The first geological observations in Argentina and southern Bolivia: The diary of Anton Zacharias Helms (1788/1789)

Abstract

In 1788/1789, a group of German miners and mining engineers under the guidance of Baron von Nordenflycht made their way from Buenos Aires through northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia to Potosí. Anton Zacharias Helms, a mining engineer, documented the whole trip in his diary that was published in Dresden, Germany, in 1798. These notes on the trip contain a unique set of information among them the first geological observations made in northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia known to date. Helm's diary was translated into English and French, but never into Spanish and therefore remained unknown in Argentina and Bolivia until today.