58.6) |
17.6 (63.7) |
20.0 (68.0) |
14.3 (57.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 15.6 (60.1) |
15.1 (59.2) |
12.5 (54.5) |
9.1 (48.4) |
5.2 (41.4) |
2.3 (36.1) |
1.8 (35.2) |
3.6 (38.5) |
6.3 (43.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
11.8 (53.2) |
14.6 (58.3) |
8.9 (48.0) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 9.3 (48.7) |
8.9 (48.0) |
6.2 (43.2) |
3.6 (38.5) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
3.5 (38.3) |
5.5 (41.9) |
7.8 (46.0) |
3.3 (37.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.0 (30.2) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−17.2 (1.0) |
−20.0 (−4.0) |
−25.7 (−14.3) |
−23.0 (−9.4) |
−11.5 (11.3) |
−9.8 (14.4) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
−25.7 (−14.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 5.6 (0.22) |
12.9 (0.51) |
11.5 (0.45) |
16.8 (0.66) |
24.4 (0.96) |
23.1 (0.91) |
16.5 (0.65) |
17.9 (0.70) |
13.9 (0.55) |
7.5 (0.30) |
9.5 (0.37) |
3.3 (0.13) |
162.9 (6.41) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 44 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 43 | 50 | 55 | 61 | 73 | 79 | 74 | 68 | 61 | 51 | 46 | 45 | 59 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 226.3 | 211.9 | 217.0 | 162.0 | 124.0 | 108.0 | 127.1 | 148.8 | 186.0 | 213.9 | 219.0 | 235.6 | 2,179.6 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 7.3 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 5.4 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 6.0 |
| Source 1: Deutscher Wetterdienst[3] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (extremes 1937-1950 and 1961-present, humidity 1951–1960),[4][5][6] Secretaria de Mineria (extremes 1951–1960)[7] Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (extremes 1937-1950),[8] | |||||||||||||
Buildings
The town is home to the Carlos J. Gradin Museum of Archaeology, named after Carlos J. Gradin.[9][10][11][12][13] As of 2019, the building is still under construction.[14]
Culture
Perito Moreno is widely considered the archaeological capitol of Santa Cruz, largely due to how close it is to Cueva de las Manos.[15] Every year in February, the town celebrates a festival of Cueva de las Manos.[15][16][17]
See also
- Perito Moreno Airport—airport serving Perito Moreno, 7 kilometres (4 mi) northwest of the town
References
- "INDEC website, Table 12.1". Archived from the original on 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Moore, Jerry D. (2017). Incidence of travel: recent journeys in ancient South America. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. p. 95. doi:10.5876/9781607326007. ISBN 978-1-60732-600-7. JSTOR j.ctt1m3210q. LCCN 2016053403. OCLC 973325343.
- "Klimatafel von Perito Moreno (Lago Buenos Aires), Prov. Santa Cruz / Argentinien" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- "Datos Estadísticos (Período 1951-1960)" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
- "Clima en la Argentina: Guia Climática por Perito Moreno Aero". Caracterización: Estadísticas de largo plazo (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- "Fin de febrero: lo destacado del mes" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- "Provincia de Santa Cruz - Clima Y Meteorologia: Datos Meteorologicos Y Pluviometicos" (in Spanish). Secretaria de Mineria de la Nacion (Argentina). Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- "Anales Climatológicos (Período 1937-1950)" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, Secretaría de Aeronáutica. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- Onetto, María; Podestá, María Mercedes (2011). "Cueva de las Manos: An Outstanding Example of a Rock Art Site in South America" (PDF). Adoranten. Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art: 67–78.
- Onetto, Maria (2014), "Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas Cave Art", in Smith, Claire (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, New York, NY: Springer, p. 1845, doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1624, ISBN 978-1-4419-0465-2, retrieved 2021-04-22
- INAPL (2011). En tus manos... Cueva de las manos (in Spanish). Grupo de Apoyo.
- "Proyecto". www.diputados.gob.ar. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
- "Cueva de las Manos: un viaje para reencontrarse con los antiguos pobladores patagónicos". Fondo Nacional de las Artes (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-01.
- Gutiérrez De Angelis, Marina; Winckler, Greta; Bruno, Paula; Guarini, Carmen (2019). "Rethinking Paleolithic Visual Culture throughout immersive technology: The site "Cueva de las Manos" as a virtual "Denkraum" (Patagonia, Argentina)". View. Theories and Practices of Visual Culture. Widok. Foundation for Visual Culture (25). doi:10.36854/widok/2019.25.2081. hdl:11336/168949. ISSN 2300-200X. S2CID 229288678.
- Podestá, María Mercedes (2002). "Cueva de las Manos as an example of cultural-natural heritage hybrids" (PDF). In Gauer-Lietz, Sieglinde (ed.). Nature and Culture: Ambivalent Dimensions of our Heritage Change of Perspective. Deutsche Unesco-Kommission. Bonn, Germany. p. 127. ISBN 3-927907-84-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Onetto, María; Podestá, María Mercedes (2011). "Cueva de las Manos: An Outstanding Example of a Rock Art Site in South America" (PDF). Adoranten. Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art: 67–78.
- Menon, Jayashree, ed. (January 1, 2010). "Patagonia". Argentina. Eyewitness Travel Guides (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: DK Publishing. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-7566-6193-9. ISSN 1542-1554. OCLC 741938981. Gale CX2122500028 – via Gale General OneFile.
Notes
- The term perito is an honorific that means "expert"
- The record highs and lows are based on the Secretaria de Mineria link for the period 1951–1960 while records for the period 1937-1950 and beyond 1961 come from Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. As such, when these 2 sources are used together, the records are from 1937–present
External links
Media related to Perito Moreno at Wikimedia Commons