| Southern Patagonian Ice Field | |
|---|---|
 May 2017 NASA satellite photograph of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field | |
  Location within Southern Patagonia | |
| Type | Ice field |
| Location | Southern Patagonia, Argentina andChile |
| Coordinates | 49°55′S73°32′W / 49.917°S 73.533°W /-49.917; -73.533 |
| Area | 16,800 km2 (6,500 mi2) |
| Status | Retreating |
TheSouthern Patagonian Ice Field (Spanish:Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur), located at the SouthernPatagonicAndes betweenChile andArgentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolarice field.[1] It is the bigger of two remnant parts of thePatagonian Ice Sheet, which covered all of southern Chile during thelast glacial period, locally called theLlanquihue glaciation.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field extends from parallels 48° 15′ S to 51° 30′ S for approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi), and has an approximate area of 16,480 km2 (6,360 sq mi), of which 14,200 km2 (5,500 sq mi) belong toChile and 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) belong toArgentina.[a]
The ice mass feeds dozens of glaciers in the area, among which are theUpsala (765 km2 or 295 sq mi),Viedma (978 km2 or 378 sq mi) andPerito Moreno (258 km2 or 100 sq mi) in theLos Glaciares National Park in Argentina, and thePío XI Glacier or Bruggen Glacier (1,265 km2 or 488 sq mi, the largest in area and longest in theSouthern Hemisphere outside of Antarctica),O'Higgins (820 km2 or 320 sq mi),Grey (270 km2 or 100 sq mi) andTyndall (331 km2 or 128 sq mi) in Chile. The glaciers going to the west flow into thefjords of the Patagonian channels of thePacific Ocean; those going to the East flow into the Patagonian lakesViedma andArgentino, and eventually, through the riversde la Leona andSanta Cruz, to theAtlantic Ocean.
An important part of the ice field is protected under different national parks, such as theBernardo O'Higgins andTorres del Paine in Chile, and the aforementionedLos Glaciares in Argentina.
There are two known volcanoes under the ice field:Lautaro andViedma. Due to their inaccessibility they are among the least researched volcanoes in Chile and Argentina.
In 1980, Chile plannedRoute 8 as a section of the Carretera Austral west of the ice field, which has not been built.[3]
Circo de los Altares is an important hiking place.
Thorough explorations include the expeditions ofFederico Reichert (1913–1914),Alberto de Agostini (1931), andHarold William Tilman andJorge Quinteros (1955–1956), as well asEric Shipton (1960–61). The first (North-South) crossing of the field was accomplished in 1998 by Pablo Besser, Mauricio Rojas, José Montt, and Rodrigo Fica. Nevertheless, some areas of the field remain largely unexplored.
From the air, initial exploration was conducted in 1928–29 byGunther Plüschow after whom a glacier is named. From April 1944 to April 1945, theUnited States Army Air Forces conducted an aerial survey using theTrimetrogon method at the request of the Chilean government.[4]
The boundary between Argentina and Chile in the area was established by the1881 treaty and delimited in 1898 by the experts of both countries working in the demarcation of the border, and which differences led to the1902 award, in which they agreed they did not have differences on the part of the border between Fitz Roy and Stokes. The award is established "to perpetuity" by both countries under British tutelage. The map published by the British Crown, as part of the documentation of the 1902 award, illustrates a clear demarcation line (from the Fitz Roy to the Stokes) to the east of the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields, leaving most of the territory in question in the Chilean side.[9]
The1902 award considered that in that area the high peaks are water dividing and therefore there was no dispute. Both experts,Francisco Pascasio Moreno from Argentina andDiego Barros Arana from Chile, agreed on the border betweenMount Fitz Roy and Stokes[10] (nowadays Cervantes).[11] Since 1898, the demarcation of the border in the ice field, between the two mountains, was defined on the next mountains and their natural continuity:Fitz Roy,Torre,Huemul,Campana,Agassiz,Heim,Mayo, andStokes/Cervantes.[5][7][8] In 1914, the Mariano Moreno range was visited by an expedition; however, Francisco Pascasio Moreno already knew of its existence.[12] Argentina started to question the border, arguing that the border should be in the Mariano Moreno range.
In 1994, theLaguna del Desierto dispute was solved which involved territory of the Ice Field; an international tribunal awarded almost the whole zone to Argentina.[13][14] After a refused appeal in 1995, Chile accepted the award. Since then, Chile has had a small corridor to access Mount Fitz Roy, and theMarconi Pass was defined as an international border crossing point.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field section of the border is the last remaining land border issue between Chile and Argentina. On August 1, 1991, the governments of Chile and Argentina agreed on a borderline, but the agreement was never ratified by the Argentine legislature. Later, in 1998, both governments agreed to redraw the borderline betweenMount Fitz Roy and Daudet.[15][16]
Section A of the agreement (betweenCerro Murallón and Daudet) and a small part of B (from Fitz Roy to a point defined to the west) was drawn; however, they also agreed that section B (from Fitz Roy to Murallón) would wait until completion of a detailed 1:50,000 scale map of the area with further negotiations. To date, this one section remains the final non-concluded boundary section and has been an irritant inArgentina-Chile relations.
In February 2006,Ricardo Lagos[17] appeared in a photo with the head of the Air Force, General Osvaldo Sarabia, in the undemarcated area; this caused controversy with Argentina.[18]
In 2006, the ArgentineInstituto Geográfico Militar (IGM) (todayInstituto Geográfico Nacional) edited a map without a note about the undefined border but showed the Argentine claims as the official borderline. After Chilean diplomatic protests, the Argentine government withdrew the map and urged Chile to expedite the demarcation of the international border according to the 1998 agreement.[19][20] On August 24, 2006, the Argentine Undersecretary of Tourism stated that the maps used by the Secretariat of Tourism's website were official because they were approved by the National Geographic Institute of Argentina.[21][22][23][24]
In 2006, president of ChileMichelle Bachelet and president of ArgentinaNéstor Kirchner held a meeting over the cartographic controversy.[25] Kirchner served as the governor of theSanta Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003.[26]
In the maps published in Argentina, until today,[27] the region continues to be shown without the white rectangle, as can be seen in a map of Santa Cruz on a website of an official Argentine agency.[28] While in the official Chilean maps and most tourist maps, the rectangle is shown and it is clarified that the boundary is not demarcated according to the 1998 treaty.[29][30][31]
In 2018, Argentina made a National Ice Inventory in which are included some disputed glaciers.[32][33][34][35] From September 20 to October 4 of the same year, the Argentine army traveled to into the area that is pending to be demarcated. This caused controversy mainly in Chile[36] where the mayor ofVilla O'Higgins denounced the fact as a "provocation" and made a call to the central government of Chile to reinforce the sovereignty in the zone.[37][38]
After the Argentine government published its inventory of glaciers including undefined territory, the Chilean Foreign Ministry informed that a claim note had already been sent denying the Argentine inventory.
In 2021, there was a controversy sinceCONAF (from Chile) installed a dome in theCirco de los Altares, whose southern part is claimed by both countries.[39]
As of 2026,[40] the demarcation is still pending.[41]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)I have seen it descending from the west as an immense ice field, from the crest of the central chain, 3000 meters high, which the ice covers to its western slope in the Eyre Strait. To the south and north of it, other narrower glaciers can be seen at the extremity of the fjord-like bays.
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