Southern Patagonian Ice Field
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field, 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.
Southern Patagonian Ice Field
Southern Patagonia Ice Field from ISS, astronaut photo. North is to the right.
The merged outlet of Penguin Glacier and HPS 19.
Panoramic view of Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park (Chilean territory)
An ice field is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and higher altitudes of the world where there is sufficient precipitation for them to form. The higher peaks of the underlying mountain rock that protrude through the icefields are known as nunataks. Ice fields are larger than alpine glaciers, but smaller than ice caps and ice sheets. The topography of ice fields is determined by the shape of the surrounding landforms, while ice caps have their own forms overriding underlying shapes.
Southern Patagonian Ice Field
Harding Icefield, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge