page_title: La Rioja Province, Argentina
section_title: Geography and climate
hierarchical_section_title: La Rioja Province, Argentina / Geography and climate
caption_attribution_description: English: Like a South American version of Monument Valley in the United States, Talampaya Park is known for its 200-meter (660 feet) high red sandstone cliffs and 1,500-year-old rock carvings. The image below shows a close-up view of the park in La Rioja province, where the aptly named herbivorous dinosaur Riojasaurus was discovered. Talampaya stands in stark contrast to the white and multicolor sediments of the Ischigualasto Provincial Park to the south. Ischigualasto is often called the Valle de la Luna (“Valley of the Moon”) because its unique and rugged terrain give an otherworldly appearance.
context_page_description: La Rioja is a province of Argentina located in the west of the country. The landscape of the province consist of a series of arid to semi-arid mountain ranges and agricultural valleys in between. It is in one of these valleys that the capital of the province, the city of la La Rioja, lies. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Catamarca, Córdoba, San Luis and San Juan. The dinosaur Riojasaurus is named after the province.
context_section_description: Located in the Argentine Northwest area, its landscape is arid to semi-arid, and the dry climate receives annually 200 mm of precipitations, has short winters and very hot summers.
  From the Andes at the west, with peaks of up to 6,795 meters (Monte Pissis), the relief's height descents towards the sierras of the neighbouring dry Pampas zone. Most ranges in La Rioja are oriented in a north-south fashion. The province's two largest cities, La Rioja and Chilecito are separated by Sierra de Velasco and west of Chilecito and Famatina rises the Sierra de Famatina with heights of up to 6.250 m.a.sl. (≈20500 feet).
  The Talampaya National Park is a dry red-soil canyon of the ancient extinguished Talampaya river, which contains many walls and rock formations that make it an interesting tourist destination.
caption: Talampaya Natural Park hosts Triassic fossils,  200-meter (660 feet) high red sandstone cliffs and 1,500-year-old rock carvings. Landsat-8 satellite photo, 2018.
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