On the southern tip of the South American continent, bound by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Pampas to the north, lays Patagonia, a diverse region of exceptional natural beauty. Split between Chile in the west and Argentina in the east, Patagonia is home to 5 main geographical areas covering glaciers, lakes, deserts, archipelagos, and rocky fjords, which we will explore in this video. Chapter 1: The Patagonian Desert About 10 million years ago, before the Nazca Plate lifted the Andean Mountains, temperate forests like they are found all over Europe or the eastern United States dominated the Patagonian landscape.
After the creation of the Andean mountains however, the whole region was shielded from the eastern inflow of precipitation and instead got covered by cold air-masses which rush down from the massive peaks of the Andes. Together with cold air from the Falkland Currents which stream up the Atlantic coast of Patagonia, larger plants and trees were eradicated from the South American tip, and sparse shrubs and bare rock landscapes took their place. Over time, the Patagonian desert became the 8th largest desert in the world and constitutes the largest area of the Patagonian region.
Different from most deserts, the Patagonian Desert is classified as a cold desert and has very little sand cover and instead is mostly characterized by gravel and sandstone formations, which are stacking in terrace like layers all the way to the foot of the Andean Mountains. Despite its status as a desert, which is based on the amount of precipitation a region receives, the area is actually penetrated by many large and small rivers, which drain the glaciers and mountain lakes, bringing us to, Chapter 2: The Lake Districts On each side of the Andean Mountains, the glacial meltwater and snow runoff has filled dozens of large basins with crystal clear water. Plentiful fish like trout and salmon roam here and dense forests surrounding the shores, and the dramatic Andean Mountain backdrop are the reason for the high density of national parks in this area.
The Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park in the center of the Chilean Lake District was actually the first national park in Chile and has been followed by 9 more parks during the last century. As one of the most attractive hiking regions in South America, the lake district played a big role in Chiles tourism industry, which has its peak in 2017 with nearly 7 million international travelers arriving. A series of internal unrest, the Argentine monetary crisis which prevented the largest group of tourists from traveling and the COVID-19 Pandemic have reduced this number to a mere 190.
000 tourists in 2021, throwing the region into a deep crisis. The ministry of tourism however hopes that the number recovers to pre covid numbers by 2024, giving the livelihood back to the 600. 000 Chileans which are dependent on tourism.
Next to lakes in the Lake Districts, the area’s stratovolcanoes scattered over the plains are another reason for why tourists flock in in the millions. Villarica, Osorno and Lanin are just some of the year-round snow-covered cones which even offer little skiing resorts, and challenging ski-touring routes in the winter. Lanin is the highest mountain for hundreds of kilometers and as such, it also marks the border between Chile and Argentina.
This principle has been applied to almost all the highest peaks of the Andean Mountains, which neatly split the mountain range between the two countries. Following the patagonian peaks southwards, we enter the third region of Patagonia: Chapter 3: The Ice Fields During the last global cold period, most of the Lake District and every mountain and Volcano from today’s Santiago de Chile down to Tierra del Fuego has been buried by a thick slab of ice. The Patagonian Ice sheet used to have a volume of 525.
000 km3 but this has been steadily declining since its last maximum 21. 000 years ago. Today, only 3 remnants can be found between the summits of the Southern Andes, and it is estimated that the retreat of the Patagonian Ice masses alone has contributed to a sea level rise of 1.
2 meters during this time. While most of this shrinking occurred when humans were still in their cavemen days, humanity’s influence here is undeniable. Researchers have meticulously documented the retreat of these ice fields for the past 100 years, providing us with tangible data on the impacts of global warming in real-time.
The combined ice masses of Patagonia lost around 6 km3 of ice per year around the year 1900 but this number has skyrocketed to around 15 by the seventies and 24 by the turn of the millennia. If or more accurately when these Ice masses will be completely gone is up in the air for now, but the trends do not look promising. The core of the Patagonian ice fields lay at elevations of over a kilometer in the center of the Andean mountain range but due to the retrieval of the ice, the distance to the fjords on the west coast are just a few kilometers in many instances.
The resulting steep slope actually creates some of the fastest flowing glaciers in the world, with the fastest arms traveling at speeds of 28 meters per day towards the ocean. While it is sad that the Patagonian Ice is one of the fastest disappearing glaciers in the world, its recess reveals another incredible part of Patagonia which now has become accessible, bringing us to Chapter 4: The Southern Fjords Similar to the dramatic landscapes found in Norway and New Zealand, Patagonia’s fjords are a testament to the powerful sculpting forces of glaciers over thousands of years. Valleys carved by ice, and flanked by steep cliffs and mountains have created a complex network of waterways and the surrounding ecosystems offer a rich field of study for environmental scientists and geologists alike.
To protect the pristine landscape, most of the fjords have recently put under protection in the form of the Kawésqar National Park. Encompassing over 7 million acres of fjords and islands, Kawésqar is a mosaic of massifs, underwater kelp forests, glaciers, fjords, wetlands, and valleys. Basically, a more concentrated version of Patagonia, within Patagonia.
The channels are used by many smaller vessels to avoid navigating the sometimes rough Pacific Ocean and the fjords have been navigated for over 7000 years by the Kawésqar people, in whose honor the park has been named. Millions of years of glacial erosion has created the hundreds of islands, but despite its remoteness and harsh environment, many fascinating mammals actually call these almost untouched lands their home. From Pumas and tiny deer called Pudu on land to Dolphins, Sea Lions and Orcas in the adjoining marine national reserve, the Patagonian fjords are one of the last true wildernesses on the planet.
Having explored the Patagonian Desert, the beautiful Lake Districts of Chile and Argentina, the fragile ice fields, and the majestic fjords, one last region is missing to have the complete overview of Patagonia, and that is Chapter 5: Tierra del Fuego With latitudes reaching 56° south, Tierra del Fuego encompasses the southernmost landmasses outside of the Antarctic continent. As such, you can also find the southernmost city, Ushuaia, the southernmost post office in the Tierra del Fuego National Park and the southernmost airport in Puerto Williams. When translating the remotes archipelago’s name, Tierra del Fuego means the “land of fire”, which today can be a bit misleading, since there is just a single volcano on the archipelago, which isn’t even so active.
The name actually comes from the first European which crossed the channels. In the year 1520, Ferdinand Magellan was on a mission to circumnavigate the world for the first time, and upon entering the strait now named after him, he and his crew encountered a series of bonfires on the shores, lid by the indigenous population of the islands. For the coming centuries, the region has been left alone by Europeans and only functioned as a practical waterway, connecting the eastern and western shores of the Americas, since the Panama Canal hasn’t been built until 1914.
Tierra del Fuego gained recognition during the Patagonian sheep farming boom in the late 19th century and today the economic focus has shifted to petroleum extraction and tourism. These tourists do not typically come for the weather, which boasts year-round temperatures around the freezing point, constant heavy winds, and extremely high precipitation, but instead it’s used as a gateway to the Antarctic. From Ushuaia it is only 1.
100 kilometers to the outer tip of the Antarctic peninsular and many scientific explorations and cruise ships are making use of this favorable location. If you want to continue learning about the Antarctic continent, you should check out this complete guide to the Geography, History, Politics and Science of Antarctica or, check out the video which the YouTube algorithm thinks is best for you. I hope you enjoyed the video and if you if you want to see more like it, be sure to subscribe and leave a like.
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