National Parks, Biological Reserves, and Natural Santuary - Chile
Chile - the longest via narrowest country on Earth, stretching about 2,700 mi. (4,300 km) long, and only 220 mi. (350 km) at its widest - from about 17° 30' S to 56° S latitude - a country covered by about 80% mountain terrain, the Andes Mountains (the longest mountain range on Earth, stretching about 4,500 mi./7,200 km along the entire western coast of South America, thus Chile comprises about 60% of the entire length of the Andes Mts.). These images comprise all 5 Natural Regions of Chile: 1. Zona Austral (the southern most region, with its subpolar oceanic climate fused with Magellanic Subpolar Forest and Valdavian Temperate Forest ecoregions, a glacial landscape whose coast range consists of islands, fjords, and ice fields - 2. Zona Sur (with a temperate oceanic climate and Valdivian vegetation, where the coast range and Andes are low but filled with glacial lakes, and intensive volcanic and geothermal activity - 3. Zona Central (with a Mediterranean climate and Matorral vegetation of forests, woodlands and scrub, and where the Andes separates from the coast range) - 4. Norte Chico (with a semi-arid climate where the coast range and Andes merge, where transversal east-west valleys are formed with no volcanism around) - 5. Norte Grande (with a desert climate, revealing coastal cliffs, high coast range, plateaus and salt flats in the Andes). Driving and hiking from Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (SW of Porvenir, at Bahia Inutil, off the Strait of Magellan), northward up the thru the Patagonia Ice Field and glacial sculpted Andes Mountains - out upon Isla Chiloe, the beginning of the Cordillera Costa (Coastal Range), which now hugs the Pacific Coast until its border with Peru - into the Atacama Desert (driest on Earth) - up to Volcan Ollague, at the Bolivia border, the high altitude Central Andean Dry Puna ecoregion, and down to the coastal desert at Iquique - thru 14 of the 15 Regions of Chile. These images represent 15 National Parks, 6 National Reserves, a Biological Reserve, a Natural Monument, and a Natural Santuary.
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Cenozoic volcanism in this region, as elsewhere in the Central Depression and Precordillera of northern Chile began in the Paleocene when a series of strato volcanoes, collapse calderas, and rhyolitic dome complexes erupted over deformed Jurassic to late Cretaceous volcanic and sedimentary rocks - this image of Cerro Guanaca, rising to about 13,186 ft. (4,019 m), along the distal horizon, part of the Cordillera Domeyko - the southwestern area of the Puna de Atacama (the arid high-altitude volcanic desert plateau area, of eastern Atacama and Antofagasta regions, from about 22°-28°S - the southern Central Volcanic Zone, of the Andean Volcanic Belt here at about 27°S - mid-summer season along the Cordillera Andes.
