Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Glacier field in Magellan and Chilean Antarctic Region, Chile and Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field stretches across the border between Chile and Argentina with a network of glaciers flowing into deep fjords and mountain lakes. Central ice reaches heights above 1800 meters (5900 feet), while outlets end at sea level in valleys below.
European explorers mapped the edges of the ice field from the 16th century onward, but the interior remained uncharted until the 20th century. Systematic surveys began in the 1940s when border commissions tried to determine the watershed divide between both countries.
For the Kawéskar canoeists of the western channels and the Aonikenk (Tehuelche) nomads of the eastern plains, the ice field held a central place in their cosmovision. Tehuelche tradition holds that their culture hero Elal, raised by a swan on the sacred Mount Chaltén (Fitz Roy), defeated the snow, cold and freezing wind by inventing fire.
The ice field lies between parallels 48°15′ S and 51°30′ S, and Chile planned Route 8 of the Carretera Austral west of it in 1980, a road never built. Circo de los Altares is noted as a hiking site within the field. Much of the ice is inside Bernardo O'Higgins, Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares national parks.
Two volcanoes lie hidden beneath the ice: Lautaro and Viedma. Their remoteness makes them among the least researched volcanoes in Chile and Argentina. Chile also planned Route 8 of the Carretera Austral west of the field in 1980, but it was never built.
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