Determination of droughts and high floods of the Bermejo River (Argentina) based on documentary evidence (17th to 20th century)

Abstract

This study reconstructs a series of droughts and high flow volumes of the Bermejo River from the 17th to 20th century based on a content analysis of historic documentary evidence, which is calibrated with instrumental climate data. The historic data series shows an increase in the frequency of extraordinarily high waters beginning in the 19th century and a significant decrease in extreme droughts beginning in 1890. The data are compared to variations in the Mendoza River for the same period, which show that there was a long-standing lack of correlation between the rivers.