Laguna del Desierto incident violence in order to obtain control of the zone and political preponderance of the force. American historian William Sater states: Laguna del Desierto incident The Laguna del Desierto incident, in Argentina called also Battle of Laguna del Desierto, occurred between four Chilean Carabineros and between 40 and 90 members of the Argentine Gendarmerie and took place in zone south of O'Higgins/San Martín Lake on 6 November 1965, resulting in one lieutenant killed and a sergeant injured, both members of Carabineros, creating a tense atmosphere between Chile and Argentina. The British award of 1903 considered the demands of Chile and Argentina
Laguna del Maule (volcano) early Quaternary volcanic centres, are also found around the field. Northeast of Laguna del Maule is the high Cerro Campanario, a mafic stratovolcano which was active 150,000–160,000 years ago. Nevado de Longavi volcano is located west of Laguna del Maule. The local volcanoes are in a segment of the crust where the Wadati-Benioff zone is deep. Also west of Laguna del Maule lies the Tatara-San Pedro and Rio Colorado caldera; they may be part of a volcano alignment with Laguna del Maule. More distant are the Calabozos caldera and a late Pleistocene system with domes and flows south of Cerro