Glaciar Exploradores, Ice field in Aysén Region, Chile

Glaciar Exploradores is a glacier in the Aysén Region of Chile, about 1,500 km south of Santiago, lying in a valley at roughly 269 m above sea level. Its surface is carved into rounded white ridges and hollows, with pale blue tones in the deeper crevices and a few scattered rocks and dark debris resting on the ice. Dark rocky slopes rise behind it toward snow-covered mountains.

This ice field formed through the geological processes of the Southern Patagonian glaciation and was first studied systematically in the early 2000s. Those research efforts revealed how the ice has shifted and changed over the decades.

The Exploradores Glacier stands as a natural laboratory for scientists studying climate patterns and glacial behavior in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

Glaciar Exploradores lies about 1,500 km south of Santiago in a valley of the Aysén Region, at roughly 269 m above sea level, with mountain slopes rising to 1,648 m within 3.5 km. The area is almost uninhabited, fewer than 2 people per square kilometre, and there is no town nearby. Plan access and supplies accordingly, and expect cold, wet conditions: about 1 °C on average, with July averaging -6 °C and February 7 °C, and roughly 1,480 mm of precipitation a year.

Glaciar Exploradores lies about 1,500 km south of Santiago in a valley of the Aysén Region, at roughly 269 m above sea level. The ice is bordered by mountain slopes rising to 1,648 m within 3.5 km to the east. Fewer than two people live per square kilometre around it, and there is no town in the vicinity.