Monday, September 15, 2014

Terrain

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.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/06/140610-chile-hidroaysen-dam-patagonia-energy-environment/

"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.





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