Southern Patagonian Ice Field
| Southern Patagonian Ice Field | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Ice field |
| Location | Argentina, Chile |
| Coordinates | 49°55′S 73°32′W / 49.917°S 73.533°WCoordinates: 49°55′S 73°32′W / 49.917°S 73.533°W |
| Area | 16,800 km2 (6,500 sq mi) |
| Status | Retreating |
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field (Spanish: Hielo Continental or Campo de Hielo Sur), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Argentina and Chile, 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 Patagonia Ice Field extends from parallels 48° 15′ S to 51° 30′ S for approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi), and has an area of 12,363 km2 (4,773 sq mi), of which roughly 9,700 km2 (3,700 sq mi) fall within Chile and 2,500 km2 (970 sq mi) within Argentina.
The ice mass feeds dozens of glaciers in the area, among which are the Upsala (765 km2), Viedma (978 km2) and Perito Moreno (258 km2) in the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina, and the Pío XI Glacier or Bruggen Glacier (1,265 km2, the largest in area and longest in the southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica), O'Higgins (820 km2), Grey (270 km2) and Tyndall (331 km2) 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.
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