The glacial action was much more significant in the past, and the geomorphology that can be seen today is modified by the action of subsequent processes such as mass removal and fluvial action. The current glaciers of the mountain range in general, which therefore affect the Aconcagua Guided Climb, are classified as valley glaciers, mountain glaciers, and snow patches; These, in turn, can be presented as uncovered, covered by debris and rock glaciers. Almost the entire fluvial network of Mendoza corresponds to the Desaguadero basin formed by the Mendoza, Tunuyán, Diamante and Atuel rivers. The Barrancas and Grande rivers that form Colorado do not integrate the mentioned basin in the southern part.
All these watercourses are born in the mountainous area and descend to the plains, where they interrupt their basins due to their intense use for irrigation. They are antecedent rivers (which conserved their courses since before the orographic formations) that cross the mountains through enormous gorges eroded during the tertiary movements, and practice many of them lack water for much of the year and with the spring thaw their channels are They make it very torrential.
The Mendoza River is formed from the union of the Tupungato and Las Cuevas rivers. It receives the waters of the Horcones, Santa María, and Vaca’s rivers that descend from Aconcagua. Note the difference in the flow of a river that feeds on thaws such as the Mendoza, comparing its average flow, calculated at approximately 55 m3 / sec., With 750 m3 / sec. that reaches in the summer.
Aconcagua 360 Route is surrounded to the west and southwest by the Río de Los Horcones that runs through the valley of the same name and part of the northern and eastern sectors by the Río de las Vacas. The Los Relinchos stream is born on the eastern slopes, which feeds the Vacas river after a short journey.
There are no glacial lakes, and we only see some remains of them in the form of small buckets in the high mountains.
The Laguna de Los Horcones is the most critical water mirror in the preserved area. Glaciers, those enormous masses of ice that occupy the highest parts of the massifs, have their maximum expression in conservation unity.
Two are found on the southern slope (Horcones inferior and Horcones superior glaciers) and the resulting glaciers on the North and Northeast slopes, the main one being Las Vacas, located at the head of the homonymous river.
On the south and east walls, the aforementioned Polish glacier stands out, with an area that reaches 700 hectares, and the Güssfeld glacier with a site that exceeds 1,000 hectares.