Roughly 50 percent of Chilean
Patagonia is protected by wilderness area, an experience known as “traveling to
the end of the world”. Traveling to
Patagonia, you will notice a different outlook on life, life is about
maintaining enough and not having an excess such as the United States. Choosing Patagonia was because of the beauty
in its land and the beauty of the focal points that remain in their culture today. Patagonia residents, mainly small villages
strive to maintain the land but also focus on the relationships, culture, and a
well-rounded lifestyle.
Glaciers and Great Plains lay
atop the Southern region of Patagonia, a region separated into Chile and
Argentina by the Andes Mountain Range.
The Southern Chile Ridge has partially been melting over time as it has
continuously subducted under the Patagonia continent and can be linked to the
Patagonia Belt erosion. This indicates a volcano-tectonic relationship as an
active ridge segment sits below the surface.
Plates that are involved in this tectonic relationship are Nazca and
Antarctic Plates.
As a convergent boundary of
tectonic plates, this region has many interesting geological features
including: the Andes, Intermediate Depression, graben, foreland basin, and the
beautiful coast. In the Northern parts
of Chilean Patagonia many minerals are abundantly produced including: copper,
lithium, molybdenum. Chile has the
worlds largest copper reserves, and is top 5 of the western hemispheres
exporters.
Interpreting the past of
Chilean Patagonia through the eras are most defined through the rock deposits
found, these deposits indicate the largest changes during the Paleozoic,
Jurrasic, and early Crestaceous ages.
Sedimentary rock deposits are give insight as to the movement of plates
and separation over time. According
to Geoscience, the decreased radiogenic
trends from North to South are indicators of different tectonic plates that had
separated. This information can suggest
that plate separation at specific points in history.
Check out this hot link for the current news in Patagonia!
http://news.
"Patagonia - Sitio Oficial De Turismo De Chile." Sitio Oficial De Turismo De Chile.
SERVICIO NACIONAL DE TURISMO CHILE,
n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.
"Relief in Chile and Argentina." Welcome
Patagonia. Welcome Patagonia, n.d. Web. 11
Sept. 2014.
"Chilean Rivers Threatened Chilean Landscape." Earth
Island Institute. N.p., n.d. Web.
12 Sept. 2014.
"Exploration and Mining Geology." Ore Deposits
and Metallogenesis of Mainland
Patagonia, Aysen, Chile.
N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
