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Southern Patagonian Ice Field
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Southern Patagonian Ice Field
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field (Spanish: Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Chile and Argentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, which covered all of southern Chile during the last glacial period, locally called the Llanquihue glaciation.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field extends from parallels 48° 15′ S to 51° 30′ S for approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi), and has an approximate area of 16,480 km2 (6,360 sq mi), of which 14,200 km2 (5,500 sq mi) belong to Chile and 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) belong to Argentina.
The ice mass feeds dozens of glaciers in the area, among which are the Upsala (765 km2 or 295 sq mi), Viedma (978 km2 or 378 sq mi) and Perito Moreno (258 km2 or 100 sq mi) in the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina, and the Pío XI Glacier or Bruggen Glacier (1,265 km2 or 488 sq mi, the largest in area and longest in the Southern Hemisphere outside of Antarctica), O'Higgins (820 km2 or 320 sq mi), Grey (270 km2 or 100 sq mi) and Tyndall (331 km2 or 128 sq mi) in Chile. The glaciers going to the west flow into the fjords of the Patagonian channels of the Pacific Ocean; those going to the East flow into the Patagonian lakes Viedma and Argentino, and eventually, through the rivers de la Leona and Santa Cruz, to the Atlantic Ocean.
An important part of the ice field is protected under different national parks, such as the Bernardo O'Higgins and Torres del Paine in Chile, and the aforementioned Los Glaciares in Argentina.
There are two known volcanoes under the ice field: Lautaro and Viedma. Due to their inaccessibility they are among the least researched volcanoes in Chile and Argentina.
In 1980, Chile planned Route 8 as a section of the Carretera Austral west of the ice field, which has not been built.
Circo de los Altares is an important hiking place.
Thorough explorations include the expeditions of Federico Reichert (1913–1914), Alberto de Agostini (1931), and Harold William Tilman and Jorge Quinteros (1955–1956), as well as Eric Shipton (1960–61). The first (North-South) crossing of the field was accomplished in 1998 by Pablo Besser, Mauricio Rojas, José Montt, and Rodrigo Fica. Nevertheless, some areas of the field remain largely unexplored.
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Southern Patagonian Ice Field
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field (Spanish: Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Chile and Argentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, which covered all of southern Chile during the last glacial period, locally called the Llanquihue glaciation.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field extends from parallels 48° 15′ S to 51° 30′ S for approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi), and has an approximate area of 16,480 km2 (6,360 sq mi), of which 14,200 km2 (5,500 sq mi) belong to Chile and 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) belong to Argentina.
The ice mass feeds dozens of glaciers in the area, among which are the Upsala (765 km2 or 295 sq mi), Viedma (978 km2 or 378 sq mi) and Perito Moreno (258 km2 or 100 sq mi) in the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina, and the Pío XI Glacier or Bruggen Glacier (1,265 km2 or 488 sq mi, the largest in area and longest in the Southern Hemisphere outside of Antarctica), O'Higgins (820 km2 or 320 sq mi), Grey (270 km2 or 100 sq mi) and Tyndall (331 km2 or 128 sq mi) in Chile. The glaciers going to the west flow into the fjords of the Patagonian channels of the Pacific Ocean; those going to the East flow into the Patagonian lakes Viedma and Argentino, and eventually, through the rivers de la Leona and Santa Cruz, to the Atlantic Ocean.
An important part of the ice field is protected under different national parks, such as the Bernardo O'Higgins and Torres del Paine in Chile, and the aforementioned Los Glaciares in Argentina.
There are two known volcanoes under the ice field: Lautaro and Viedma. Due to their inaccessibility they are among the least researched volcanoes in Chile and Argentina.
In 1980, Chile planned Route 8 as a section of the Carretera Austral west of the ice field, which has not been built.
Circo de los Altares is an important hiking place.
Thorough explorations include the expeditions of Federico Reichert (1913–1914), Alberto de Agostini (1931), and Harold William Tilman and Jorge Quinteros (1955–1956), as well as Eric Shipton (1960–61). The first (North-South) crossing of the field was accomplished in 1998 by Pablo Besser, Mauricio Rojas, José Montt, and Rodrigo Fica. Nevertheless, some areas of the field remain largely unexplored.
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