Height of glacier: 200 ft (61m)
Fjordland in Chile is one of the most beautiful regions in the country and all of South America. Fjordland is famous for its fjords or deep ocean islets carved by glaciers over a course of thousands of years. The height of the glacier in this are reach a height of 200 feet or 61 meters. The shores are are steep and high. The best way to explore these lands is by renting a boat or a ship that are commonly touring these areas. The tides in the Fjordland are regular and not very strong, except in the English Narrows, where they can create a significant drop in sea level.
Fjordland was used mostly by vessels desiring to avoid the heavy seas and bad weather that is commonly experienced on passing into the Pacific Ocean from the western end of the Strait of Magellan. Large steamers hid in the Fjordland and resumed their journey once the storm has passed.
Patagonian channels are the channels that form between the coasts
that begin in the islands of the Guayaneco archipelago (approximately at
47°37'00″S 74°47'30″W) and end in the Fairway islets (52°44'30 ″S
73°48′00″W ) including Baker Sound. Among these we distinguish main
channels and secondary channels. All foreign ships that navigate these
channels must carry Chilean pilots on board.
The main ones are
those interiors that serve as a route for commercial shipping and are
marked by lighthouses, beacons and buoys. Through them, the four
inhabited points of the region, Tortel cove, Puerto Edén, Guarello and
Puerto Natales, are reached.
The secondary ones are those that
are used to access the ocean or to navigate it in case of need; they do
not have lighthouses and beacons.
Main and secondary channels
All these channels are grouped into five main groups, depending on
whether their direction is parallel to the Patagonian coast or
perpendicular:
Longitudinal main group: from the Gulf of Penas to the
Strait of Magellan, a seaway about 707.5 km (382 nautical miles) long.
It is formed, from north to south, by the following sections:
Messier
channel, Angostura Inglesa, Paso del Indio, Escape channel, Paso del
Abismo, Paso Piloto Pardo, Grappler channel, Icy channel, Wide channel,
Concepción channel, Inocentes channel, Guia narrows, Sarmiento channel
and Smyth channel.
Secondary channels: Fallos channel, Ladrillero
channel, Trinidad channel, Picton channel, Albatross channel, Barbarossa
channel, Adalberto channel, Castillo channel, Hernán Gallego channel,
Machado channel, Laberinto channel and Covadonga channel.
Collateral
group towards Tortel cove: formed by the Baker channel, with about 130
km (70 miles). Its secondary channel is the Martínez channel.
Collateral group towards Puerto Natales: formed by the Unión Sound,
Morla Vicuña Channel, Kirke Channel, Valdés Channel and Almirante Montt
Gulf, a route of 93 km (50 miles). Its secondary channels are the Santa
María channel and the White channel.
Transversal collateral group for
access to Corbeta Papudo bay: West channel. Place where the facilities
of the Compañía de Acero del Pacífico, a Chilean company that extracts
and ships limestone from Guarello Island, are located. The channel is 17
nautical miles long.
The entire Patagonian archipelago dates from the tertiary era and is
the product of the same geological cause that made the Coastal mountain
range appear first and then that of the Andes. In the glacial age, it
took on its current appearance as the continuation to the south of the
Cordillera de la Costa.
It is of igneous origin due to the kind
of rock that constitutes it and due to its rough and irregular relief,
characteristic of eruption chains.
In the past, there was a
subsidence of the territory caused by the meeting, in front of the
Taitao Peninsula, of three tectonic plates: the Nazca and the Antarctic,
which move towards the east, and the South American, which moves towards
the west. This produced a notorious sinking of the edge of the South
American plate. The soils lowered their level, fragmenting and in which
the sea penetrated in the sunken parts, arising a large number of
islands. In addition, the intense glacial activity carved deep valleys,
which after the collapse originated the numerous existing fjords on the
banks of the channels.
They are a succession of highlands and
ravines with numerous peaks and promontories that are very similar to
each other. Its ends and tips end abruptly.
The coasts are cliffs
and their channels are generally clean and open, where there are reefs
these are invariably marked by sargassum.
There are quite
remarkable heights that serve to recognize the entrance to the different
sinuses, channels or bays. These are clearly indicated on the respective
charts and directions for the region.
Climatology
The region is continuously affected by westerly winds
and by the frequent passage of frontal systems. These frontal systems
are generated at latitude 60° S, an area where subtropical air masses
and polar air masses converge, creating a low pressure belt that forms
the frontal systems.
This area has a climate known as “temperate
cold rainy” that extends from the southern part of the X Region of Los
Lagos to the Strait of Magellan. Here the maximum amounts of rainfall
are recorded, in Guarello Island up to 9000 mm per year have been
reached.
Atmospheric cloudiness is high, clear days are rare. The
thermal amplitude is reduced, the annual oscillation is approximately 4
°C with an average temperature of 9 °C. It rains throughout the year,
being rainier towards the fall.
There are only two seasons:
summer and winter. Summer begins in September and the winds begin to
move from the NW to the SW. The days start to get longer and in October
there can be some clear days. In the months of December, January and
February the winds blow almost exclusively from the SW with great
intensity.
The rains, in this season, are frequent but not as
persistent as in winter and come in the form of strong and copious
showers. The best time of the year is from February to April. In May
rough seas are observed that bring a lot of swell. The first snowfalls
fall in May and continue throughout the winter. Snowfalls are sometimes
so thick that visibility is reduced to no more than 100 meters. The wind
has hovered to the NW. The months of June and July are considered the
worst of the year. Bad weather is the normal state of the region, good
weather is a transient accident.
In most inlets, estuaries, and
channels, the uplands cause the true wind direction to change. The wind
tends to blow along the channels, following their direction and down
into the valleys.
In the ports and anchorages that are in the lee
of the highlands, when the showers that blow from above meet ravines or
valleys, they come down them suddenly and violently, these showers are
known as “williwaws”.
The prevailing wind in the entire area
according to the month is: January from the NW – February from the W –
March and April from the W – May rounds to the S – June changes to the
SW – July and August between the W to the SW – September from the E and
from the N – October W – November W to NW and December WNW.
Flora
and fauna
On the slopes and hollows of the hills a dense forest grows
that is affirmed in the interstices of the rocks, the trees are
intertwined with each other. Normally they do not develop above 50
meters above sea level, but where they are sheltered from the prevailing
wind they rise to 200 and 300 meters above sea level.
On the bare
rock there is a spongy formation on which lichens and mosses grow from
which water emerges at the slightest pressure exerted on its surface.
Some trees are the beech, the tepú and the canelo.
The animal
kingdom is very small, you can find the fox and some rodents. There are
wolves and otters.
Among the land and water birds we can find the
kingfisher, the thrush, the thrush, the swan, the duck, the penguin, the
canquén, the seagull and the quetro or steam duck.
Among the fish
are the bass, the pejerrey, the tilefish and the old lady. Among the
shellfish there are crabs, crabs, sea urchins and mussels.
Production
mining production
Only limestone minerals have been
found on Guarello Island, which is extracted and shipped by the Pacific
Steel Company, and marble on Diego de Almagro Island.
livestock
production
The Ultima Esperanza Sound, due to the good quality of its
pastures, is the only part of this region where the raising of sheep has
been developed with excellent results, which has originated industries
of refrigerated meats, fat stores and wool export.
For more than 6,000 years these channels and their coasts have been traveled by the Kawésqar, indigenous, nomadic canoeists. There are two hypotheses about their arrival at the places of settlement. One, that they came from the north following the route of the Chilote canals and that they crossed to the south, crossing the Ofqui isthmus. The other is that they came from the south and that through a process of colonization and transformation of terrestrial hunting populations, coming from eastern Patagonia, they populated the islands of the Strait of Magellan and went up the Patagonian channels to the Gulf of Penas. At the beginning of the 21st century, this town had been practically annihilated by the action of the white man.
Hydrographic expeditions and works
From 1520, with the discovery
of the Strait of Magellan, few regions have been as explored as the
Patagonian channels. In the old charts, the region of Patagonia, between
parallels 48° and 50° South, appeared to be occupied almost exclusively
by a large island called "Campana" separated from the continent by the
"channel of the Calén nation", a nation that was supposed to have
existed until the eighteenth century between parallels 48° and 49° south
latitude.
Since the middle of the 20th century, these channels
have been traversed safely by large ships from all nations, thanks to
the numerous reconnaissance and hydrographic works carried out on these
dangerous coasts. Below we give a synthesis of these explorations and
works.
hydrographic works
Exploration of Major Phillip Parker
King (1826–30)
England in 1826 decided to send a hydrographic
expedition in order to survey the coasts of South America. To do this,
he sent the ships HMS Adventure and HMS Beagle, which he placed under
the command of Commander Phillip Parker King, who also commanded HMS
Adventure, and Commander Pringle Stokes in command of HMS Beagle, who
was succeeded by Commander Robert Fitz Roy after his death. in 1828.
Having Puerto del Hambre as a base port for their hydrographic work, in
the Strait of Magellan, they carried out surveys and observations in the
Strait and in the Patagonian channels in 4 campaigns. None of the
preceding voyages of exploration can compare in efficiency with the
hydrographic work of this expedition.
Commander Robert Fitz Roy's
exploration (1831)
The British Admiralty sent a new hydrographic
expedition, this time under the command of Commander Robert Fitz Roy. He
remained in the strait from January 1832 until June 10 of the same year,
the date on which he began his return to his homeland.
Exploration by R. C. Mayne (1868–69). The British Admiralty sent
Commander Mayne in command of HMS Nassau to complete hydrographic work
in the Patagonian channels.
Exploration of Commander Enrique Simpson
(1875). The Chilean Navy commissioned Commander Enrique Simpson in
command of the corvette Chacabuco to reconnoiter the Patagonian
channels. He raised a plan of Molyneaux Sine and plans of Simpson Ports
and Lynch Sine.
Exploration of Commander Oscar Viel (1879). The
Chilean Navy recommissioned the corvette Chacabuco, now under the
command of Commander Oscar Viel, to carry out reconnaissance of the
channels of the Reina Adelaida archipelago. Shortly after, the campaign
was suspended due to the start of the Pacific War.
Captain Mc Clear's
exploration (1879–80). England sent the hydrographic vessel Alert under
the command of Commander Mc Clear to explore the Picton, Trinidad and
adjacent channels.
Exploration of Captain Amezaga (1882). In the
first half of this year, the Italian corvette Caracciolo under the
command of Captain Amezaga lifted the West Channel, Caracciolo Port and
Rayo Cove.
Exploration of the German ship "Albatross" (1884).
Although there is no record of who its commander was, the passage of the
German navy ship "Albatross" through the Patagonian channels is
recorded, lifting those that cross Wellington Island.
Exploration of
Commander Ramón Serrano (1885). The Navy commissioned Commander Ramón
Serrano Montaner in command of the cutter Toro to survey and survey the
Fallos, Ladrillero and Machado channels.
Baker Sine Survey and
Exploration (1900–01). At the beginning of the year 1900, the Navy
commissioned Commander Francisco Nef in command of the Magallanes
gunboat to carry out the complete survey of Baker Sound. The commission
lasted until April 1901.
Ultima Esperanza Sinus Lift (1903–04). The
Navy commissioned the Presidente Pinto cruiser under the command of
Commander Salustio Valdés to raise the Última Esperanza Sound, adjacent
estuaries and channels. This was due to the great commercial and
industrial development that the region was experiencing due to the
installation of ranches destined for the raising of sheep and cold
stores in Puerto Natales.
Survey of the Queen Adelaide Archipelago
(1904). The Navy sent the Magallanes gunboat under the command of
Commander Baldomero Pacheco to carry out the survey of the western part
of the large island of the Reina Adelaida archipelago and the
reconnaissance of the Bambach channel. Work began in Muñoz Gamero Bay
and continued through the Smyth, Viel, Molinas, Riveros Sound,
Membrillar Sound and Bambach Channels.
Survey of the western coast of
the Madre de Dios archipelago (1910). The Navy commissioned the
President Errázuriz cruiser under the command of Commander Rubén Morales
to rectify the surveys carried out on the western coast of the Madre de
Dios archipelago.
Soundings on the western coast of Patagonia (1911).
The Navy commissioned the Maipo transport under the command of Commander
Florencio Dublé so that in the months of March and April it would probe
the seas off the coast of the Patagonian archipelagos, including the
Gulf of Penas up to Evangelistas.
Survey of the Mornington, North,
and Campana Archipelagos (1911–12). The Navy commissioned the cruiser
Errázuriz under the command of Commander Roberto Maldonado, to whom the
tenders "Águila" and "Porvenir" were subordinated, to survey and rectify
the hydrographic works of the Del Castillo channel and the coasts of the
Duke of York, Diego of Almagro and Ramirez.
1912 Escampavía
"Porvenir" under the command of Commander Raúl Rivera recognizes the
channels of the Reina Adelaida archipelago.
1913 Escampavía
"Porvenir" under the command of Commander Bordes recognizes the Union.
1922 “Zenteno” cruiser commanded by Commander Francisco Merino,
surveying Smyth channel, Icy Sound and Martínez channel.
1925
Escampavía "Porvenir" under the command of Commander Francisco Acosta
conducts drilling in the Gray and Mayne channels.
1925 Miner
“Orompello” commanded by Commander Julio Allard raises the Ballena
channel.
1953 Transport "Micalvi" commanded by Commander Manuel Lara
recognizes the Sierralta channel.
1957 Patrol boat "Lientur"
commanded by Commander Horacio Justiniano works on the West Canal.
1963 Patrol boat "Lautaro" commanded by Commander Roberto Benavente
surveys Collingwood Strait and Farquhar and Victoria Passes.
1970
Barge “Orompello” commanded by Commander Sergio Yuseff surveys the
Grappler and Icy channel coasts.
1972 AP “Piloto Pardo” under the
command of Commander Germán Guesalaga conducts drilling and geodetic
support in the area of the Grappler and Escape channels.
1973 AP
“Pilot Pardo” under the command of Commander John Martin conducts
drilling and geodetic support in the area of the Gray, Mayne and Smith
channels.
1975 AGS “Yelcho” and AP “Pardo” under the command of
commanders Juan Mackay and Franklin González, respectively, drill holes
in the Trinidad channel and Alert port.
1978 AGS "Yelcho" under the
command of Commander Guillermo Concha drills in the Grappler port,
Escape, Wide and Icy channels.
1978 AP “Piloto pardo” under the
command of Commander Gustavo Pfeiffer conducts drilling in the Summer
pass and Gray channel.
1979 AGS “Yelcho” commanded by Commander
Hernán Couyoudjian reconnaissance and drilling in the Trinidad,
Concepción, Wide, Murray and Ladrilleros channels.
1980 AGS "Yelcho"
under the command of Commander Eduardo Berardi conducts drilling in the
Angostura Inglesa, Paso del Indio, Puerto Gray, Edén and Riofrío.