H.A.P.P.I.N.E.S.S

If you were wondering why the blog has not been updated this week, well, I've been out for work. To be precise I've been to Jujuy, to the Quebrada de Humahuaca. We did not have much time since the people from the Tucumán University called us to go to this field trip. This is part of the zone that is included in my PhD thesis... and as you can see is heaven. I fell completely in love with it.


We went over to Jujuy the past Sunday and we stayed until Friday. We arrived and the people from Tucumán, two geologists, picked us up and we went over straight to Humahuaca where we spent the night. There, we met two more people from San Juan, a sedimentologist and his girlfriend who went to keep him company.
Next day we drove to the outcrop, at 4600 m (15000 feet), which comprises basically all the inferior Paleozoic , from the Precambrian to nearly the Carboniferous.
My goal was to take palynologycal samples, which are some rock which could contain this kind of organic matter, so it had to be of a particular color and texture (not to be too specific). It was good that we had enough time to take all the samples that we wanted to, but unfortunately we can not know if they are fertile or barren until we process them at the laboratory.

I had a really great time!!...I felt so lucky enjoying my work!!.

And as I titled this post, for those who really know what I mean by being happy, I felt happiness, as I was shivering because of the cold, being hot due to the dry wind or even having insomnia because of the uncomfortable tent.




Some vicuñas



At 5000 m everything looks different...



A fossil trace called Cruziana, which are supposed that they were made by trilobites. This one is from the Ordovician



Some flora from the area






Guillermo and Juan Pablo observing the Ordovician - Silurian boundary


Our base camp, inside a goat field



After a hot shower at the hotel in our way back, some beers at a bar in Humahuaca (Guillermo, Mariela and Juan Pablo)



We had a day to be tourist too...

Purmamarca (with the seven colors hill: each color indicates a different time period). It is amazing!



Tilcara: the Pucará ruins