Patagonia 2018 - introduction

Southern Patagonian Ice Field

With an area of over 16,800 km (of which 14,200 km belongs to Chile and 2600 km to Argentina) and extending 350 km, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the 3rd biggest extension of continental ice after Antarctica and Greenland.  The ice field feeds many of Patagonia's glaciers such as Upsala, Viedma, Bruggen, Grey and the famous Perito Moreno, and is home to several volcanoes that the undisturbed under the ice.  Spread over 3 national parks - Los Glaciares, Bernardo O'Higgins and Torres del Paine - this enormous ice field is one of two remnants of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, which was a narrow sheet of ice that covered southern Chile during the last ice age.  The other remnant is the much smaller Northern Patagonian Ice Field found within the borders of Laguna San Rafael National Park.