Southern Patagonian Ice Field Southern Patagonian Ice Field The Southern Patagonian Ice Field ( or ""), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Chile and Argentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, which covered all of southern Chile during the last glacial period, locally called the Llanquihue glaciation. The Southern Patagonia Ice Field extends from parallels 48° 15′ S to 51° 30′ S for approximately , and has an area of , of which roughly fall within Chile and within Argentina. The ice mass feeds dozens of glaciers
Patagonian Desert the desert and is why, despite approximately half of the desert being only about 200 miles from the ocean, such a large desert is found in the region. The cold Falkland Current off the Atlantic coast of South America also contributes to the area's aridity. Different climates can be distinguished: the coast north of the 45th parallel is much milder because of the warm currents from Brazil, and the entire northern half of the region is significantly warmer in the summer, when sunny weather predominates. Daily temperatures in the summer reach 31 °C in the Rio Colorado region, a general