The Geography of Patagonia Explained

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.

Cheers.